4.5 stars. Good info here, but I can't say I learned anything new by reading it. If the author wasn't such a nauseatingly vacuous buffoon, I'd give it4.5 stars. Good info here, but I can't say I learned anything new by reading it. If the author wasn't such a nauseatingly vacuous buffoon, I'd give it the full 5 stars....more
**spoiler alert** The first 500 pages is all pre-fight hype, all preparation for a massive showdown between the characters you have come to love and a**spoiler alert** The first 500 pages is all pre-fight hype, all preparation for a massive showdown between the characters you have come to love and an enormous enemy. For 500 pages I'm wondering how these undermatched but ingenious protagonists will deal with this impossible situation. So what does the author do in the last 100 pages? Whoosh! The enemy army is quickly whipped off the table and the big fight never happens. Because of a plague. (Nobody liked that ending in War of the Worlds so why repeat the mistake here?)
Same thing with Shuyun. I spent 1000 pages (including Book 1) waiting for him to do something awesome with his chi abilities, and then suddenly he moves into action for half a page, a couple midlevel bosses hit the ground, and it's all over. "Wait, that was it??"
The stuff with Shuyun and Nishima (my favorite character) was also annoying. Sure, their relationship was always awkward, but I figured (hoped) that the author would somehow pull things together in a satisfying way to make all their chapters coalesce retrospectively. Instead, Shuyun hits the road and the book is over. Except for an eye-rolling end credits scene where the author, as a sort of appeasement, suddenly gives Nishima some other guy.
I agree with another reviewer who felt that this book is probably an example of discovery writing gone wrong. An outline might have helped.
I was really enjoying the first 1000 pages of this 1100-page duology so, despite my annoyances with the ending, I give it 3.5 stars....more
I picked this up in a pile of discarded books and didn't expect much from it. The book turned out to be an excellent description of life in ancient IsI picked this up in a pile of discarded books and didn't expect much from it. The book turned out to be an excellent description of life in ancient Israel. The illustrations were not super attractive but, as I got used to them, I found them to be very useful and spent a lot of time studying them. The book covered an enormous number of details from that time period, leaving me with the feeling that I had a good working understanding of almost every aspect of these people's lives. I'll keep this one on the shelf to refer back to over the years....more
This was a quick read and a lot of fun! I had to suspend disbelief a bit, but I don't mind doing that for an author who was clearly trying to provide This was a quick read and a lot of fun! I had to suspend disbelief a bit, but I don't mind doing that for an author who was clearly trying to provide an ambitious and unconventional ride--one that occasionally went in directions I never would have predicted. Also, in my searches for high quality humor writing in science fiction, I have found a scant few beyond Douglas Adams. Harry Harrison makes my shortlist, and I'm excited to read more of his stuff....more
My older sister and I used to play an eerily enchanting video game on the Commodore 64 in the mid-80s called Below the Root. I think I mostly watched My older sister and I used to play an eerily enchanting video game on the Commodore 64 in the mid-80s called Below the Root. I think I mostly watched my sister play because she knew what she was doing and I was a bit young for it. The game had such a unique aesthetic (characters gliding through a forest of enormous trees) and it generated such strange feelings in me that it has stayed with me through the years. I noticed this book cover in a used bookstore recently and was surprised to find that this strange game was based on a 1975 Lois Lowry-esque book. I ended up enjoying the book though it wasn't super compelling....more
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