Reads with Scotch 's bookshelf: all en-US Thu, 09 Jan 2025 10:54:52 -0800 60 Reads with Scotch 's bookshelf: all 144 41 /images/layout/goodreads_logo_144.jpg Wool - Holston (Wool, #1) 12287209
Or you'll get what you wish for.]]> 56 Hugh Howey Reads with Scotch 0 4.14 2012 Wool - Holston (Wool, #1)
author: Hugh Howey
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2025/01/09
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Wind and Truth (The Stormlight Archive, #5)]]> 203578847 The long-awaited explosive climax to the first arc of the #1 New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive―the iconic epic fantasy masterpiece that has sold more than 10 million copies, from acclaimed bestselling author Brandon Sanderson.

Dalinar Kholin challenged the evil god Odium to a contest of champions with the future of Roshar on the line. The Knights Radiant have only ten days to prepare―and the sudden ascension of the crafty and ruthless Taravangian to take Odium’s place has thrown everything into disarray.

Desperate fighting continues simultaneously worldwide―Adolin in Azimir, Sigzil and Venli at the Shattered Plains, and Jasnah at Thaylen City. The former assassin, Szeth, must cleanse his homeland of Shinovar from the dark influence of the Unmade. He is accompanied by Kaladin, who faces a new battle helping Szeth fight his own demons . . . and who must do the same for the insane Herald of the Almighty, Ishar.

At the same time, Shallan, Renarin, and Rlain work to unravel the mystery behind the Unmade Ba-Ado-Mishram and her involvement in the enslavement of the singer race and in the ancient Knights Radiants killing their spren. And Dalinar and Navani seek an edge against Odium’s champion that can be found only in the Spiritual Realm, where memory and possibility combine in chaos. The fate of the entire Cosmere hangs in the balance.]]> 1344 Brandon Sanderson 1250319188 Reads with Scotch 3
For years the audience has been barreling towards this. The pressure building with each revelation. The evolution of characters loved and hated, characters that have fallen from grace, characters pursuing redemption. Everything is converging in these final ten days. Be prepared to sit in anxiety as you travel towards outcomes you have only previously guessed at. Leave space for fresh treachery. Fresh disappointments. Be prepared for a cliffhanger.

For all the revelations, there were many, at the end I felt unsatisfied. With the conclusion of Mistborn First Era, there was a sense of closure. Of finality. A story that would go on, but a story finished. That is not the case with the conclusion of Stormlight First Arc. Every main character thread is left with an ambiguous to be continued. With strong foreshadowing of the Second Arc starting after some significant time passage.

Spoilers/Predictions:












Harold of Second Chances:
I suspect most of Kaladins storyline in the coming books will be Kaladin learning the lives of each of the Harold’s and their crimes. Philosophical challenges seeking to find cracks that can be used to leverage healing gestures to restore the Harold’s mental health. I suppose it could be done right but after Wind and Truth I suspect it will be a tedious immersion breaking slog.

Shallan the Shadesmar Wanderer:
Really don’t expect anything particularly interesting from Shallan in the next book. Her character arc has been stagnant for some time now. It will be interesting to see how the loss of Honor/Stormlight impacts Shadesmar. There was a little foreshadowing before the close suggesting some significant changes. Hopefully, that will inject some much needed life back into Shallan’s arc.

Adolin:

Once again Adolin finds himself as a military force multiplier. After contending with the realization that he was obsolete, through his unique bond with Mia, Adolin finds he may be humanities last bulwark against the forces of opposition. Adolin and his/Mia’s Unoathed. The Desolation hit hard. The city depopulated. Adolin and the Unoathed are going to be busy bee’s.

Health of Stormlight:

Personally I feel like Wind and Truth is out of sync with the rest of the Stormlight series. After four robust books, building a specific society/world/culture - Wind and Truth took a turn at a ninety degree angle. Without earning those changes in the narrative. Much of the texture was missing for WaT.

It’s the end of days; Roshar itself will be transformed by the outcome and� every champion of the cause is off the clock. Kaladin, is doing his best Dr.Katz impersonation.

Szeth’s narrative stalled in a carousel.

Shalan and the Silent Court: after all the ground work, team building etc� the Silent Court was almost completely excluded from WaT. Shalan’s journey through the Spiritual realm� is like every other Shallan story arc. The premise is set early, rinse and repeat until you’re ready to let a chasm fein stomp on you for fun.

I’m okay with Dalinar’s end. His character served its purpose. I wish it was done better. After all the foot dragging his final conflict felt rushed.

I know this review probably makes people think I’m not a Sanderson fan - which isn’t true. I’m a huge Sanderson fan. I’m just not a fan boi. And WaT was probably the weakest Sanderson book I’ve ever read.

I don’t know if he is surrounded by yes men, editors and beta readers that are not doing their jobs or what� but this was a serious decline in Sanderson’s writing, style, and narrative structure.

WaT is in need of serious editing. Two thirds could do with some serious condensing. Reduce the narrative down. A third could have been jammed in the copier and left there thus improving the narrative.

I might be a man standing alone but there it is. ]]> 4.35 2024 Wind and Truth (The Stormlight Archive, #5)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2024
rating: 3
read at: 2024/12/29
date added: 2024/12/29
shelves:
review:
Wind and Truth:

For years the audience has been barreling towards this. The pressure building with each revelation. The evolution of characters loved and hated, characters that have fallen from grace, characters pursuing redemption. Everything is converging in these final ten days. Be prepared to sit in anxiety as you travel towards outcomes you have only previously guessed at. Leave space for fresh treachery. Fresh disappointments. Be prepared for a cliffhanger.

For all the revelations, there were many, at the end I felt unsatisfied. With the conclusion of Mistborn First Era, there was a sense of closure. Of finality. A story that would go on, but a story finished. That is not the case with the conclusion of Stormlight First Arc. Every main character thread is left with an ambiguous to be continued. With strong foreshadowing of the Second Arc starting after some significant time passage.

Spoilers/Predictions:












Harold of Second Chances:
I suspect most of Kaladins storyline in the coming books will be Kaladin learning the lives of each of the Harold’s and their crimes. Philosophical challenges seeking to find cracks that can be used to leverage healing gestures to restore the Harold’s mental health. I suppose it could be done right but after Wind and Truth I suspect it will be a tedious immersion breaking slog.

Shallan the Shadesmar Wanderer:
Really don’t expect anything particularly interesting from Shallan in the next book. Her character arc has been stagnant for some time now. It will be interesting to see how the loss of Honor/Stormlight impacts Shadesmar. There was a little foreshadowing before the close suggesting some significant changes. Hopefully, that will inject some much needed life back into Shallan’s arc.

Adolin:

Once again Adolin finds himself as a military force multiplier. After contending with the realization that he was obsolete, through his unique bond with Mia, Adolin finds he may be humanities last bulwark against the forces of opposition. Adolin and his/Mia’s Unoathed. The Desolation hit hard. The city depopulated. Adolin and the Unoathed are going to be busy bee’s.

Health of Stormlight:

Personally I feel like Wind and Truth is out of sync with the rest of the Stormlight series. After four robust books, building a specific society/world/culture - Wind and Truth took a turn at a ninety degree angle. Without earning those changes in the narrative. Much of the texture was missing for WaT.

It’s the end of days; Roshar itself will be transformed by the outcome and� every champion of the cause is off the clock. Kaladin, is doing his best Dr.Katz impersonation.

Szeth’s narrative stalled in a carousel.

Shalan and the Silent Court: after all the ground work, team building etc� the Silent Court was almost completely excluded from WaT. Shalan’s journey through the Spiritual realm� is like every other Shallan story arc. The premise is set early, rinse and repeat until you’re ready to let a chasm fein stomp on you for fun.

I’m okay with Dalinar’s end. His character served its purpose. I wish it was done better. After all the foot dragging his final conflict felt rushed.

I know this review probably makes people think I’m not a Sanderson fan - which isn’t true. I’m a huge Sanderson fan. I’m just not a fan boi. And WaT was probably the weakest Sanderson book I’ve ever read.

I don’t know if he is surrounded by yes men, editors and beta readers that are not doing their jobs or what� but this was a serious decline in Sanderson’s writing, style, and narrative structure.

WaT is in need of serious editing. Two thirds could do with some serious condensing. Reduce the narrative down. A third could have been jammed in the copier and left there thus improving the narrative.

