Rob

Executive Summary: This is a book that introduced me to [a:Stephen King 3389 Stephen King http://d.gr-assets.com/authors/1362814142p2/3389.jpg] and my very first adult series. A friend gave me the book that first time and told me I must read it. It's been many years since that first time, and many re-reads since then, but it was just as enjoyable this time as it was the first. Maybe more-so as I am much better read and more experienced than that teenaged version of myself. Audio book: I borrowed the audible version of the revised edition of this book from a friend. The reader is George Guidall. He was enjoyable enough, and his voice seems suited to the tale. I opted to do an audio-book re-‘read' of the series as my friend has been experiencing it for the first time and I find my memory of it lacking.One of the things lost by doing the audio however is the artwork. I have 1-4 in trade paperback by Plume (with both the original text and updated version that this audiobook contains) and the original hard cover releases of 5-7. The Plume editions contain some, but not all of the artwork contained in the original hard cover releases.Some may not welcome the art, as they prefer to let their own imaginations paint the pictures, but I've always been lacking in visual imagination so I welcome the inspiration to help my brain fill in the rest. I plan to make it a point to re-visit the art at some point as my re-read continues.Full ReviewThe start of an epic journey. Or is it? The start I mean. “The man in black fled across the desert, and the gunslinger followed.”Why? To what purpose? How long has he been chasing him? Ah my friends, these are but a few of many questions.The journey is the key, and here we throw our lot in with the Gunslinger as he speeds towards his goal. Will we ever reach it? One must continue the journey with Roland to find out. And so I have. Again.I've lost track of how many times I've read this book. It's probably my least favorite in the series, and yet it contains some of my favorite moments.The glimpses into Roland's childhood that are a large part of what makes [b:Wizard and Glass 5096 Wizard and Glass (The Dark Tower, #4) Stephen King http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327946510s/5096.jpg 750558] one of my absolute favorite books are present in this book with much smaller doses. The story of Roland's coming of age in particular is one I could listen to again and again (and so I have, say thankee-sai).Another particular favorite of mine is Tull. It gives us a glimpse, and it just a glimpse of who the Gunslinger really is. One of the revisions in the scene I'm not sure I agree with. In the original text Roland shoots Allie without her begging him for it. It's not a “Han Shot First” re-write for me, but one I felt un-necessary that tries to offer some forgiveness for Roland's actions.That said. I love this book. The original book is actually a collection of 5 stories that were published in a magazine over the span of about 3 years. Mr. King revised the book in 2003. For the most part, the revisions help to fill out the story and clear up some continuity issues that Mr. King hadn't worked out when he first wrote them. You could maybe call it ret-con, but I really consider it more of clarification of detail that was lacking.I've always wondered why so many people don't like this book. My friend listened to it with his brother. He almost quit the series right there. His brother did. I've seen many people recommend skipping this book outright and coming back to it at the end. I suppose that would work, but the need for it is beyond my comprehension.I thought maybe this re-read many years since my last around the time of the final 3 books release in the mid 2000s would shed some light on it. It did not.Maybe it's a sense of nostalgia. Maybe because I first read this book before many of the long sprawling epics I've tackled since. But their are certainly other books I enjoyed as a younger man that I no longer enjoy as an adult.This book isn't one of those. To me it offers you a glimpse and a promise of all that is to come. For that I must again say Thankee-sai to Mr. King.

Executive Summary: Another enjoyable entry in this series, thought probably not quite as enjoyable as [b:Skyward 36642458 Skyward (Skyward, #1) Brandon Sanderson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1531845177l/36642458.SY75.jpg 58411143].Audiobook: Suzy Jackson does a good job with this one. She has a good read voice and cadence and does a few voices to give it that little extra something. The nature of these books make them work really well in audioFull ReviewA few years ago I swore off an “non-cosmere” Sanderson books. Then I went ahead picked up [b:Skyward 36642458 Skyward (Skyward, #1) Brandon Sanderson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1531845177l/36642458.SY75.jpg 58411143] last year anyways when I was looking for a light/fun read for a holiday road trip.I'm glad I did. While I'm not necessarily going to run out and read other non-cosmere stuff I'm a lot more open to it now than I was after [b:Calamity 15704486 Calamity (Reckoners, #3) Brandon Sanderson https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1437098338l/15704486.SY75.jpg 21366542].I really enjoy Spensa. She can be frustrating at times, but she's easy to root for. The supporting characters are also fantastic. M-bot especially, but all of her squad is great.It was kind of sad we didn't get too much of her squad in this one, but I found the new supporting characters in this book to be almost as enjoyable. I especially loved the Kitsen.As with most Sanderson books, the world building has me hooked in. I want to know all the secrets, and at times wonder how these series couldn't fit itself into the cosmere somehow.This was once again another fun/light read and I'm looking forward to picking up the next one whenever it comes out. In the meantime I have a new cosmere book to look forward to!

