Mike Pearce
Loved this book. The premise is good - a bit lockdown trite, but a great read nonetheless.
It’s also been a long time since a book made me actually cry real tears wet on my face. Those last few pages melted me.
Bravo.
Contains spoilers
Much like Indiana Jones and the Raiders of the Lost Ark, this book had a ridiculous ending that was not even remotely influenced by the characters who should have been influencing them.
Abi and Costa went to Oxford to die. They didn't need to. The outcome of the book would have been the same had they visited Flo, then gone home and read a book.
Marvin needn't have spent some much angst fixing the piano, he could have just done it and then had a nice glass of whiskey to celebrate. He had no baring on the outcome of the book.
Flo should have just gone to Chard as soon as Costa arrived.
Everything that happened, aside from making the plane and the plans for the plane (which none of the protaganists had a hand in - they didn't even know), after Costa left the Spire had no bearing on the outcome of the novel.
Which is a huge shame, because I really enjoyed the book right up to the pointless ending. The world building was excellent, the characters had depth and I really felt for them. The aliens really worked well and the bad guys were disgusting (in a good way - well written and made me mad at them).
The story itself was good too. But the whole thing was let down by the ending.
I'll probably read another Massimo Paradiso book (which is a cool name btw), but I can't really recommend anyone read this.
Excellent book. Thoroughly enjoyable read. Has the right level of creepy stuff going on in every chapter. Sarah Landon ratchets up the suspends drip by drip until it’s difficult to put down.
A Better World is one of those rare books that has a strong, satisfying ending that tantalises more, but doesn’t need to deliver anything that it hasn’t already. Bravo.
Pretty good space opera. Fairly predictable, but enjoyable and fast paced nonetheless. I especially like Fallon. She's exactly how I expect hardened soldiers to be!
This is a pretty good tale, especially so considering it's the authors first. A tried and tested formula of space-opera, plucky protagonist and sticky situations means it's often un-put-downable! That said, there are enough new bits of science-y tech and ideas about space-faring politics that it doesn't mimic existing universes - including a type of space drive (STDS) that I've not read about in other novels.
In the same vein as Lois McMaster Bujold with a dash of Asimov politics (just a dash mind, it's not heavy politics and even my mediocre understanding of politics isn't stressed too much). Connor, Stuart and Magnus are characters that I'm looking forward to reading more about.
The only thing that let's down the tale is the dialogue. Some of it is inconsistent and occasionally jarring - things said that appear out of character (Space Pirates should never use the word “nice”). Overall though, a minor detraction from an otherwise enjoyable novel.
Literally only interesting if you're implementing ISO27001. Otherwise, the plot is dull. However, the author manages to make what could be an incredibly dry topic quite interesting. There are few examples, but that's kind of the point, ISO27001 is specific to your company.
Worth a read if you're doing anything information security related.
Utter tripe. Don't bother. The format is almost entirely the same.
1. Have a problem.
2. Sit/Lie/Stand. Breath. Think about problem.
3. Problem goes away
Bloody brilliant! Edge of your seat stuff. If you like Robert Rankin, you'll love this!
I dove straight into this book without reading the “First Published...” etc like I normally do. So, I was a bit confused when he started talking about computer screens you touch with a light pen! This book hasn't aged well in terms of technology, but, if you can get past that and transpose some of the old stuff with new stuff you've seen in holidaywood or newer books, it's a cracking read. [return][return]I did, however, feel that the end was a little bit of a let down. I think it was trying for a War of the Worlds twist at the end, but it just didn't seem worth it.[return][return]Read the book as it's a good crack, but don't be surprised if the end creeps up on you quickly and then goes out with a whimper!
This book is an absolute must read for anyone “in charge of” or responsible for people. Superb view on “human error”.
Not as good as The Stars My Destination and quite hard to read, but the core story is pretty cool.
Pretty sweet book actually, but more like “The subtle art of giving a f*ck about some things.”
This book was absolutely amazing. I'm not usually a big fan of fantasy (unless it's sci-fi) but this had me engrossed. I loved the world building, the characters and the story. Truly amazing. Can't wait to read the rest of the series.
Bloody good book, thoroughly enjoyed this space based robot sex novel. I wasn't sure what to expect when I read the synopsis on BoingBoing, but now I'm glad I read it. Lots of science-y bits to keep the geeks amongst us amused and a fair twist at the end. If you get the hardback, don't look at the photo of the author, it's hard to take the sex-scenes seriously if you do (as serious as you can take inter-robot-romance).
This is one of the best books I have ever read. It's a road movie in space which allows you to explore and understand each and every crew member of the Wayfarer. This book made me, a 39 year old man, cry on a packed train.
There isn't some galactic problem, some incredibly important mission that needs solving, or some undiscovered alien race threatening the existence of life. It's simply the story of a crew travelling to somewhere far away near a small, angry planet to do their job.
It's simply incredible.
Much longer than it needs to be. So much repetition. However, some fascinating and ultimately frightening knowledge.
Thoroughly enjoyed this. While it's not a particularly original idea, it's well executed and the world that is created has stayed with me - looking forward to the other books.
This book is OK, but not ground breaking. Summarised in one sentence it's: “Look after your people and they will look after your company.” but Sinek uses a bookload more words to repeat the same thing many times.
He does go into some detail about why the world is in such a state (hint: because if the baby boomers) and explains how we got here, which is interesting.
This is a lovely book, if you like haikus, and are interested in the history and are trying to achieve your Goodreads book challenge.