I might be a man standing alone but there it is.
]]> Reliquary (Pendergast, #2) 67037 464 Douglas Preston 0812542835 Reads with Scotch 4 good-crap 3.96 1997 Reliquary (Pendergast, #2)
author: Douglas Preston
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 3.96
book published: 1997
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: good-crap
review:

]]> Blindsight (Firefall, #1) 48484 Two months since the stars fell...

Two months since sixty-five thousand alien objects clenched around the Earth like a luminous fist, screaming to the heavens as the atmosphere burned them to ash. Two months since that moment of brief, bright surveillance by agents unknown.

Two months of silence while a world holds its breath.

Now some half-derelict space probe, sparking fitfully past Neptune’s orbit, hears a whisper from the edge of the solar system: a faint signal sweeping the cosmos like a lighthouse beam. Whatever’s out there isn’t talking to us. It’s talking to some distant star, perhaps. Or perhaps to something closer, something en route.

So who do you send to force introductions on an intelligence with motives unknown, maybe unknowable? Who do you send to meet the alien when the alien doesn’t want to meet?

You send a linguist with multiple personalities, her brain surgically partitioned into separate, sentient processing cores. You send a biologist so radically interfaced with machinery that he sees X-rays and tastes ultrasound, so compromised by grafts and splices he no longer feels his own flesh. You send a pacifist warrior in the faint hope she won’t be needed, and a fainter hope she’ll do any good if she is needed. You send a monster to command them all, an extinct hominid predator once called “vampire,� recalled from the grave with the voodoo of recombinant genetics and the blood of sociopaths. And you send a synthesist � an informational topologist with half his mind gone � as an interface between here and there, a conduit through which the Dead Center might hope to understand the Bleeding Edge.

You send them all to the edge of interstellar space, praying you can trust such freaks and retrofits with the fate of a world. You fear they may be more alien than the thing they’ve been sent to find.

But you’d give anything for that to be true, if you only knew what was waiting for them…]]> 384 Peter Watts 0765312182 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.01 2006 Blindsight (Firefall, #1)
author: Peter Watts
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2006
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2024/08/07
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Deepness in the Sky (Zones of Thought, #2)]]> 226004 A Fire Upon The Deep, this is the story of Pham Nuwen, a small cog in the interstellar trading fleet of the Queng Ho. The Queng Ho and the Emergents are orbiting the dormant planet Arachna, which is about to wake up to technology, but the Emergents' plans are sinister.]]> 775 Vernor Vinge 0812536355 Reads with Scotch 4 4.31 1999 A Deepness in the Sky (Zones of Thought, #2)
author: Vernor Vinge
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.31
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at: 2010/05/21
date added: 2023/11/01
shelves:
review:
An all around outstanding read... Here's to your health Mr. Vinge
]]> <![CDATA[The Burning Tree - Salvation: Book 1 of the Post-Apocalyptic Disaster series]]> 58460261
Life was bad and getting worse in the depths of Salvation. It did not take the people of Level Three long to realise that the only reason they had been spared from the cataclysm was to become a slave class.

Now, a single accident has changed everything. Fear is spreading like a virus. Rumours become facts the moment they’re spoken. Neighbour is turning against neighbour. And time is running out fast.

For most, this signals the end. For Callie and her friends, there is just one hope, but to find it, they’re going to have to fight through the most terror-filled night of their lives.

Can they escape the horror that awaits them? Or will these next few hours be their last?]]> 369 Christopher Artinian Reads with Scotch 1
I’m not that far along into this series, though the premise is an interesting one, similar to Silo, its preachy tenor is already sapping my interest.

So far, seven chapters in, it’s seems nothing more than an oversimplified manifesto written by Greta Thunberg on a Marxist backdrop. I hadn’t realized the series was YA when I bought it. I’m a principled believer in one reading things they disagree with. But as I said, this is painfully oversimplified, tired tropes, with a limping narrative. After seven chapters all that has been introduced to the audience is one soapbox speech after another.

I was going to push on but honestly ten chapters in and there isn’t really anything to grab onto narrative wise. Pass. ]]> 4.46 The Burning Tree - Salvation: Book 1 of the Post-Apocalyptic Disaster series
author: Christopher Artinian
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.46
book published:
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2023/10/27
shelves:
review:
The Burning Tree; Box set Books 1-5:

I’m not that far along into this series, though the premise is an interesting one, similar to Silo, its preachy tenor is already sapping my interest.

So far, seven chapters in, it’s seems nothing more than an oversimplified manifesto written by Greta Thunberg on a Marxist backdrop. I hadn’t realized the series was YA when I bought it. I’m a principled believer in one reading things they disagree with. But as I said, this is painfully oversimplified, tired tropes, with a limping narrative. After seven chapters all that has been introduced to the audience is one soapbox speech after another.

I was going to push on but honestly ten chapters in and there isn’t really anything to grab onto narrative wise. Pass.
]]> Skull Road (Mountain Man #7) 124924382 A lone survivor embarks on a post-apocalyptic quest for revenge in the seventh installment of this gritty zombie-thriller series.

Killing the sadistic warlord known as the Dog Tongue took everything Gus Berry had, including the woman he loved. Now, all he wants is to get away from the bloody scene of their final showdown. But when he heads west in a stolen truck, a brutal snowstorm forces him to turn back—and seek refuge in the Dog Tongue’s former headquarters.

Though it’s littered with human carnage, the abandoned luxury hotel has a lot to offer a guy like Gus. But in addition to soft beds and working toilets, he encounters still-lurking dangers both living and undead. Determined to destroy the Dog Tongue’s followers once and for all, he resolves to follow their ominous trail wherever it may lead . . .]]> 355 Keith C. Blackmore 1039428681 Reads with Scotch 3 4.57 2023 Skull Road (Mountain Man #7)
author: Keith C. Blackmore
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2023
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/10/26
shelves:
review:

]]> Mindless (Mountain Man #6) 56427890 Electric wheels.
Axes and leather.
And the long road into madness.

After securing the vast government bunker of Whitecap, and learning of her affliction, Collie decides to head west, to challenge the sinister road clan known as the Leather and kill its leader, the Dog Tongue.

Along for the ride is Gus Berry, who knows full well the very thing that is killing Collie is also keeping her alive. His growing affection for the operator is only matched by his dislike of the one called Milo, the very man who shot her, who Collie insists on bringing along on their mission. Gus won’t allow her to venture alone into the Leather-ruled westlands. Yet he also knows to go with her means to die inside.

Together, the special operator, the reluctant survivalist, and the unleashed prisoner will have to depend on each other as they tread into the unknown. There, they will face an ominous new order. An order bent on creating a medieval empire upon the broken wills and spines of their minions, all the while weaponizing the very thing that destroyed civilization in the first place.

Behind Collie and Gus is a pocket of humanity struggling to survive. Ahead of them, an insane army. And to save their people, Collie and Gus will have to kill the one called the Dog Tongue.

What they intend to do is dangerous.
Hopeless.
Mindless.]]> 488 Keith C. Blackmore 1039423582 Reads with Scotch 3 4.47 2020 Mindless (Mountain Man #6)
author: Keith C. Blackmore
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.47
book published: 2020
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/10/26
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Make Me King (Mountain Man #5)]]> 46249341 295 Keith C. Blackmore Reads with Scotch 3 4.38 2019 Make Me King (Mountain Man #5)
author: Keith C. Blackmore
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2019
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/10/26
shelves:
review:

]]> Well Fed (Mountain Man #4) 23600553 Road savages.
And the crumbling asphalt of the open highway.

After nearly four years, the zombie epidemic has almost burnt itself out.
Gus’s new life on a communal farm is peaceful. The daily routine of policing the fields is rarely disrupted by straying undead. His drinking binges are over. Long days have thrown time over the memories of Annapolis.

But this will all change.

When Gus is asked to search for a group of missing scavengers, he reluctantly agrees.
What he finds is a new predator unleashed upon the land, one determined to harvest every last mortal life�

And feed it to a ravenous machine.
]]> 545 Keith C. Blackmore 1039423566 Reads with Scotch 3 4.41 2014 Well Fed (Mountain Man #4)
author: Keith C. Blackmore
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.41
book published: 2014
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/10/26
shelves:
review:

]]> Hellifax (Mountain Man #3) 17188359

A serial killer stalks the ice-glazed streets.

Half-frozen deadheads choke the avenues.

Infected vermin rise from the labyrinth of sewer systems, hungry for warm flesh.

And a handful of survivors struggle to escape and find someplace safe. In his hunt for Tenner, Scott discovers he must contend with all of this, before things truly get worse.

Welcome.

To Hellifax.



