Mer Barr

This particular edition contains the writer's notes on 1 page and the graphics on the next [without the text on it]. I found the writer's notes intriguing for only 2 pages then got tired of having to glance at the graphic's first, then back to the text, for every page.

The graphics were very nice! A few panels per page, simple imaging, and assuming not to cluttered once the bubbles and thoughts were added. The storyline is really 2 and I'm not sure I understand the whole interconnection even when done reading. I'd prefer that, to guessing the ‘who dunnit' too soon.

Too much romance stalling out the storyline for my taste. If that doesn't bother you, the characters, the plot and world-building is really good.

I threw the penalty flag with emphasis, several times during the second half of the book. How can you whip out something magical in the plot and not give any infrastructure to its existence?

How the heck do these places come into being? According to the plot, they just are and the characters, I have to assume, are ok with that.The author mentions individuals can recognize these places when looking at a map and yet give no details as they do it. Is it something about these individuals? Their mindsets? Comparing 1 map meticulously to another edition of the same map? What?

To the positive, I'll say I've not run into a plot involving map mysteries so this was interesting, and the audio narrator does a good job of making her character voices distinct enough for me to catch when there's a shift in speaker.

Short sections, great for a contemplation session during your meditation practice or when driving in traffic.

Very good book for seeing the negative interactions today, from another perspective. The author presents not only her personal opinions, and she does state they're her own, in a respectful and thoughtful way, as well as findings from studies and conversations from several viewpoints.

I plan to reread this one.

Not sure how many Miss Marple's I've read but I was always surprised at how she picked up on things. I know she's imaginary, but still.

I found the plot complex enough to keep me focused on the story at the moment, and I don't think I figured out who it was until the last few paragraphs, which is how I like a mystery. And I'm so thankful the story isn't as dark and gory as many of the more recent authors are!

The humor and ingenuity of the first two books continues, thankfully this is much less dark than what I remember those being. Looking forward to the next in the series, if the author continues on.

I would give this a 4 for depth and breadth of information and the quantity of native words. It seems like a very good book if you're already have some familiarity with the people and their culture and are looking to dive in a bit more.

I give it a 3 because the book is more scholarly than I would prefer for an introduction to the people.

Wow! So much technology presented I couldn't keep up. This will require a second read to grasp some of the concepts. Alot of it is hard to see in one's mind; the ships for example.

The story moves along nicely. There are cuts back-n-forth between history look-back and current day that does trip you up a bit and leave you wondering who is talking and how did they get on the ship! Then you figure out a character is remembering something that adds depth to the story.

Picked up this multi book just for [b:The Fortress of the Pearl 594574 The Fortress of the Pearl (The Elric Saga, #8) Michael Moorcock https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1265756984l/594574.SY75.jpg 1479741] in audio format.About the same pace, I believe, as the original book in the series. I believe this book is #7 in the written sequence but definitely #2 in the chronological storyline. Which I think is strange that the pace and style of writing is still similar.I thought the quest dragged out, I would have been happy with 2 less portals to travel thru although each realm had its merit.A nice wrap up and epilogue.

Coming into this read, knowing it's a series of stories, and not 1 continuous story, set the right expectation for me. And I find it refreshing to see the ugly side of being a ranger; I had considered this as a possible next career and sometimes I day dream of the more idyllic ideas of rangering. This is a nice balance.

Good read. People are kidnapped to help populate a secret community in the Himalayas. Sounds like something [b:The Celestine Prophecy 13103 The Celestine Prophecy (Celestine Prophecy, #1) James Redfield https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1166542346l/13103.SX50.jpg 2603195] might have been influenced by.

Sort of reminds me of [a:Elmore Leonard 12940 Elmore Leonard https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1240015224p2/12940.jpg] who shows you the human side of the ‘bad' guys in a way that you're rooting for both sides and feeling a bit conflicted to say so.Lots of humor, some great characters, good storytelling, and some interesting wrapping up at the end.

Strange, dull, not as good as the first in the series. Dropping the series at this point.

Very similar to a book I just finished, the author focuses on the interactions of the characters with the mystery in the background. There's alot more science in this book and there are a couple times when the plot is side-railed for longer than necessary, to geek out on a particular science or two.

An emphasis on the characters and their interactions, which I enjoy, with a mystery in the background, which they leave pretty cryptic and wrap up, rather suddenly, at the end.

It's been decades since I stayed up well past midnight devouring a book! I was starting to wonder if there was something wrong with me, with all the books I've been dropping and moving on to something else, searching for the right mix of light heartedness, a collection of friends that have each other's backs and love them warts-n-all, and a sprinkling of science; but not too much!There are so many nerdy references it reminds me of [b:Ready Player One 9969571 Ready Player One (Ready Player One, #1) Ernest Cline https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1500930947l/9969571.SY75.jpg 14863741] and it's references to video games. I wasn't much into the games and that culture, but I'm definitely into science fiction and other references to the year of the story. I am! a science fiction nerd.

I'd give this a 2 because it's waaaay too creepy! Like watching one of those 60s horror flicks at midnight when you were a kid, and you had your body stretched out as far as you could go towards the bed and still have enough finger on the light switch to turn it off and dive under the covers before the horrors under the bed grabbed your leg, creepy. And not the creature in [a:Piers Anthony 8516 Piers Anthony https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1661821937p2/8516.jpg]'s Xanth series that makes a little girl giggle when it takes a playful swipe at her leg, kind.But giving another star because Robin Cook does a great job of working the science into the story and I love the logic of the research in the Medical Examiner's office. Not sure I can continue this series, sadly.

This is the type of mystery that I enjoy! One that's not based on someone's death by gruesome or sinister means. And even better it's non-fiction!

Only a handful of pages where the author's opinions of the mother got very opinionated and a bit much, otherwise very well told with clear transitions between the historical storyline and the current storyline. And I think the author's original story about what it was like in the ‘trenches' was also achieved.

In the little time I have for relaxing reading, reading about alot of violence against humans is not on my wishlist.

Very good writing and on an interesting subject. I was a bit disappointed there wasn't more around the actual discovery and I had a ton of questions around the 97% mark which, surprisingly were all answered in the last 3%. Much like a murder mystery.

The narrator was clearly thinking of Monty Python's ‘priest reading from the holy book' during much of this. So glad to discover another world from Terry Pratchett's imagination. Right up there with [b:The Wee Free Men 34494 The Wee Free Men (Discworld, #30; Tiffany Aching, #1) Terry Pratchett https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1443764106l/34494.SY75.jpg 62580]

It's hard to put my finger on but there are disconnects for me between what the title says, the chapter titles say, and what's actually presented in the chapter.

I can't seem to see the connection between the reference to ‘haunted grounds' and the subject presented in the chapters. Or between the practice of Chod and the subjects presented in the chapters.

It's like there are mentions of Chod but not real details for me. And very little about how the subjects of the chapters actually relate to haunted grounds. I'm sure others will see this but I can't.

This was a war of 2 opinions, for me. On the one side, I'm not a fan of murder mysteries and on the other side, I did enjoy the ethical discussions and the various aspects of cloning and its impact that were brought up.

I guess I didn't read the summary very well. I was expecting one thing and ended up with another, which did turn out to be much like seeing something horrifying, you just can't look away.

Proves my suspicion that there would be all sorts of abuse of power and privacy rights when the ‘Patriot' Act was presented.

And there was so much recreation of mistakes; from not listening to those on the frontlines, to using science for dark and unethical purposes, not doing the homework needed on how others perceive the world, and the invaders believing they are the ‘civilized people' and the invaded people are the ‘heathens' and need to be ‘civilized' with brute force.