Executive Summary: In the third and final book of the Liveship Traders trilogy, Ms. Hobb expertly brings everything that built up for 3 books to an exciting and satisfying conclusion. Many people seem to skip this trilogy and jump right into The Tawny Man Trilogy. I think this is a mistake. While there is very little overlap with Farseer (and maybe Tawny man, can't say for sure since I haven't read it yet), it's quite well written with many diverse and interesting characters.Full ReviewI got sidetracked reading [b:Cloud Atlas 49628 Cloud Atlas David Mitchell http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1344305390s/49628.jpg 1871423] between this book and [b:The Mad Ship 45101 The Mad Ship (Liveship Traders, #2) Robin Hobb http://d.gr-assets.com/books/1328628210s/45101.jpg 2571145]. It seemed to slow my momentum down. That coupled with the slow burn style of Ms. Hobb's writing. It took me 12 days to read the first 300 pages, but only 4 days to read the last 500 or so.This book even more than the previous two, switches perspectives a lot. At some times it's only a paragraph or two to swap, especially near the end. It makes for a fast paced ending as all the subplots begin to converge.For me the most impressive part of this trilogy was the character development. She took a character like Malta Versit and through character growth changed her from someone I want to reach into the book and strangle for being a spoiled little twit to someone of great strength and cunningI could go on to cite more examples, but you should just read for yourself. Where the characters are at the beginning of the trilogy and where they end up by the end seems miles apart. Ms. Hobb does an expert job in getting them there. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes Ms. Hobb's writing and especially to anyone whose already read the Farseer trilogy.

Mostly enjoyed this. I was a bit disappointed at parts of the “big reveal” though. 3.5 stars.

Executive Summary: This has many of the same issues I had with the last book, but overall I liked it better.Audiobook: I really love Tim Gerard Reynolds as a narrator, and I have generally mixed feelings about multiple narrators. However this series has 3 additional quality narrators, so that makes this still a must listen to me. Mr. Reynolds is still my favorite of the bunch, but they all add their own extra something.Full ReviewMuch like the originally trilogy, I found the first book of this sequel trilogy frustrating. And again like the original trilogy I liked the second book much better. However some of my issues with [b:Iron Gold 33257757 Iron Gold (Red Rising Saga, #4) Pierce Brown https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1482475064l/33257757.SY75.jpg 49451841] have not gone away in this book. It might be that I had some time to cool down, it could simply be that I came into this book being ready to be pissed off again that makes the difference. It's hard to say.I definitely don't think the sequels are anywhere near as good as [b:Golden Son 18966819 Golden Son (Red Rising, #2) Pierce Brown https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1394684475l/18966819.SY75.jpg 26984955] or [b:Morning Star 18966806 Morning Star (Red Rising, #3) Pierce Brown https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1461354277l/18966806.SY75.jpg 26984941]. This being so deep into the series, there isn't a lot I can say about the book without major series spoilers.I am hoping considering the developments of this book that the final book of this trilogy will help redeem the last two. I guess we'll see what happens. Either way I'll be picking it up as soon as it's out, so what more can an author really ask for?

Executive Summary: I enjoyed this far more than the last book, but probably not quite as much as the first one.

Audiobook: Another fantastic audio book as always. Marc Thompson is a one man Star Wars universe and this is one of the few books where I don't mind music or sound effects.