Series order:

Book 1: Mountain Man
Book 2: Safari
Book 3: Hellifax

Also :

The Hospital (a single short story, also part of the collection “Cauldron Gristle.� This story happens six months before the events of “Mountain Man.� )

Approx. 115,000 words, or about 350 pages.]]> Keith C. Blackmore Reads with Scotch 3 4.15 2012 Hellifax (Mountain Man #3)
author: Keith C. Blackmore
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/10/26
shelves:
review:

]]> Safari (Mountain Man #2) 13648624 In the aftermath of the zombie apocalypse, a lone survivor faces a grave new threat as even the undead begin to disappear, in this sequel to Mountain Man.Ever since the end of civilization, Gus Berry has spent his days waking up, getting drunk, and preparing for the inevitable zombie attack on his mountain fortress. Occasionally, he must take his life in his hands and venture into the undead world below in search of supplies.These days, Gus is accustomed to the mortal threats he encounters. He has steeled himself against the corpse-infested streets, human scavengers, and unending loneliness. But now something new and strange is the zombies are disappearing.It seems a mysterious new threat is assembling—something even more relentless and terrifying than the roaming tides of dead flesh. And it’s preparing to hunt . . .Ramping up the suspense, action, and gore with Keith C. Blackmore’s trademark heart and wit, Safari is the second book in the thrilling Mountain Man series—perfect for fans of HBO’s The Last of Us.]]> 233 Keith C. Blackmore 103942354X Reads with Scotch 3
This will be a review of the series as a whole - Books 1-7.

The series as a whole is enjoyable. Nothing groundbreaking. But not tired as many books in this genera tend to be. Some books in the series are better than others, typical. I would suggest pressing on or ignoring some of the more annoying and repetitive themes in the first two books. The series doesn’t really take off properly until midway through.

For a zombie series; there is decent character development, and narrative arc. Though if you’re looking for a hardcore survival series this probably isn’t it. More like a marvel movie. Hollywood action sequences with ridiculous notions and expectations from weapons of various makes and models. For instance, the author seems to be laboring under the impression that switching from a pump shotgun to an automatic shotgun somehow imbues the 12 gauge shells with special, often supernatural, kinetic abilities.

A 12 gauge is a 12 gauge. And this series is a decent series. Though, I will say the ending was fairly underwhelming when all is said and done. Just kinda ended in a dribble instead or an arterial spurt. ]]> 4.00 2012 Safari (Mountain Man #2)
author: Keith C. Blackmore
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at: 2023/10/26
date added: 2023/10/26
shelves:
review:
Mountain Man:

This will be a review of the series as a whole - Books 1-7.

The series as a whole is enjoyable. Nothing groundbreaking. But not tired as many books in this genera tend to be. Some books in the series are better than others, typical. I would suggest pressing on or ignoring some of the more annoying and repetitive themes in the first two books. The series doesn’t really take off properly until midway through.

For a zombie series; there is decent character development, and narrative arc. Though if you’re looking for a hardcore survival series this probably isn’t it. More like a marvel movie. Hollywood action sequences with ridiculous notions and expectations from weapons of various makes and models. For instance, the author seems to be laboring under the impression that switching from a pump shotgun to an automatic shotgun somehow imbues the 12 gauge shells with special, often supernatural, kinetic abilities.

A 12 gauge is a 12 gauge. And this series is a decent series. Though, I will say the ending was fairly underwhelming when all is said and done. Just kinda ended in a dribble instead or an arterial spurt.
]]> <![CDATA[Mountain Man (Mountain Man #1)]]> 13254665 A man must survive the zombie apocalypse armed with only a shotgun, a Samurai bat, and the will to live among the unliving in this horror series debut. It’s been two years since civilization ended in an unstoppable wave of chaos and blood. Now, former house painter Augustus “Gus� Berry lives a day-to-day existence of waking up, getting drunk, and preparing for the inevitable moment when “they� will come up the side of his mountain and penetrate his fortress.Living on the outskirts of Annapolis, Gus goes scavenging for whatever supplies remain in the undead suburbia below. Every time he descends the mountain could be his last. But when Gus encounters another survivor, he soon realizes the zombie horde may not be the greatest threat he faces . . .Combining heart-pounding action in a frozen dystopia with complex characters and dark humor, Mountain Man kicks off Keith C. Blackmore’s thrilling survival series—perfect for fans of HBO’s The Last of Us.]]> 228 Keith C. Blackmore Reads with Scotch 3
This will be a review of the series as a whole - Books 1-7.

The series as a whole is enjoyable. Nothing groundbreaking. But not tired as many books in this genera tend to be. Some books in the series are better than others, typical. I would suggest pressing on or ignoring some of the more annoying and repetitive themes in the first two books. The series doesn’t really take off properly until midway through.

For a zombie series; there is decent character development, and narrative arc. Though if you’re looking for a hardcore survival series this probably isn’t it. More like a marvel movie. Hollywood action sequences with ridiculous notions and expectations from weapons of various makes and models. For instance, the author seems to be laboring under the impression that switching from a pump shotgun to an automatic shotgun somehow imbues the 12 gauge shells with special, often supernatural, kinetic abilities.

A 12 gauge is a 12 gauge. And this series is a decent series. Though, I will say the ending was fairly underwhelming when all is said and done. Just kinda ended in a dribble instead or an arterial spurt. ]]> 4.04 2011 Mountain Man (Mountain Man #1)
author: Keith C. Blackmore
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.04
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at: 2023/10/26
date added: 2023/10/26
shelves:
review:
Mountain Man:

This will be a review of the series as a whole - Books 1-7.

The series as a whole is enjoyable. Nothing groundbreaking. But not tired as many books in this genera tend to be. Some books in the series are better than others, typical. I would suggest pressing on or ignoring some of the more annoying and repetitive themes in the first two books. The series doesn’t really take off properly until midway through.

For a zombie series; there is decent character development, and narrative arc. Though if you’re looking for a hardcore survival series this probably isn’t it. More like a marvel movie. Hollywood action sequences with ridiculous notions and expectations from weapons of various makes and models. For instance, the author seems to be laboring under the impression that switching from a pump shotgun to an automatic shotgun somehow imbues the 12 gauge shells with special, often supernatural, kinetic abilities.

A 12 gauge is a 12 gauge. And this series is a decent series. Though, I will say the ending was fairly underwhelming when all is said and done. Just kinda ended in a dribble instead or an arterial spurt.
]]> <![CDATA[Red Rising (Red Rising Saga, #1)]]> 18723009
Until the day Darrow learns that it is all a lie. That Mars has been habitable - and inhabited - for generations, by a class of people calling themselves the Golds. A class of people who look down at Darrow and his fellows as slave labour, to be exploited and worked to death without a second thought.

Until the day Darrow, with the help of a mysterious group of rebels, disguises himself as a Gold and infiltrates their command school, intent on taking down his oppressors from the inside.

But the command school is a battlefield - and Darrow isn't the only student with an agenda.

Ender's Game meets The Hunger Games in this, the first in an extraordinary trilogy from an incredible new voice.]]> 382 Pierce Brown 1444758977 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.28 2014 Red Rising (Red Rising Saga, #1)
author: Pierce Brown
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2023/07/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Call to Arms (The Damned, #1)]]> 171535 Will Dulac was a New Orleans composer who thought the tiny reef off Belize would be the perfect spot to drop anchor and finish his latest symphony in solitude. What he found instead was a group of alien visitors, a scouting party for the Weave, looking for allies among what they believed to be a uniquely warlike race, Humans.

Will tried to convince the aliens that Man was fundamentally peaceful, for he understood that Human involvement would destroy the race. But all too soon, it didn't matter. The Amplitur had discovered Earth...

]]> 341 Alan Dean Foster 0345901622 Reads with Scotch 1 books-to-burn
It was an interesting concept with potential. However, after 15 chapters my enthusiasm has been utterly leeched from this offering...

I found the plot labors needlessly. The author was trying to make a point for 15 chapters� a point that was made for 15 chapters� in a row. It is a very simple conceptual notion. If an alien species and humans can effectively communicate the other complicated concepts effectively then there is no reason such a core trait of humanity could not just as easily been communicated effectively. Regardless of the irrational/delusional pacifist character delivering the information or not. The aliens had plenty of observational material to foster understanding.

When you couple that, with the flat character development, and the juvenile plot devices and development� it’s just an all together unsatisfying experience that leans further towards annoying with each passing chapter.

