Ben Saufley

I enjoyed it but it suffers a bit from “book two” syndrome, where a clear purpose and arc to the plot is lacking, as characters kind of just maneuver around the board after the last book and setting up the next.

This is a pretty fun series. I have to read another book before I pick up the third, but I'm looking forward to it.

Really enjoyable. I guess I wasn't entirely aware what the plan was for future books, so I was a little caught off guard by the very, very unresolved ending. But I get it – it feels less unresolved with the understanding that it's part of a series. It's just that I had certain expectations, certain theories about prophecies etc that I thought would be resolved at a certain point, but weren't.

The universe is unique and exciting and the two character's voices are genuine and compelling. Good book. Will eagerly await the next.

I am a little confused about whether this is YA or not? It mostly reads like YA, and that's how it was presented to me, but there's a lot of discussion of/threat of rape. It'd be one thing if this were a book discussing actual history, but as “flavoring” in a fantasy novel, I don't tend to like that in adult books, let alone YA. I dunno. Unresolved feelings about that.

I think the resolution wasn't as strong as the setup but it was still very interesting. Really enjoyed the book overall. A lot of fascinating philosophical questions wrapped up in a sci-fi thriller. Good stuff.

Listened on Audible, which adds (as far as I can tell) even more rambling digressions than the book apparently has (in the form of footnotes – called out as such in the audiobook). It's an interesting memoir. Didn't answer a ton of questions – in fact, it prompted a few I still don't have answers for. He discusses “regrets” and then lists things that of course he should be proud of... that one stuck out to me because it was as the book was ending.

It's not just a book of his comedy. It's heartfelt. But there's still a lot of comedy interspersed. It's a fun read (or listen). I'd recommend it.