Full Review
I don't do a lot of Star Wars books and before listening to the original Thrawn trilogy, I wasn't particularly interested in reading any to begin with. Thrawn is an intriguing character. In most cases he's been a villain but in this series it's more ambiguous.

He's still working for the Empire, but as he's fighting the rebels it's far easier to like and cheer for him and his crew. I'm not really sure how many Thrawn books this series is supposed to be, but this didn't really feel like an ending. Maybe that's because his story picks up in Star Wars Rebels, but I'm not sure this left off where that starts either.

Instead it both continues on the series and mostly feels like a stand alone story. We get more details on the Chiss Ascendancy, and get some background on well known Star Wars events.

Overall I found this an enjoyable story and I'd happily read another Thrawn book, but it adds little to the movies or TV. Like most of the books I've read it offers some back story to things you see on screen, but they are never going to put critical details that would leave those who don't read the books in the dark.

Executive Summary: The start of this book really dragged for me and for that reason it's the first book in the series I'm not giving 5 stars too. Once it got going though I remembered why I love this series so much.

Full Review
Done! After nearly 6 weeks. First 5 weeks: 500 pages read. Last week: 700 pages read. The last part of this book was an easy 5 star read for me. But that first part really really dragged. I'm sad that this will be the first book of the series I don't give a 5 star rating too. He was batting 1000% so far.

It's hard for me to seperate this book and 2020. My reading this year is way down. I just can't concentrate. I'd pick this up and read 1 or 2 chapters. I'd set it down to check my phone or would doze off. But that was happening with other books too.

Once I really started getting into though, I remembered why this is one of my favorite series. The same elements that made it slow in the first half remained, but the rest of the story was picking up momentum and carrying me through those parts.

I'm not sure if the payoff of those slower sections was worth it for me. Normally I love Kaladin's parts and really enjoy Shallans. Both of them were a drag early on, especially Shallan's. Kaladin's got better much faster.

I was mostly clinging to Andolin's story in the early going, so of course right at it was getting good, it stops for a few HUNDRED pages. Sigh.

I was kind of indifferent on Navani's parts for much of the book as well, but that too improved as it went on. So really the book just took awhile to get its hooks into me.

Overall this is the weakest of the series so far to me, but still an enjoyable read. Now to wait for the next one. With where this leaves off, I'll be curious to see what he's got in store for the mid-series finale.

Overall, I find this to be the

It started off fairly plausible, but by the end had jumped off the deep end. Still it was a fairly enjoyable ride along the way. I'm a little disappointed with the ending. It left me feeling like the book was incomplete. Not so much a cliffhanger to get you wanting the next book, just sort of no real ending. Worth a read if you like tech fiction. I plan to read the sequel. Hopefully that will wrap up what missing from this book.

I liked this book almost as much as Ender's Game. I certainly liked it a lot more then Speaker for the Dead, etc..

It really gives you a whole new perspective on the original. Now I want to go back and re-read ender's game, as well as read the next shadow book, to find out what happens to bean.

Executive Summary: A little slow at times, but by the end I was hooked and eagerly awaiting the next book to come out.Audiobook: Steven Pacey does his usual excellent job. I think he's narrated most of the First Law books, and he really make them a must listen for me. He does a variety of voices and has good pacing and inflection.Full ReviewI've enjoyed most of the First Law books, but since reading [b:Red Country 13521459 Red Country (First Law World, #6) Joe Abercrombie https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1333663008l/13521459.SY75.jpg 19082135] 4 years ago, I have mostly rolled off of darker fantasy. I didn't find this one quite as dark as some of the previous entries, but it's not exactly sunshine and rainbows either.My favorite book of the series to this point was [b:The Heroes 9300768 The Heroes (First Law World, #5) Joe Abercrombie https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1375671200l/9300768.SY75.jpg 12879765], and that hasn't changed. However I probably like this about as much as the original trilogy, and more than [b:Best Served Cold 2315892 Best Served Cold Joe Abercrombie https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1347732723l/2315892.SY75.jpg 2322406]. I'm not sure but I probably like [b:Red Country 13521459 Red Country (First Law World, #6) Joe Abercrombie https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1333663008l/13521459.SY75.jpg 19082135] better as well. So what that boils down to is this book is somewhere in the middle of the pack for me. I never liked the original trilogy quite as much as some of my friends seemed to.My biggest issue with this book was just how long it's been since I've read most of those books, especially the original trilogy. This book could really have done with some recap. I guess it doesn't have one since you could probably read this book without having read any of the previous books, but I'm not sure why you'd really want to.I'm still not quite sure why but Glotka remains one of my favorite characters. He's a terrible person, but he's almost always the smartest one in the room, so I enjoy him outsmarting others I guess. It was good to see him again, even if he's only a minor character and the focus is on his daughter Savine and others of her generation. She's not the only new character from the original books that is the offspring on a notable character. However most of them come as a bit of a surprise, so I'll just leave them for you to discover if you decide to read this. I thought most of the new characters were interesting in their own rights, and not remarkable for simply being someone's child. In addition to aging up most of the characters you know to have adult children, technology has advanced too. This setting has a very much industrial revolution feel, with all the benefits and issues that came along with it.Once I got back into the swing of things I found myself swept up in the story and all the new characters. I still don't have much of an interest in reading darker fantasy, but I do have an interest in seeing how the rest of this series turns out. I'll definitely be picking up the next one when it comes out.