I have heard the second and third book is better, but the first is simply unbearable. I assume the psychological trauma inflicted to one’s psyche by enduring the first book caused such mental anguish anything would be interesting in comparison and so the following books were awarded higher marks by the tenacious souls that endured.]]> 3.78 1991 A Call to Arms (The Damned, #1)
author: Alan Dean Foster
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 3.78
book published: 1991
rating: 1
read at:
date added: 2023/07/26
shelves: books-to-burn
review:
I wanted to like this trilogy.

It was an interesting concept with potential. However, after 15 chapters my enthusiasm has been utterly leeched from this offering...

I found the plot labors needlessly. The author was trying to make a point for 15 chapters� a point that was made for 15 chapters� in a row. It is a very simple conceptual notion. If an alien species and humans can effectively communicate the other complicated concepts effectively then there is no reason such a core trait of humanity could not just as easily been communicated effectively. Regardless of the irrational/delusional pacifist character delivering the information or not. The aliens had plenty of observational material to foster understanding.

When you couple that, with the flat character development, and the juvenile plot devices and development� it’s just an all together unsatisfying experience that leans further towards annoying with each passing chapter.

I have heard the second and third book is better, but the first is simply unbearable. I assume the psychological trauma inflicted to one’s psyche by enduring the first book caused such mental anguish anything would be interesting in comparison and so the following books were awarded higher marks by the tenacious souls that endured.
]]> <![CDATA[Commune: Book Four (Commune, #4)]]> 42413852
Philosophers love to pose such questions, and in the day-to-day struggle, such thinkers rarely attain to a level of relevance rivaling that of the simple hunger pang. Their careful considerations dissipate under the leveled gun. We do not feel their disapproving gaze when The Others draw near.

When the world sends doom, the survivors do not hesitate. The survivors do what is necessary.]]> 1164 Joshua Gayou Reads with Scotch 3 4.25 2018 Commune: Book Four (Commune, #4)
author: Joshua Gayou
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/07/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Commune: Book Three (Commune, #3)]]> 38220476
Out in Arizona, the leftovers of the United States Military encamped in the last known surviving tent city: The Elysium Fields.

In Nevada, a clan of scavengers grows ever larger, each day bringing them a step closer to collapsing under their own weight.

Resources are becoming scarcer by the day as the world trudges on and, as it so happens, the folks up in Wyoming appear to be sitting on prime real estate…]]> 490 Joshua Gayou Reads with Scotch 3 4.28 2018 Commune: Book Three (Commune, #3)
author: Joshua Gayou
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2018
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/07/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Commune: Book Two (Commune, #2)]]> 36131108
The survivors have come to settle in the mountains of Wyoming, fighting day in and day out to establish a home for themselves in a near-empty world. Things are good at first; scavenging is a workable, short term solution that seems to be providing all they need.

But they know that it’s only a matter of time before the food runs out. They need to scramble to find a sustainable solution before the clock stops and, for a little handful of people up in the mountains, the odds don’t seem very favorable.

Further south, a new band of people migrates across the map, running on fumes and searching desperately for a place to settle. All around them, as resources run thin, the world grows colder and more violent.

It’s getting worse out there, always getting worse, and it’s starting to look like survival might just depend on how violent they’re willing to get…]]> 426 Joshua Gayou Reads with Scotch 3 4.40 2017 Commune: Book Two (Commune, #2)
author: Joshua Gayou
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.40
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/07/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Commune: Book One (Commune, #1)]]> 34736722
When the Earth is hit by the greatest CME in recorded history (several times larger than the Carrington Event of 1859), the combined societies of the planet’s most developed nations struggle to adapt to a life thrust back into the Dark Ages.

In the United States, the military scrambles to speed the nation’s recovery on multiple fronts including putting down riots, establishing relief camps, delivering medical aid, and bringing communication and travel back on line.

Just as a real foothold is established in retaking the skies (utilizing existing commercial aircraft supplemented by military resources and ground control systems), a mysterious virus takes hold of the population, spreading globally over the very flight routes that the survivors fought so hard to rebuild. The communicability and mortality rates are devastating, leaving only small pockets of survivors scattered throughout the countryside.

Commune Book One is the story of one small group of survivors who must adapt to a primitive, hostile world or die. As they learn the rules of this new era, they must decide how far they’re willing to go to continue living, continually asking themselves the same question daily: is survival worth the loss of humanity?]]> 272 Joshua Gayou Reads with Scotch 3 4.17 2017 Commune: Book One (Commune, #1)
author: Joshua Gayou
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2017
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/07/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Trouble with Peace (The Age of Madness, #2)]]> 40701777 Peace is just another kind of battlefield...

Savine dan Glokta, once Adua’s most powerful investor, finds her judgement, fortune and reputation in tatters. But she still has all her ambitions, and no scruple will be permitted to stand in her way.

For heroes like Leo dan Brock and Stour Nightfall, only happy with swords drawn, peace is an ordeal to end as soon as possible. But grievances must be nursed, power seized and allies gathered first, while Rikke must master the power of the Long Eye... before it kills her.

The Breakers still lurk in the shadows, plotting to free the common man from his shackles, while noblemen bicker for their own advantage. Orso struggles to find a safe path through the maze of knives that is politics, only for his enemies, and his debts, to multiply.

The old ways are swept aside, and the old leaders with them, but those who would seize the reins of power will find no alliance, no friendship, and no peace, lasts forever.]]> 506 Joe Abercrombie 0575095911 Reads with Scotch 2 4.59 2020 The Trouble with Peace (The Age of Madness, #2)
author: Joe Abercrombie
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.59
book published: 2020
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2023/07/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Half a King (Shattered Sea, #1)]]> 18666047
But first he must survive cruelty, chains and the bitter waters of the Shattered Sea itself - all with only one good hand. Born a weakling in the eyes of a hard, cold world, he cannot grip a shield or swing an axe, so he has sharpened his mind to a deadly edge.

Gathering a strange fellowship of the outcast, he finds they can help him more than any noble could. Even so, Yarvi's path may end as it began - in twists, traps and tragedy...]]> 336 Joe Abercrombie 0804178321 Reads with Scotch 2 3.96 2014 Half a King (Shattered Sea, #1)
author: Joe Abercrombie
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 3.96
book published: 2014
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2023/07/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Little Hatred (The Age of Madness, #1)]]> 35606041
On the blood-soaked borders of Angland, Leo dan Brock struggles to win fame on the battlefield, and defeat the marauding armies of Stour Nightfall. He hopes for help from the crown. But King Jezal's son, the feckless Prince Orso, is a man who specializes in disappointments.

Savine dan Glokta - socialite, investor, and daughter of the most feared man in the Union - plans to claw her way to the top of the slag-heap of society by any means necessary. But the slums boil over with a rage that all the money in the world cannot control.

The age of the machine dawns, but the age of magic refuses to die. With the help of the mad hillwoman Isern-i-Phail, Rikke struggles to control the blessing, or the curse, of the Long Eye. Glimpsing the future is one thing, but with the guiding hand of the First of the Magi still pulling the strings, changing it will be quite another...

]]> 480 Joe Abercrombie 031618716X Reads with Scotch 2 4.45 2019 A Little Hatred (The Age of Madness, #1)
author: Joe Abercrombie
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.45
book published: 2019
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2023/07/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Blade Itself (The First Law, #1)]]> 944073
Nobleman Captain Jezal dan Luthar, dashing officer, and paragon of selfishness, has nothing more dangerous in mind than fleecing his friends at cards and dreaming of glory in the fencing circle. But war is brewing, and on the battlefields of the frozen North they fight by altogether bloodier rules.

Inquisitor Glokta, cripple turned torturer, would like nothing better than to see Jezal come home in a box. But then Glokta hates everyone: cutting treason out of the Union one confession at a time leaves little room for friendship. His latest trail of corpses may lead him right to the rotten heart of government, if he can stay alive long enough to follow it.

Enter the wizard, Bayaz. A bald old man with a terrible temper and a pathetic assistant, he could be the First of the Magi, he could be a spectacular fraud, but whatever he is, he's about to make the lives of Logen, Jezal, and Glokta a whole lot more difficult.

Murderous conspiracies rise to the surface, old scores are ready to be settled, and the line between hero and villain is sharp enough to draw blood.

]]> 515 Joe Abercrombie 0575079797 Reads with Scotch 3 4.21 2006 The Blade Itself (The First Law, #1)
author: Joe Abercrombie
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/07/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Oathbringer (The Stormlight Archive, #3)]]> 34002132 Oathbringer, the third volume of the New York Times bestselling Stormlight Archive, humanity faces a new Desolation with the return of the Voidbringers, a foe with numbers as great as their thirst for vengeance.

