Alex Norton
If you like Scalzi you will like the Bobiverse. Not quite Scalzi's talent for dialog but same relaxed SciFi with interesting paradoxes, thought points and nerd shout-outs. Word of warning. This is only book 1 of 3 and book 1 sort of ends with no great resolutions, so if you don't like it half way through don't bother. I will certainly line up the other 2.
An excellent whodunnit within a whodunnit. For someone who has grown up on Christie, and Inspector Morse it was a pleasure to read a murder mystery set around the genre of Murder Mysteries. Horowitz is adept enough to switch styles within the book. So much so I will now be interested in reading his other books.
4 stars compared to other Neal Stephenson (otherwise I look back and I think everything is 5 stars...) but could easily be 5 for the sheer readbility. Nicole Garland has managed to tone down the volume of “nerd dump” on the page which makes DODO an ideal starter for Stephenson. The plot develops quickly, unlike some of his other novels, and is a good mixture of inventiveness in a quite crowded field of time travel (i just finished Jodi Taylor) but blends well witches, time travel and secret governmental organizations...
An excellent final book to the trilogy which was a rich a satisfying series. Not a dynamic book and sometimes confusing (if, like me you waited too long to read 2 and 3 after 1) it does paint strong characters and gives them strong presences.
This short book was just what the doctor ordered after a tough read. Strongly recommended if you like Alan Bennett's style of portrayal of the English as unflappable in a real crisis but apoplectic in frustrated rage if some inconsequential item is slightly “not right”. I loved it
First Dickens in a very long time and I loved it. Loved the characters/caricatures, pacing was fine, descriptive passages rich and satisfying. Yes Esther is a saint but how can you not relish aMrs Jelleby, or old Smallweed, Inspector Bucket and old Turveydrop.
I love love love Jackson Lamb in all his innumerable faults. A definite top 5 of literary characters. The misfits of Slough House are like family now and I am just concerned I am rapidly running out of books.
Just re-read it. Actually I just listened to it in Audible's full cast Author's preferred version and it was so00o good. Strangely enough I remembered the first half but the whole second half had slipped away like a dream... Hmmmm... Really looking forward to the TV adaptation.
The Audio version was a small Tour de Force that perhaps deserved a higher rating than my three stars. I mean I did like it but I did not fall in love with this mix of Gaimanish Graveyard tales, with history titbits. I am pretty sure I failed the book and not vice versa.
Looking back it would appear I like my SF fairly serious, Stephenson, Banks etc. However this one was a hoot of a trip and I could not wait for lunch breaks to jump back in. I went the audible route and I think Will Wheaton did an excellent job in bringing what I think is Scalzi's primary strength, dialogue, to life. Kiva is my new favorite character.
Recommended to me by other Joe Abercrombie fans it definitely sits happily in the “don't take yourself seriously” fantasy genre. It is a happy character driven tale, with sone twists and turns.
Having grown up in Rome and living through the city wide fervour of a couple of Conclaves I was curious on this one a RH does not disappoint, mixing research with plot. It is an easy and fascinating read
SciFi popcorn that starts a bit 2 dimensional but picks up as you get further into the story. Simple and fun entertainment in the Scalzi genre lacking in a bit of the polish (or Editor?).
Why is it that Neal Stephenson writes such huge books both figuratively and literally and yet I always feel that there is a lot left unfinished or unexplored. For someone that is not that great at characterization I just love his narrative, the sometimes aimless plots, the side turns, the unexpected and original ideas. It is probably because I no longer really expect a plot that I am usually surprised when one turns up, and the trip to get there has been always, enriching and thought provoking. And that is the slight frustration. Just like the end of Seveneves, which I read before Anathem, one is left dying for more at the end, to explore the next box of goodies he has opened up for you. Sequels? Not bloody likely from what I hear. Stephenson has too many other great things to write before he might revisit an old story.
11/6/23
Just re-read it. Even better second time round
Likable debut novel and i will try the second to see if it grows. My biggest problem is that Foster is fairly one dimensional in her approach. Use a sledgehammer each time. Nothing wrong in that if it gets a result but there were two or three times throughout the novel that you know she would have elicited more info from folks by being “good cop” some of the time.
Stumbled on this one as a freebie on kindle and really enjoyed it. It is not an over complicated multi-thread spy story. It is quite assuredly written with solid plot and pace.
right on the verge of 5 stars in terms of “could not wait to get back to it”. “Galbraith” is hitting his/her stride and has blossomed into a top detective novelist. The characters have had the time to flesh out, she has a masterful control over the various threads in the story (reminiscent of some other work of hers?...)
Pedigree (goodreads shortlist for 2016 Mystery and Thriller) and the fact that it was included as part of my Kindle Prime) got me interested but it suffered from a few problems. First, and most critical, is that the first book is useless without the second. I mean there is not even a partial satisfaction in finishing the first as even the few revelations at the end were really quite predictable by the way the characters were portrait. The “page turner” presumably begins with the second book as the first does a lot of work setting up the premise. Nothing wrong in that, Romig does a fine job in that but there are a few huge chunks missing (like when Sara removes her bandages...) and the end is so abrupt I actually had to check that i got the full download...
mmmm, not sure where to start on this. Two starts “it was Ok” , three stars “I Liked it” Ill give it three for the premise and effort but it had a few turn offs - primarily the rather saccarine love story that the author decides to place at the center of the novel, presumably because no other human emotion would drive someone to do what one does. The other thing that really annoyed me was, for a book that hinges entirely on the concept of an infinite timelines the protagonist manages to “make it back” with no discernible Deus Ex Machina. SO at the end a book that really could have explored the multiverse boils down to a love quest. Ok but a wasted opportunity.
I'm sort of glad I knew very little of this book except i kept finding it in end of year “best of list” in the Crime genre. Plot is hardly original - Protagonist returns to “deliverance” type town set in the remote Outback where the locals still still blame him for a death twenty years previous he finds himself unraveling another murder/suicide. The two story-lines are well handled, the environment is well described. It is an easy read and well paced and satisfying “reveals”. Very strong for a debut novel
Very solid book. If you enjoy well researched historical novels but are still character driven this will satisfy. Twist in the tail that I did not see coming