Executive Summary: I've been trying to be cautious about the books I give 5 stars. I really enjoyed the 8 books before this one. Most are very high 4's, but this one was a 5.

From an author who seems to take pleasure in tormenting her characters, this was a surprisingly satisfying ending.

Full Review: As the year draws to a close, I look back on 9 books I read in the last 4 months by Robin Hobb. Books I might never have read if not for good reads.

This book caps off 3 stand alone trilogy that's by themselves are excellent. You can't really read Tawny Man without reading Farseer, but I suppose you could read Liveship without reading Farseer and many people have said their is no need to read Liveship before Tawny man.

To that I say why? Why would you deprive yourself of great books for one. For another this book once again strengthens my belief that you do yourself a disservice by skipping Liveship. While I can imagine you won't be confused without reading it, you certainly miss out on a lot of the back story and significance of certain things.

I had not expected to finish all 9 books this year, but once I finished my December book club pick with most of the month left, I resolved to read the whole Tawny Man trilogy before what stands to be a very busy reading year in 2013.

I'm glad I did. It was a great way to cap off the year in between all the holiday busyness finding time here and there to read.

Ms. Hobb found a way to resolve things in satisfying manner while still leaving me with a few questions that I'm OK with not having answers to. Sometimes speculating is the best part of a good book. That way the book never truly ends.

Before coming to this trilogy I've read people who have clamored for more Fitz and the Fool books by Ms. Hobb. Her most recent entries in the Eldering series (Rain Wild Chronicles) which takes place at the same time as this series apparently contain neither. I expect I will read that series, but plan to take a break before doing so.

I would happily read another book with those characters if done right. But I'm perfectly content at leaving well enough alone for fear of ruining a good thing.

Executive Summary: I found this one a bit slow in places, but it finished strong. I enjoyed it, but not as much as the last one. 3.5 Stars.

Audiobook: Roger Wayne does another quality job. His normal reading voice is clear and he reads with good tempo. Plus he does a few voices that gives the audio version that little extra something I've come to expect. I can tell just from the voices which character is talking and that makes for a more enjoyable listen.

Full Review
This series continues to be a lot of fun. The last book was probably my favorite of the series so far because it focused so much on Rogues, which has always been my favorite type of character to roleplay.

This one focuses more on Paladins, which I generally dislike. Paladins have a tendency to do what is right no matter what the consequences are and that kind of thinking has just never sat well with me. I guess I'm just a lot more Chaotic Good than Lawful Good.

The mystery tying the two main stories of the series continues to be interesting, but we learned very little new in this volume. I would have liked more with that regard. Things did get set up nicely for the next book, so maybe we'll finally get some more answers then.

Overall this continues to be a fun series, but I hope he's going somewhere with it and not simply meandering around on a neverending role playing campaign. For now I'm still on board with picking up the next book just as soon as it's available.

This ain't your father's comics.