Dalinar Kholin's Alethi armies won a fleeting victory at a terrible cost: The enemy Parshendi summoned the violent Everstorm, which now sweeps the world with destruction, and in its passing awakens the once peaceful and subservient parshmen to the horror of their millennia-long enslavement by humans. While on a desperate flight to warn his family of the threat, Kaladin Stormblessed must come to grips with the fact that the newly kindled anger of the parshmen may be wholly justified.

Nestled in the mountains high above the storms, in the tower city of Urithiru, Shallan Davar investigates the wonders of the ancient stronghold of the Knights Radiant and unearths dark secrets lurking in its depths. And Dalinar realizes that his holy mission to unite his homeland of Alethkar was too narrow in scope. Unless all the nations of Roshar can put aside Dalinar's blood-soaked past and stand together--and unless Dalinar himself can confront that past--even the restoration of the Knights Radiant will not prevent the end of civilization.]]> 1248 Brandon Sanderson Reads with Scotch 4 4.60 2017 Oathbringer (The Stormlight Archive, #3)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.60
book published: 2017
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/07/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive, #2)]]> 17332218 From #1 New York Times bestselling author Brandon Sanderson, Words of Radiance, Book Two of the Stormlight Archive, continues the immersive fantasy epic that The Way of Kings began.

Expected by his enemies to die the miserable death of a military slave, Kaladin survived to be given command of the royal bodyguards, a controversial first for a low-status "darkeyes." Now he must protect the king and Dalinar from every common peril as well as the distinctly uncommon threat of the Assassin, all while secretly struggling to master remarkable new powers that are somehow linked to his honorspren, Syl.

The Assassin, Szeth, is active again, murdering rulers all over the world of Roshar, using his baffling powers to thwart every bodyguard and elude all pursuers. Among his prime targets is Highprince Dalinar, widely considered the power behind the Alethi throne. His leading role in the war would seem reason enough, but the Assassin's master has much deeper motives.

Brilliant but troubled Shallan strives along a parallel path. Despite being broken in ways she refuses to acknowledge, she bears a terrible burden: to somehow prevent the return of the legendary Voidbringers and the civilization-ending Desolation that will follow. The secrets she needs can be found at the Shattered Plains, but just arriving there proves more difficult than she could have imagined.

Meanwhile, at the heart of the Shattered Plains, the Parshendi are making an epochal decision. Hard pressed by years of Alethi attacks, their numbers ever shrinking, they are convinced by their war leader, Eshonai, to risk everything on a desperate gamble with the very supernatural forces they once fled. The possible consequences for Parshendi and humans alike, indeed, for Roshar itself, are as dangerous as they are incalculable.]]> 1088 Brandon Sanderson 0765326361 Reads with Scotch 4 4.76 2014 Words of Radiance (The Stormlight Archive, #2)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.76
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/07/02
shelves:
review:

]]> Warbreaker 1268479
Their world is one in which those who die in glory return as gods to live confined to a pantheon in Hallandren's capital city and where a power known as BioChromatic magic is based on an essence known as breath that can only be collected one unit at a time from individual people.

By using breath and drawing upon the color in everyday objects, all manner of miracles and mischief can be accomplished. It will take considerable quantities of each to resolve all the challenges facing Vivenna and Siri, princesses of Idris; Susebron the God King; Lightsong, reluctant god of bravery, and mysterious Vasher, the Warbreaker.]]> 688 Brandon Sanderson Reads with Scotch 3 4.29 2009 Warbreaker
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2009
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2023/07/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Well of Ascension (Mistborn, #2)]]> 68429
The impossible has been accomplished. The Lord Ruler—the man who claimed to be god incarnate and brutally ruled the world for a thousand years—has been vanquished. But Kelsier, the hero who masterminded that triumph, is dead too, and now the awesome task of building a new world has been left to his young protégé, Vin, the former street urchin who is now the most powerful Mistborn in the land, and to the idealistic young nobleman she loves.

As Kelsier's protégé and slayer of the Lord Ruler she is now venerated by a budding new religion, a distinction that makes her intensely uncomfortable. Even more worrying, the mists have begun behaving strangely since the Lord Ruler died, and seem to harbor a strange vaporous entity that haunts her.

Stopping assassins may keep Vin's Mistborn skills sharp, but it's the least of her problems. Luthadel, the largest city of the former empire, doesn't run itself, and Vin and the other members of Kelsier's crew, who lead the revolution, must learn a whole new set of practical and political skills to help. It certainly won't get easier with three armies - one of them composed of ferocious giants - now vying to conquer the city, and no sign of the Lord Ruler's hidden cache of atium, the rarest and most powerful allomantic metal.

As the siege of Luthadel tightens, an ancient legend seems to offer a glimmer of hope. But even if it really exists, no one knows where to find the Well of Ascension or what manner of power it bestows.]]> 590 Brandon Sanderson 0765316889 Reads with Scotch 4 fantasy 4.38 2007 The Well of Ascension (Mistborn, #2)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/07/02
shelves: fantasy
review:

]]> Elantris (Elantris, #1) 68427
Arelon's new capital, Kae, crouches in the shadow of Elantris. Princess Sarene of Teod arrives for a marriage of state with Crown Prince Raoden, hoping—based on their correspondence—to also find love. She finds instead that Raoden has died and she is considered his widow. Both Teod and Arelon are under threat as the last remaining holdouts against the imperial ambitions of the ruthless religious fanatics of Fjordell. So Sarene decides to use her new status to counter the machinations of Hrathen, a Fjordell high priest who has come to Kae to convert Arelon and claim it for his emperor and his god.

But neither Sarene nor Hrathen suspect the truth about Prince Raoden. Stricken by the same curse that ruined Elantris, Raoden was secretly exiled by his father to the dark city. His struggle to help the wretches trapped there begins a series of events that will bring hope to Arelon, and perhaps reveal the secret of Elantris itself.

A rare epic fantasy that doesn't recycle the classics and that is a complete and satisfying story in one volume, Elantris is fleet and fun, full of surprises and characters to care about. It's also the wonderful debut of a welcome new star in the constellation of fantasy.]]> 638 Brandon Sanderson 0765350378 Reads with Scotch 4 fantasy 4.16 2005 Elantris (Elantris, #1)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at: 2011/04/27
date added: 2023/07/02
shelves: fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1)]]> 68428 What if the whole world were a dead, blasted wasteland?

Mistborn
For a thousand years the ash fell and no flowers bloomed. For a thousand years the Skaa slaved in misery and lived in fear. For a thousand years the Lord Ruler, the "Sliver of Infinity," reigned with absolute power and ultimate terror, divinely invincible. Then, when hope was so long lost that not even its memory remained, a terribly scarred, heart-broken half-Skaa rediscovered it in the depths of the Lord Ruler's most hellish prison. Kelsier "snapped" and found in himself the powers of a Mistborn. A brilliant thief and natural leader, he turned his talents to the ultimate caper, with the Lord Ruler himself as the mark.

Kelsier recruited the underworld's elite, the smartest and most trustworthy allomancers, each of whom shares one of his many powers, and all of whom relish a high-stakes challenge. Then Kelsier reveals his ultimate dream, not just the greatest heist in history, but the downfall of the divine despot.

But even with the best criminal crew ever assembled, Kel's plan looks more like the ultimate long shot, until luck brings a ragged girl named Vin into his life. Like him, she's a half-Skaa orphan, but she's lived a much harsher life. Vin has learned to expect betrayal from everyone she meets. She will have to learn trust if Kel is to help her master powers of which she never dreamed.

Brandon Sanderson, fantasy's newest master tale-spinner and author of the acclaimed debut Elantris, dares to turn a genre on its head by asking a simple question: What if the prophesied hero failed to defeat the Dark Lord? The answer will be found in the Mistborn Trilogy, a saga of surprises that begins with the book in your hands. Fantasy will never be the same again.]]> 541 Brandon Sanderson Reads with Scotch 4 4.48 2006 Mistborn: The Final Empire (Mistborn, #1)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.48
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/07/02
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3)]]> 2767793
Who is the Hero of Ages?

To end the Final Empire and restore freedom, Vin killed the Lord Ruler. But as a result, the Deepness—the lethal form of the ubiquitous mists—is back, along with increasingly heavy ashfalls and ever more powerful earthquakes. Humanity appears to be doomed.

