I am happy to say that I enjoyed Dungeon Crawler Carl more than I thought I would. Within the first 5%, when the Dungeon was introduced, the book was I am happy to say that I enjoyed Dungeon Crawler Carl more than I thought I would. Within the first 5%, when the Dungeon was introduced, the book was so ridiculous and I almost DNF'd it right there. My snobbish reading tendencies have caused me to turn my nose up at the whole LitRPG subgenre without even giving it a shot. The only thing that compelled me to actually pick this one up was knowing it was going to get adapted into film by Seth McFarland. I freaking love Orville and if this book could get even a little of that treatment, I think it could be an awesome adaptation.
As for the book itself... I wanted to scoff and turn my nose at it but... I get it. It's pure escapist fun and for some dang reason I just find that really hits the spot right now... (there is sarcasm in there. I know exactly why I need escapism).As a video game and table top RPG enthusiast, I found plenty in here to nerd out over. As a cat lover and occasional cat shower (my wife and I also raise and breed pure bred cats, some of which may be comparable to Princess Donut in majestic fluffiness) I had even MORE to relate to. In fact, I only just learned that Mr Dinniman lives in the same state as me so there's a chance we've run into him at cat shows and just didn't know it. I will have to look into this...
My rating of 3 seems low but I'm sticking with it for now, as I'm sure these books will only get better and on its own merits it just didn't quite reach that level of a great read for me. But it's very fun, the writing is perfectly competent and functional and often incredibly humorous. I'm not in a huge rush to read the next book but when I do I suspect I will be well and truly hooked. Really it's more of a 3.5 out of 5...Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ, you really need a 1-10 rating system. 3.5/5....more
As with all of Butler's books, I didn't pick this one up because I was expecting a fun time. I seem to only manage one, maybe two, Butler books a yearAs with all of Butler's books, I didn't pick this one up because I was expecting a fun time. I seem to only manage one, maybe two, Butler books a year because I have to steel myself against the way they hit me right in the soul and make me uncomfortable. (I read Adulthood Rites last year and absolutely loved it but still haven't brought myself to read Imago.) Her books really have a way of getting under my skin and making me uncomfortable, which I imagine is the point. Especially in the case of Kindred and its subject matter of slavery.
Reading this, I become very frustrated for Dana and for the enslaved characters she meets and befriends in her multiple travels back in time. This book does a lot with its subject matter and manages to ask a lot of questions without being blatant about it. The whole book is an amazing example of the "show, don't tell" rule. Kindred doesn't waste its time telling you that slavery was bad. It shows that to you by putting Dana through incredible suffering, and pitting her against other enslaved people who should have all been on the same side but instead are forced to turn against each other. And Dana's relationship with Rufus was perhaps one of the most complicated between an protagonost and antagonist that I've ever read. The book will make you admire Rufus and then downright hate him, then admire him again. This sort of relationship is exactly the type of agonizing mental tug of war that so many victims of the time must have experienced.
So as with all of Butler's books, I recommend this one highly, but wait until you're in a mood to read something heavy that is definitely going to piss you off. I'd say the biggest questions this asks are, "are we more than just a product of our time?" "If I had lived in 1815, would I be any different from them?" Of course I would want the answer to be "yes" in both cases. But.... Damn you, Butler, you brilliant soul. 5/5...more
This is my second Wells and I enjoyed this one more than I did War of the Worlds. Maybe with that one I had experienced too many adaptations for the sThis is my second Wells and I enjoyed this one more than I did War of the Worlds. Maybe with that one I had experienced too many adaptations for the story to wow me, and though I could appreciate it for the time it was written, it was still too dated and silly for me to be immersed. The Time Machine can also be a little dated and silly in places and yet... there was so much of the book that felt really ahead of it's time. Considering it's a century and a quarter old, a lot of the ideas in this little book still hold up today. I also really appreciate the societal predictions in the Eloi and the Morlocks, though I couldn't help but picture the Eloi and their future wonderland as some weird mix of Oz and Willy Wonka. The Morlocks made up for that though. I do appreciate a quick read that I can get through in an afternoon but I gladly would have spent more time in this story, seeing what Wells would have imagined for other periods in history, perhaps not QUITE as far ahead as 800K years. I may have to give Baxter's sequel a try now. 4/5...more
I almost hate giving 3 stars to a book that's well-written with such strong characters, but I just can't bring myself to give more on this one. There I almost hate giving 3 stars to a book that's well-written with such strong characters, but I just can't bring myself to give more on this one. There are definitely aspects about Vanished Birds that I really enjoy, but I think I've spoiled my appetite for epic sci-fi with the likes of Iain Banks, Alastair Reynolds, Dan Simmons and so many others that just blow me away with their insane ideas and scopes of galactic proportions. Not to mention classic sci fi which packs so many huge ideas in such small packages. Mr Jimenez' writing is very competent and his characters are well realized, but any veteran sci fi reader may not find any ideas that will absolutely wow them. I'm finding this to be a but of a trend with a lot of newer sci fi writers. In some cases, it feels like they're writing in the genre without first sampling everything that's out there. Or maybe they've dabbled in dystopian YA fiction and so their works feel like the Hunger Games (Red Rising) or they've only read epic fantasy so their work feels like Wheel of Time or The Cosmere (Empire of Silence). It seems that the idea of asking a big question and shaping the story and character actions around that big question has taken a back seat to heavy character drama, revolutions and space battles. None of this is bad necessarily, I'm just finding a lot of it to be a bit boring. If there was a big sci-fi question here, it might be "how do you maintain family and friend relationships when space travel and relativity keep you young while those left planetside age and die?" But this isn't exactly a new idea. We've seen this in plenty of other science fiction. There is one other big idea in this book that's not revealed until about the halfway mark, but there was no scientific explanation for it and it felt unrealistic to the point of fantastical. All in all, I had some fun reading this one despite all this. Its sort of like less cozy Becky Chambers meets less fun Jon Scalzi. I actually am looking forward to reading his fantasy book, A Spear Cuts Through Water, as I think his style would compliment fantasy more than sci-fi. 3/5...more
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