I read this awhile back (sometime before the movie). It's dark and more realistic than typical comics, in that no one really has any super powers. That doesn't stop people from tossing on a mask and trying to be a super hero. The characters are far more flawed than the normal comic heroes that preceded this book.

I think this book changed comics forever.

Executive Summary: A slow start, but a strong finish made this a pretty enjoyable read. 3.5 Stars.

Audiobook: This is the first book I've listened to narrated by Jeff Harding. I thought he did a really good job. He does a few voices and reads with a good cadence and volume. This is definitely one of those books that works well in audio.

Full Review
Their on a mission from god! When Jake Blues finds out his childhood home is going to be closed unless he can raise $5000 in short order he convinces his brother Elwood to help him get the band back together and crazy hijinks ensue.

OK, so I might have gotten some of those details slightly wrong, but every time they said “We're getting the band back together” (and this happened a fair bit) I just kept thinking of the Blues Brothers movie.

Instead of Jake and Elwood we have Golden Gabe and Slowhand Clay Cooper who set out on adventure to reunite their once great band of adventurers, the legendary Saga, in order to save Gabe's daughter from an angry horde.

I thought most of the characters were a bit cookie cutter, but still fun. Clay was a sympathetic protagonist, and Gabe made for a fine catalyst, but neither are especially memorable in the pantheon of fantasy characters. The rest of the band is about the same. They all fill their role, but nothing we haven't really seen before. The long exception is probably Moog the Wizard. The crazy wizard isn't exactly new, but I still found him a lot of fun.

My favorite character however probably has to be the bandit leader Jane. She's a pretty minor character, but is very memorable. I hope she plays a larger role in sequel.

The world building felt like it was based on D&D manual, which works well for me. There was a variety of classes and monsters straight out of the manual.

That said, the book was still a lot of fun. Nothing like some old and out of shape heroes stumbling their way through a dangerous world full of monsters.

Despite very familiar themes, I was hooked in by the end eager to find out what would happen next. This book was far from groundbreaking, but I enjoyed it enough to continue on with the series.

Executive Summary: This series seems to alternate between great books and just good ones. This was a good one. I felt like too much time was spent setting things up and just as it was set, it ended. 3.5 stars.Audiobook: Tim Gerard Reynolds does his usual fantastic job. I've enjoyed every book he's narrated, and none more than those written by Mr. Sullivan. The narration helped me through some of the slower parts at the start of this book.Full ReviewSo far I've rated both [b:Age of Myth 26863057 Age of Myth (The Legends of the First Empire, #1) Michael J. Sullivan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1507307691l/26863057.SY75.jpg 24657657] and [b:Age of War 18052169 Age of War (The Legends of the First Empire, #3) Michael J. Sullivan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1516720471l/18052169.SX50.jpg 25336191] as 5 stars but [b:Age of Swords 32337902 Age of Swords (The Legends of the First Empire, #2) Michael J. Sullivan https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1481987017l/32337902.SY75.jpg 25336186] was a 4 and this one 3.5. I found both started slow but ended strong.It's almost as though he needs a book in between to set things up. With the way this one ended he's certainly set up for the next book to be another fantastic one. I just wish it didn't spend so much time meandering at the start.Things certainly took an unexpected turn for me, but I wanted to see what was going to happen next immediately. Because the book took so long to get there if left me a bit disappointed. That said this was still a good book, just not at the level of some of the others.Given how it ended I'm eagerly awaiting the next one, especially because I know it's already been written. I'm hoping the release will be either later this year or earlier next year when hopefully all the setup of this book is finally paid off.

Executive Summary: An unexpected but welcome addition to the Bobiverse. I felt it started a bit slow but really picked up as the book went along. I'm looking forward to the next one.Audiobook: Ray Porter once again does a great job. I'm glad they were able to get him to continue on with this series. He does a variety of voices that really add that extra something such that I'll always do it in audio. Which is good since it's an audible exclusive.Full ReviewWhen [b:All These Worlds 35506021 All These Worlds (Bobiverse, #3) Dennis E. Taylor https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1498271736l/35506021.SY75.jpg 54144690] came out three years ago I thought it was a satisfying but rushed conclusion. I didn't need there to be a fourth book, but I was happy to pick one up.This book has one main plot and one major subplot. Initially I found the subplot far more interesting and the main plot was rather slow. As the book went out things evened out though and my interest in the main plot grew.I feel like some of the plot points weren't really wrapped up to my satisfaction, but that probably just sets things up for the next book.Overall like the previous books I found this a lot of geeky fun. I'll be curious to see where he's going to take things from here.