Having escaped death at the climax of The Well of Ascension only by becoming a Mistborn himself, Emperor Elend Venture hopes to find clues left behind by the Lord Ruler that will allow him to save the world. Vin is consumed with guilt at having been tricked into releasing the mystic force known as Ruin from the Well. Ruin wants to end the world, and its near omniscience and ability to warp reality make stopping it seem impossible. Vin can't even discuss it with Elend lest Ruin learn their plans!]]> 572 Brandon Sanderson 0765316897 Reads with Scotch 4 4.54 2008 The Hero of Ages (Mistborn, #3)
author: Brandon Sanderson
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.54
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2023/07/02
shelves:
review:

]]> Seveneves 22816087
A catastrophic event renders the earth a ticking time bomb. In a feverish race against the inevitable, nations around the globe band together to devise an ambitious plan to ensure the survival of humanity far beyond our atmosphere, in outer space.

But the complexities and unpredictability of human nature coupled with unforeseen challenges and dangers threaten the intrepid pioneers, until only a handful of survivors remain . . .

Five thousand years later, their progeny—seven distinct races now three billion strong—embark on yet another audacious journey into the unknown . . . to an alien world utterly transformed by cataclysm and time: Earth.

A writer of dazzling genius and imaginative vision, Neal Stephenson combines science, philosophy, technology, psychology, and literature in a magnificent work of speculative fiction that offers a portrait of a future that is both extraordinary and eerily recognizable. As he did in Anathem, Cryptonomicon, the Baroque Cycle, and Reamde, Stephenson explores some of our biggest ideas and perplexing challenges in a breathtaking saga that is daring, engrossing, and altogether brilliant.]]> 872 Neal Stephenson Reads with Scotch 2 4.01 2015 Seveneves
author: Neal Stephenson
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2015
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2023/07/02
shelves:
review:
I read this book back when it first released� the one thing that stuck with me over the years - it was a book written by one of my favorite authors - in one of my favorite genera’s - And I hated it. I kept feeling like it was going to get good on the next page. It just did.
]]> Dust (Silo, #3) 17855756 In a time when secrets and lies were the foundations of life, someone has discovered the truth. And they are going to tell.

Jules knows what her predecessors created. She knows they are the reason life has to be lived in this way.

And she won't stand for it.

But Jules no longer has supporters. And there is far more to fear than the toxic world beyond her walls.

A poison is growing from within Silo 18.

One that cannot be stopped.

Unless Silo 1 step in.]]> 458 Hugh Howey 1490904387 Reads with Scotch 2
Spoiler free segment:
Wool and Shift, both had a tight cast of characters. Nary a piece of fat to cut from the narrative, or superfluous characters cluttering the pages or narrative. Dust, on the other hand was just the opposite. There where so many characters that provided no value to the narrative it diluted the sticking power of the whole book. Further if anything I ever say makes it to Howey please let it be this - character permanence. The characters of Wool and Shift were nowhere to be found in Dust. Oh Donny was about but� well his bit will be down in the spoiler section as he is fairly central to the narrative. In Howey’s future creations I hope he places more value/effort on character development and character permanence. As the story unfolded the characters started to meld into a coagulation character instead of the distinct characters they were in Wool and Shift. Remove the names from the pages of Dust and I think you’d be hard pressed to tell one character from the next. Save for Donny.

The narrative became too watered down by a parade of characters that were not necessary. Coupled with all the established characters being locked in cyclical narrative loops. Which cultivated scenes (and revelations) that felt redundant, not relevant, or both. The loops spun round and round while not really propelling the story or concluding any of the many dangling threads. There were scenes that felt like they should have slapped hard, but instead felt like the tortilla slap challenge. They are there but with no impact. Then as the audience you see an upcoming inevitable event develop before your eyes� you know it is inevitable because you’ve read the rest of the series� you know how this goes. Juliet knows how this goes� Donny Knows�. EVERYONE KNOWS. It’s the flipping SILO. It unfolds over chapters and you get more and more frustrated by the characters continuing to ignore what they would 100% see coming in Wool and Shift. It is not a satisfying engaging frustration either. It is an anger inducing frustration. Because ^^ no character permanence ^^ by this stage of the story there are not characters there is a character and it apparently doesn’t care about anything. I found the conclusion to be unsatisfying. Silo was a good ride. I recommend everyone take it for a spin. It left me hungry though, smelling food baking in the oven all day, just to open the oven and see a note card inside with “lasagna� written on it.

*Spoilers*

Donny; was a cunt the entire series. A coward of the highest order. No principles. A spine of pudding. Ready to act the victim 6 times a day. He is a small resentful little shit that always blames his weaknesses on others. Donny, is thee enabler who made most of the atrocities of the series possible and a reality. He’s the sort of character that would rat out his neighbors to the KGB then lament about their deaths for 5 years� just to turn in his new replacement neighbors to the KGB� then continue whining about the injustice of the KGB for killing his neighbors. Until he runs out of victims to trauma dump on, then he will try to kill a KGB agent� but he’s a cunt so he does it half assed and it blows up in his face. He’s a cunt. A cunt. A cunt. A cunt. A necessary cunt central to the story and the only character that made it intact until his end. But still a cunt.

Juliet; should have died in the airlock. She didn’t contribute anything of value late stage silo. When I mention character permanence Juliet is the primary victim I think of in the Silo Trilogy. She started the series as a hyper focused intelligent character committed to getting the job done, getting it done right, and knew how to solicit assistance from others - by Dust, she wasn’t really focused on anything. She fumbled her way from scene to scene like a drunkard trying to remember where they hid the flask. No matter what scene she was in - her focus was somewhere else. And usually in the least useful place. In Dust it felt like she was just another silo dweller responding to the slightest provocation with maximum knee jerk. And she was exclusively at fault for the demise of Silo 18. The silo relied on that position for stability. 1 didn’t kill silo 18, Juliet did. She knew what was going to happen, knew it was an inevitable outcome because of activities she initiated as mayor. Juliet even deduced how 1 would kill the silo. And she did absolutely nothing to address it. She confirmed how 1 would respond - then walked away to do some inconsequential thing. Then shook her fist at the walls as everyone around her died.

So she didn’t want to be mayor. That wouldn’t have made a difference to Juliet of Wool. Juliet in Wool would have found a way to fulfill both roles. She would have appealed to mechanical if nobody else. She definitely wouldn’t have walked away from the conduit she knew 1 was going to use to kill the silo� That would have been neutralized immediately.

Lucas; of anyone in the silo, he was most read in on the lengths 1 would go to. And yet he sat there chasing Juliet around the silo like a puppy� contributing nothing but a gloppy cold oatmeal death over the radio for his troubles.

I could keep going down the list of Dust characters but I believe the point is made thoroughly enough.

Conclusions and the lack thereof. I said this was a tale of a different flavor in a genera often stale� and that was true until Dust. There were so many loose ends and the conclusion was such that I had to take off 1 ½ stars�.. that’s basically the difference between John Wick and The Woman King by my rating scale. Howey, pulled a 180 at the 13th hour. Pulled a Harry Potter the boy who lives yet again. And I’m not sure why. The set up was there to really pull off a trailblazing conclusion. The writing is of such quality it is easy to overlook Howey is actually a very green author� was their pressure from the publisher� editor? Or did he just write himself into what he felt was a corner so took an easy ambiguous out? After so much cultivating he left Silo 40 and friends out completely. The green forest� an exclusion zone or is the whole world reclaimed� Every once and awhile creators try to run this schtick. Sopranos, comes to mind� it’s not art house. It’s not clever. You wrote the story write the ending to. Making the audience guess the outcome particularly when you left a jumble of ambiguous things needing resolution is not clever. It’s lazy.]]> 4.19 2013 Dust (Silo, #3)
author: Hugh Howey
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.19
book published: 2013
rating: 2
read at: 2023/06/27
date added: 2023/06/27
shelves:
review:
Silo Trilogy; before Dust, I would have said the series was well along the way to a solid 4 ½ stars - pretty high marks from me. Then I ran face first into, Dust. With the sort of hope one only finds in Disney cartoons I was sure Dust was going to be the conclusion the story deserved, a real banger. Before going in hard I will say � Silo is a trilogy worthy of your time. It is an interesting story, with a unique flavor to an often stale genera. However, the shortcomings of Dust acted as a fulcrum that pried the cracks in Wool and Shift into gaping maws� I’m being dramatic of course, but I reluctantly had to downgrade the series as a whole to 3 stars.

