This one wasn't my favorite. This novel felt like a weak part 1 to a 2-part story. My hope is that once Battle Grounds releases, we'll think of these two novels together as a larger story.
I felt like this book tried to make a case that this situation was more grand and more dire than any situation Harry's ever faced before. Everything is dialed to 11. There was a strong theme running throughout this book of loss of control, and combined, it read to me like a telenovela. I can enjoy schlock, but the rampant sexual tension throughout the book was a turn-off for me. I like the budding romance between Harry and Karrin, but the rest seems forced to me.
I hope Harry is able to shed the Winter Knight mantle; it makes him a less interesting character to me. This topic of loss of control was much better handled with his struggles with Lasciel, such as in in Dead Beat, in which Harry overcomes temptation through strength of character.
This book is excellent as a follow-up to The Coaching Habit. It's in the same easy to digest style. Whereas The Coaching Habit teaches you the skills to be more coach-like, this book is more like having a conversation with a brilliant coach about coaching.
As a consequence, I didn't find this book as immediately actionable and impactful, which led to my 4 star review (“qualified recommendation”). Time will tell if the exercises herein will pay dividends, and I'm excited to dig in and try them. I highly recommended it in conjunction with The Coaching Habit.
I've enjoyed the author's other books. This one did not work for me. In his other fables, there's often a dialogue where the characters talk about the principles being explained by the fable. Here Rich is a CEO whose doing it “right”, and Vince is a CEO of an identical organization doing it “wrong”.
Following the pattern of previous books, I expected Rich to explain to Vince his 4 principles for running his organization, and then to watch how Vince applied those and turned his company around. Sadly, the fable abruptly ends and this second act was left to the reader's imagination.
I see a lot of reviews that deride this book for its dialogic, “he said/she said” style. I found it charming, and their clear love for each other shone through and is what gave this book its authority. As such, I did not see it as the definitive Christian tomb on the subject of marriage, but rather a successful recipe for a healthy, Christian marriage.
This book exceeded my expectations. It not only talked about how to bullet journal — which I've been doing for a couple years prior — but it also talks about why. In those sections, Ryder brings in many useful techniques. Most were familiar to me from software development, but he applies them more generally than I've seen and to good effect.
No review would be complete without mentioning the prose in this book. It is crisp and quotable. Ryder was a way with words that shows he crafted each sentence with care. Since this is one of his selling points for the method, the book is living proof that being intentional and mindful with your life allows you to imbue deep meaning to your speech. Bravo!
This is a great book in the topic. I gave it 3 stars because it's age shows in places — the last chapter is a 15-year trip to the future of servant leadership in 2015. The core of the book still holds true, though I think there are better resources available now than this book. I'd love to see an update.