Executive Summary: This was a well-written book that was totally not for me. 2.5 Stars

Audiobook: Perdita Weeks did a really good job with the narration, and I'd probably never have finished this book if I did the text instead of the audio.

Full Review
This book wasn't on my radar, but it was chosen for Sword & Laser in June. I had an inkling it wouldn't be for me, and thankfully I was able to get the audio from the library.

I liked Circe as a character. For the most part. I certainly liked Circe at the end of the book far more than the start. There was some good character development as a result.

I've never been a big fan of Mythology of any kind. I've enjoyed some fantasy series that have leverage Mythology, but apart from studying it back in school, I don't know a lot about it. I suspect for people who do like Greek/Roman mythology there is a lot to enjoy/geek out about here.

Apparently if I had, I'd recalled just how awful all the gods were. To each other. To humans. To pretty much everyone. I don't really want to read a book about a bunch of assholes. I get enough of that in the daily news.

I found parts of this very hard to read. It was just very depressing. I needed a palette cleanser afterwards. I did find the ending a lot more enjoyable (the last 10-15% maybe?). It was also very well written. For those reasons I rounded up to a 3 from a 2.5.

I can understand why some people really enjoyed the book, it just wasn't for me.

Executive Summary: Another fun book by Mr. Scalzi, although I wish it had been a bit longer.

Audiobook: Once again, John Scalzi and Wil Wheaton make a perfect fit. John Scalzi books are always full of snark, and Wil Wheaton is great at delivering it. He also does a few voices along the way that makes this a definite audio choice for me.

Full Review
I found the start of this book a little slow. I'm bad at names, so maybe I missed the significance later in the book, but I don't really get the point of the prologue. Once the story got back to the main characters of the first book however, I found it really enjoyable.

This series is the kind of character-driven space opera that I enjoy the most. There is just enough science there to make things interesting, but really it's all about the people and politics from a scientific crisis than about the science behind it.

Kiva continues to be my favorite character that Mr. Scalzi has written to date. Her chapters were again the ones I enjoyed the most in this book. She's still not a person that I'd probably get along with, but one I certainly find entertaining to read about.

I think Cardenia is now a close second. She's really coming into her own in this book. I really look forward to seeing where things go next. I don't want to get into specifics but people will continue to underestimate her at their own peril.

I liked Marce a lot more in this book than the previous one. His storyline was not at all what I was expecting and led to some very interesting developments that I wish were explored more in this book.

I always enjoy John Scalzi books, and this series so far has been one of my favorites. I am a bit concerned at how short this book was and how much their seems to be to wrap this series up in only one more book. He really expanded the plot a lot in this book. While this set things up nicely for the next book, I have concerns there will be a lot of loose ends to tie up.

Overall, another fun book in this series, and I'm eagerly looking forward to the next one.

Executive Summary: This book seemed to have less high stakes, but I think in many ways I liked it better. Definitely another great entry in this series.

Audiobook: Kevin R. Free once again does a good job at portraying Murderbot. He nails the sarcasm very well. This book definitely works well in audio.

Full Review
I really enjoyed the first book of this series, but I struggle with the rise in popularity of novellas. I've become so spoiled by 20+ hour audiobooks that a 4 hour book feels like a bad deal.

I managed to get this book as part of a buy one get one sale, and realized that despite it's short length it's one of the best series of the last few years. I feel like the stakes of this story wasn't quite as high as the last book, but I really enjoyed the relationship between Murderbot and the Research Transport ship.

It was this kind of slice of life aspect to the story that endeared Murderbot to me even more than the first book.

That isn't to say there isn't any action. Murderbot takes a job protecting humans who just can't help but get themselves in trouble. Luckily our sarcastic TV loving robot is here to save the day!

I enjoyed this so much I decided to just bite the bullet and buy the rest of the series. I'm eagerly looking forward to the final two novellas and to see where things go from here.