Spoiler free segment:
Wool and Shift, both had a tight cast of characters. Nary a piece of fat to cut from the narrative, or superfluous characters cluttering the pages or narrative. Dust, on the other hand was just the opposite. There where so many characters that provided no value to the narrative it diluted the sticking power of the whole book. Further if anything I ever say makes it to Howey please let it be this - character permanence. The characters of Wool and Shift were nowhere to be found in Dust. Oh Donny was about but� well his bit will be down in the spoiler section as he is fairly central to the narrative. In Howey’s future creations I hope he places more value/effort on character development and character permanence. As the story unfolded the characters started to meld into a coagulation character instead of the distinct characters they were in Wool and Shift. Remove the names from the pages of Dust and I think you’d be hard pressed to tell one character from the next. Save for Donny.

The narrative became too watered down by a parade of characters that were not necessary. Coupled with all the established characters being locked in cyclical narrative loops. Which cultivated scenes (and revelations) that felt redundant, not relevant, or both. The loops spun round and round while not really propelling the story or concluding any of the many dangling threads. There were scenes that felt like they should have slapped hard, but instead felt like the tortilla slap challenge. They are there but with no impact. Then as the audience you see an upcoming inevitable event develop before your eyes� you know it is inevitable because you’ve read the rest of the series� you know how this goes. Juliet knows how this goes� Donny Knows�. EVERYONE KNOWS. It’s the flipping SILO. It unfolds over chapters and you get more and more frustrated by the characters continuing to ignore what they would 100% see coming in Wool and Shift. It is not a satisfying engaging frustration either. It is an anger inducing frustration. Because ^^ no character permanence ^^ by this stage of the story there are not characters there is a character and it apparently doesn’t care about anything. I found the conclusion to be unsatisfying. Silo was a good ride. I recommend everyone take it for a spin. It left me hungry though, smelling food baking in the oven all day, just to open the oven and see a note card inside with “lasagna� written on it.

*Spoilers*

Donny; was a cunt the entire series. A coward of the highest order. No principles. A spine of pudding. Ready to act the victim 6 times a day. He is a small resentful little shit that always blames his weaknesses on others. Donny, is thee enabler who made most of the atrocities of the series possible and a reality. He’s the sort of character that would rat out his neighbors to the KGB then lament about their deaths for 5 years� just to turn in his new replacement neighbors to the KGB� then continue whining about the injustice of the KGB for killing his neighbors. Until he runs out of victims to trauma dump on, then he will try to kill a KGB agent� but he’s a cunt so he does it half assed and it blows up in his face. He’s a cunt. A cunt. A cunt. A cunt. A necessary cunt central to the story and the only character that made it intact until his end. But still a cunt.

Juliet; should have died in the airlock. She didn’t contribute anything of value late stage silo. When I mention character permanence Juliet is the primary victim I think of in the Silo Trilogy. She started the series as a hyper focused intelligent character committed to getting the job done, getting it done right, and knew how to solicit assistance from others - by Dust, she wasn’t really focused on anything. She fumbled her way from scene to scene like a drunkard trying to remember where they hid the flask. No matter what scene she was in - her focus was somewhere else. And usually in the least useful place. In Dust it felt like she was just another silo dweller responding to the slightest provocation with maximum knee jerk. And she was exclusively at fault for the demise of Silo 18. The silo relied on that position for stability. 1 didn’t kill silo 18, Juliet did. She knew what was going to happen, knew it was an inevitable outcome because of activities she initiated as mayor. Juliet even deduced how 1 would kill the silo. And she did absolutely nothing to address it. She confirmed how 1 would respond - then walked away to do some inconsequential thing. Then shook her fist at the walls as everyone around her died.

So she didn’t want to be mayor. That wouldn’t have made a difference to Juliet of Wool. Juliet in Wool would have found a way to fulfill both roles. She would have appealed to mechanical if nobody else. She definitely wouldn’t have walked away from the conduit she knew 1 was going to use to kill the silo� That would have been neutralized immediately.

Lucas; of anyone in the silo, he was most read in on the lengths 1 would go to. And yet he sat there chasing Juliet around the silo like a puppy� contributing nothing but a gloppy cold oatmeal death over the radio for his troubles.

I could keep going down the list of Dust characters but I believe the point is made thoroughly enough.

Conclusions and the lack thereof. I said this was a tale of a different flavor in a genera often stale� and that was true until Dust. There were so many loose ends and the conclusion was such that I had to take off 1 ½ stars�.. that’s basically the difference between John Wick and The Woman King by my rating scale. Howey, pulled a 180 at the 13th hour. Pulled a Harry Potter the boy who lives yet again. And I’m not sure why. The set up was there to really pull off a trailblazing conclusion. The writing is of such quality it is easy to overlook Howey is actually a very green author� was their pressure from the publisher� editor? Or did he just write himself into what he felt was a corner so took an easy ambiguous out? After so much cultivating he left Silo 40 and friends out completely. The green forest� an exclusion zone or is the whole world reclaimed� Every once and awhile creators try to run this schtick. Sopranos, comes to mind� it’s not art house. It’s not clever. You wrote the story write the ending to. Making the audience guess the outcome particularly when you left a jumble of ambiguous things needing resolution is not clever. It’s lazy.
]]> Shift (Silo, #2) 17306293 579 Hugh Howey Reads with Scotch 4
Spoiler free segment:
Wool and Shift, both had a tight cast of characters. Nary a piece of fat to cut from the narrative, or superfluous characters cluttering the pages or narrative. Dust, on the other hand was just the opposite. There where so many characters that provided no value to the narrative it diluted the sticking power of the whole book. Further if anything I ever say makes it to Howey please let it be this - character permanence. The characters of Wool and Shift were nowhere to be found in Dust. Oh Donny was about but� well his bit will be down in the spoiler section as he is fairly central to the narrative. In Howey’s future creations I hope he places more value/effort on character development and character permanence. As the story unfolded the characters started to meld into a coagulation character instead of the distinct characters they were in Wool and Shift. Remove the names from the pages of Dust and I think you’d be hard pressed to tell one character from the next. Save for Donny.

The narrative became too watered down by a parade of characters that were not necessary. Coupled with all the established characters being locked in cyclical narrative loops. Which cultivated scenes (and revelations) that felt redundant, not relevant, or both. The loops spun round and round while not really propelling the story or concluding any of the many dangling threads. There were scenes that felt like they should have slapped hard, but instead felt like the tortilla slap challenge. They are there but with no impact. Then as the audience you see an upcoming inevitable event develop before your eyes� you know it is inevitable because you’ve read the rest of the series� you know how this goes. Juliet knows how this goes� Donny Knows�. EVERYONE KNOWS. It’s the flipping SILO. It unfolds over chapters and you get more and more frustrated by the characters continuing to ignore what they would 100% see coming in Wool and Shift. It is not a satisfying engaging frustration either. It is an anger inducing frustration. Because ^^ no character permanence ^^ by this stage of the story there are not characters there is a character and it apparently doesn’t care about anything. I found the conclusion to be unsatisfying. Silo was a good ride. I recommend everyone take it for a spin. It left me hungry though, smelling food baking in the oven all day, just to open the oven and see a note card inside with “lasagna� written on it.

*Spoilers*

Donny; was a cunt the entire series. A coward of the highest order. No principles. A spine of pudding. Ready to act the victim 6 times a day. He is a small resentful little shit that always blames his weaknesses on others. Donny, is thee enabler who made most of the atrocities of the series possible and a reality. He’s the sort of character that would rat out his neighbors to the KGB then lament about their deaths for 5 years� just to turn in his new replacement neighbors to the KGB� then continue whining about the injustice of the KGB for killing his neighbors. Until he runs out of victims to trauma dump on, then he will try to kill a KGB agent� but he’s a cunt so he does it half assed and it blows up in his face. He’s a cunt. A cunt. A cunt. A cunt. A necessary cunt central to the story and the only character that made it intact until his end. But still a cunt.

Juliet; should have died in the airlock. She didn’t contribute anything of value late stage silo. When I mention character permanence Juliet is the primary victim I think of in the Silo Trilogy. She started the series as a hyper focused intelligent character committed to getting the job done, getting it done right, and knew how to solicit assistance from others - by Dust, she wasn’t really focused on anything. She fumbled her way from scene to scene like a drunkard trying to remember where they hid the flask. No matter what scene she was in - her focus was somewhere else. And usually in the least useful place. In Dust it felt like she was just another silo dweller responding to the slightest provocation with maximum knee jerk. And she was exclusively at fault for the demise of Silo 18. The silo relied on that position for stability. 1 didn’t kill silo 18, Juliet did. She knew what was going to happen, knew it was an inevitable outcome because of activities she initiated as mayor. Juliet even deduced how 1 would kill the silo. And she did absolutely nothing to address it. She confirmed how 1 would respond - then walked away to do some inconsequential thing. Then shook her fist at the walls as everyone around her died.