Executive Summary: I ended up enjoying this a lot more than I expected to. It wasn't as fun as his NPCs series but given that I'm not a big fairy tale fan, I was pleasantly surprised at how much fun he made it.Audiobook: I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the 3 narrator approach, but it seemed to work well. I'm not sure which of the male narrators was the primary, whoever voiced Jack, but they did a good job with the overall narration beyond just reading Jack's parts. Both other of the others did a good job as well. If Mr. Hayes writes a sequel, I hope they hire the same three again. It definitely worked well in audio.Full ReviewI really enjoy Drew Hayes [b:NPCs 22088245 NPCs (Spells, Swords, & Stealth, #1) Drew Hayes https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1400095217s/22088245.jpg 41426688] series, but I haven't read any of his other stuff before. There has been a bit of a trend to write modern fairy tales, or to repurpose traditional fairy tales. I've read a few and I enjoyed the show Grimm, but it's not something I was really itching for reading more of.I mostly picked this book up because it was on sale and a bit on the strength of his other books I've read. The majority of this book is episodic. Each chapter uses a classic fairy tale and puts a (often humorous) twist on it. I recognized most, but not all of the stories, but as I said fairy tales aren't really my thing.I tend to prefer a bigger story than something episodic like this, but it really seemed to work well, and he did still manage to build a pretty compelling glue story connecting them all together.My favorite part was learning the backstories of the three main characters. I had kind of guessed two of them, but one of them took me by surprise. It's possible if I knew fairy tales better, I'd have been less surprised but it's hard to say.Overall this was a pretty fun/light read and I'd definitely pick up another if he wrote it, but if not it ended in a pretty decent place.

Rat Queens is awesome, so I bought this Deluxe Edition.I originally reviewed these issues with each trade paper. Those reviews are linked below if you're so inclined.[b:Rat Queens, Vol. 3: Demons 28762820 Demons (Rat Queens, #3) Kurtis J. Wiebe https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1489503059l/28762820.SY75.jpg 48893668] - (My Review)[b:Rat Queens, Vol. 4: High Fantasies 35631919 High Fantasies (Rat Queens, #4) Kurtis J. Wiebe https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1499647551l/35631919.SX50.jpg 57083568] - (My Review)

Executive Summary: I thought this book started a bit slow but got pretty good by the end. It didn't hurt that it's heavily connected to the [b:The Bill Hodges Trilogy 27406812 The Bill Hodges Trilogy Boxed Set Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, and End of Watch (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #1-3) Stephen King https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1463042065s/27406812.jpg 47454319]Audiobook: Will Patton does a good job again. He does a few voices, but mostly I just think his general reading voice is a good fit for these sort of horror/mystery books King seems to be writing recently. With it's heavy connection to the Bill Hodges books, it was cool that they got the same narrator as that series.Full ReviewStephen King loves to tie his books together. Sometimes there are large connections, sometimes small. Most of them relate back to the Dark Tower, but not all. This book had been on my radar before, but I wasn't planning to read it so soon until I learned of it's connection to [b:The Bill Hodges Trilogy 27406812 The Bill Hodges Trilogy Boxed Set Mr. Mercedes, Finders Keepers, and End of Watch (Bill Hodges Trilogy, #1-3) Stephen King https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1463042065s/27406812.jpg 47454319]. I'm not sure how much of a spoiler it is to say what the connections are since it comes about halfway into the book, but I will say I'm not sure you'll enjoy this book as much if you haven't already read/enjoyed that series. It certainly includes what I'd consider major spoilers for that series even though I wouldn't go so far as to call this book a sequel to those. Needless to say I enjoyed the second half more than the first.If you plan to read those books eventually, you should probably read them first. If you don't care about this series you shouldn't feel like you have to (although I personally thought that series is some of the best stuff he's written in awhile). I found many of the main characters in this hard to like, especially the lead detective Ralph Anderson and the District Attorney. I should say that both had decent character growth in as the book went on however. For the most part the most sympathetic characters were the victims.This book starts off really dark, even for King and I found the description of the original crime very hard to listen to. In general I don't consider myself a fan of horror, but I'm a huge fan of Stephen King. I don't think all of his books are horror though. This one is probably almost as much thriller/mystery as it is horror, especially later on.Overall, I found this a very enjoyable read and anytime King ties a new book to one I've already read and enjoyed I tend to like it that much more.

Executive Summary: Less Sci-Fi and more Historical Fiction, but really enjoyable. I'd pitch it as a cross between [b:The Martian 18007564 The Martian Andy Weir https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1413706054s/18007564.jpg 21825181] and [b:Hidden Figures 30840370 Hidden Figures The Untold True Story of Four African-American Women Who Helped Launch Our Nation into Space Margot Lee Shetterly https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1474752658s/30840370.jpg 55627110]Audiobook: Normally I'm not a fan of authors reading their own work, but I've listened to Ms. Kowal as a narrator for other books before and she is good. She does a few voices and accents that add that little extra something to the audio version.Full ReviewI've been wanting to read a book by Ms. Kowal for a few years, but the blurbs for her previous books just never really appealed to me. This one however was right up my alley.I'm not sure how much research she did, but it seems like a lot. The fiction part of this book is mostly setting up a reason to accelerate the US space program by about a decade and then continue to push it forward from that point in a way we never really did. It sort of posits: “What would our space exploration look like if we made it the main focus and not just a Cold War arms race?”.I really like Elma. I can relate a lot to her and her social anxiety. I love the way she counts numbers in her head when she's feeling anxious. Maybe I should give that a try. All of the characters are pretty great though, even those I don't like at all (I'm looking at you Parker).I'm not really a fan of romance stories, which I think is one of the things that has kept me away from Ms. Kowal's previous works. There is definitely a romance subplot here, but it's not the focus. I will say there is A LOT of sexual innuendo/double entrades. I mostly found it funny, but if that kind of thing bothers you, you could get tired of it.Even though this book is set in the 1950s, there is a lot of commentary relevant today. I'm not sure how much of that is clever writing and how much is just the sad fact of how little progress has been made since that time. I thought it was well done without being heavy handed. It was important to the plot, but not the point of the plot if that makes any sense.Overall I really enjoyed this book a lot and immediately jumped right into the second one. I'm glad I was finally able to pick up a book by Ms. Kowal and that I liked it as much as I did.

Executive Summary: This book wasn't really for me. It's more about the journey than anything else, and I found the journey full of lulls. 2.5 Stars.

Audiobook: I'm generally not a fan of authors reading their own work. I think this story might have been better with a different narrator. Mr. Crowley isn't bad per-say, but his voice is kind of soothing and when the story was slow, it was easy to sort of lose my concentration.

Full Review
There have been a few books whose point is the journey that I've liked, but those are few and far between. This one was OK, but I often found myself bored.

I love the portrayal of the crows, in particular the titular character. However I guess I don't find crow life very exciting. My favorite parts were some of the relationships that Dar Oakely had. In particular I liked his first real relationship with a human.

Often though I found I just didn't really care what he was up to. I think this is one of those books where you'll just love the prose and sort of slice of crow life, or you'll find it mostly boring as I did. Despite being well written, it just wasn't a great fit for me.

Executive Summary: This book was very uneven for me. I was reluctant to pick up a book by Sam Sykes and I'm reluctant to continue on with this series.

Full Review
Humor is subjective. Personally, I don't find Sam Sykes twitter antics funny. I follow a lot of his friends and often time they get mixed up with his antics. I mostly just roll my eyes and ignore them.

So when Sword & Laser chose this for their October 2019 pick, I wasn't sure how I felt. I decided if I was going to read it, I'd see about borrowing a copy from the library in case I didn't enjoy it.

My results were a bit mixed. I'm not a fan of anti-heroes anymore. I do like cool magic systems though, and this definitely had that.

The humor (as probably expected) didn't really land for me. I don't feel like there was a lot of it, which surprised me a bit given his Twitter persona and that probably helped this books cause.

Inevitably though, I found this book too long, and slow in places. Whenever I was getting into the story, things seemed to slow down and my attention would drift.

The world building much like the magic system was good though. I am curious to find out what happens next. I'm just not sure I'm THAT curious to pick up the sequel later this year.