So she didn’t want to be mayor. That wouldn’t have made a difference to Juliet of Wool. Juliet in Wool would have found a way to fulfill both roles. She would have appealed to mechanical if nobody else. She definitely wouldn’t have walked away from the conduit she knew 1 was going to use to kill the silo� That would have been neutralized immediately.

Lucas; of anyone in the silo, he was most read in on the lengths 1 would go to. And yet he sat there chasing Juliet around the silo like a puppy� contributing nothing but a gloppy cold oatmeal death over the radio for his troubles.

I could keep going down the list of Dust characters but I believe the point is made thoroughly enough.

Conclusions and the lack thereof. I said this was a tale of a different flavor in a genera often stale� and that was true until Dust. There were so many loose ends and the conclusion was such that I had to take off 1 ½ stars�.. that’s basically the difference between John Wick and The Woman King by my rating scale. Howey, pulled a 180 at the 13th hour. Pulled a Harry Potter the boy who lives yet again. And I’m not sure why. The set up was there to really pull off a trailblazing conclusion. The writing is of such quality it is easy to overlook Howey is actually a very green author� was their pressure from the publisher� editor? Or did he just write himself into what he felt was a corner so took an easy ambiguous out? After so much cultivating he left Silo 40 and friends out completely. The green forest� an exclusion zone or is the whole world reclaimed� Every once and awhile creators try to run this schtick. Sopranos, comes to mind� it’s not art house. It’s not clever. You wrote the story write the ending to. Making the audience guess the outcome particularly when you left a jumble of ambiguous things needing resolution is not clever. It’s lazy.]]> 4.12 2013 Shift (Silo, #2)
author: Hugh Howey
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2013
rating: 4
read at: 2023/06/23
date added: 2023/06/27
shelves:
review:
Silo Trilogy; before Dust, I would have said the series was well along the way to a solid 4 ½ stars - pretty high marks from me. Then I ran face first into, Dust. With the sort of hope one only finds in Disney cartoons I was sure Dust was going to be the conclusion the story deserved, a real banger. Before going in hard I will say � Silo is a trilogy worthy of your time. It is an interesting story, with a unique flavor to an often stale genera. However, the shortcomings of Dust acted as a fulcrum that pried the cracks in Wool and Shift into gaping maws� I’m being dramatic of course, but I reluctantly had to downgrade the series as a whole to 3 stars.

Spoiler free segment:
Wool and Shift, both had a tight cast of characters. Nary a piece of fat to cut from the narrative, or superfluous characters cluttering the pages or narrative. Dust, on the other hand was just the opposite. There where so many characters that provided no value to the narrative it diluted the sticking power of the whole book. Further if anything I ever say makes it to Howey please let it be this - character permanence. The characters of Wool and Shift were nowhere to be found in Dust. Oh Donny was about but� well his bit will be down in the spoiler section as he is fairly central to the narrative. In Howey’s future creations I hope he places more value/effort on character development and character permanence. As the story unfolded the characters started to meld into a coagulation character instead of the distinct characters they were in Wool and Shift. Remove the names from the pages of Dust and I think you’d be hard pressed to tell one character from the next. Save for Donny.

The narrative became too watered down by a parade of characters that were not necessary. Coupled with all the established characters being locked in cyclical narrative loops. Which cultivated scenes (and revelations) that felt redundant, not relevant, or both. The loops spun round and round while not really propelling the story or concluding any of the many dangling threads. There were scenes that felt like they should have slapped hard, but instead felt like the tortilla slap challenge. They are there but with no impact. Then as the audience you see an upcoming inevitable event develop before your eyes� you know it is inevitable because you’ve read the rest of the series� you know how this goes. Juliet knows how this goes� Donny Knows�. EVERYONE KNOWS. It’s the flipping SILO. It unfolds over chapters and you get more and more frustrated by the characters continuing to ignore what they would 100% see coming in Wool and Shift. It is not a satisfying engaging frustration either. It is an anger inducing frustration. Because ^^ no character permanence ^^ by this stage of the story there are not characters there is a character and it apparently doesn’t care about anything. I found the conclusion to be unsatisfying. Silo was a good ride. I recommend everyone take it for a spin. It left me hungry though, smelling food baking in the oven all day, just to open the oven and see a note card inside with “lasagna� written on it.

*Spoilers*

Donny; was a cunt the entire series. A coward of the highest order. No principles. A spine of pudding. Ready to act the victim 6 times a day. He is a small resentful little shit that always blames his weaknesses on others. Donny, is thee enabler who made most of the atrocities of the series possible and a reality. He’s the sort of character that would rat out his neighbors to the KGB then lament about their deaths for 5 years� just to turn in his new replacement neighbors to the KGB� then continue whining about the injustice of the KGB for killing his neighbors. Until he runs out of victims to trauma dump on, then he will try to kill a KGB agent� but he’s a cunt so he does it half assed and it blows up in his face. He’s a cunt. A cunt. A cunt. A cunt. A necessary cunt central to the story and the only character that made it intact until his end. But still a cunt.

Juliet; should have died in the airlock. She didn’t contribute anything of value late stage silo. When I mention character permanence Juliet is the primary victim I think of in the Silo Trilogy. She started the series as a hyper focused intelligent character committed to getting the job done, getting it done right, and knew how to solicit assistance from others - by Dust, she wasn’t really focused on anything. She fumbled her way from scene to scene like a drunkard trying to remember where they hid the flask. No matter what scene she was in - her focus was somewhere else. And usually in the least useful place. In Dust it felt like she was just another silo dweller responding to the slightest provocation with maximum knee jerk. And she was exclusively at fault for the demise of Silo 18. The silo relied on that position for stability. 1 didn’t kill silo 18, Juliet did. She knew what was going to happen, knew it was an inevitable outcome because of activities she initiated as mayor. Juliet even deduced how 1 would kill the silo. And she did absolutely nothing to address it. She confirmed how 1 would respond - then walked away to do some inconsequential thing. Then shook her fist at the walls as everyone around her died.

So she didn’t want to be mayor. That wouldn’t have made a difference to Juliet of Wool. Juliet in Wool would have found a way to fulfill both roles. She would have appealed to mechanical if nobody else. She definitely wouldn’t have walked away from the conduit she knew 1 was going to use to kill the silo� That would have been neutralized immediately.

Lucas; of anyone in the silo, he was most read in on the lengths 1 would go to. And yet he sat there chasing Juliet around the silo like a puppy� contributing nothing but a gloppy cold oatmeal death over the radio for his troubles.

I could keep going down the list of Dust characters but I believe the point is made thoroughly enough.

Conclusions and the lack thereof. I said this was a tale of a different flavor in a genera often stale� and that was true until Dust. There were so many loose ends and the conclusion was such that I had to take off 1 ½ stars�.. that’s basically the difference between John Wick and The Woman King by my rating scale. Howey, pulled a 180 at the 13th hour. Pulled a Harry Potter the boy who lives yet again. And I’m not sure why. The set up was there to really pull off a trailblazing conclusion. The writing is of such quality it is easy to overlook Howey is actually a very green author� was their pressure from the publisher� editor? Or did he just write himself into what he felt was a corner so took an easy ambiguous out? After so much cultivating he left Silo 40 and friends out completely. The green forest� an exclusion zone or is the whole world reclaimed� Every once and awhile creators try to run this schtick. Sopranos, comes to mind� it’s not art house. It’s not clever. You wrote the story write the ending to. Making the audience guess the outcome particularly when you left a jumble of ambiguous things needing resolution is not clever. It’s lazy.
]]> Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1) 13453029
The first Wool story was released as a standalone short in July of 2011. Due to reviewer demand, the rest of the story was released over the next six months.

This is the story of mankind clawing for survival, of mankind on the edge. The world outside has grown unkind, the view of it limited, talk of it forbidden. But there are always those who hope, who dream. These are the dangerous people, the residents who infect others with their optimism. Their punishment is simple. They are given the very thing they profess to want: They are allowed outside.

Alternate cover for B0071XO8RA]]> 509 Hugh Howey Reads with Scotch 4
Spoiler free segment:
Wool and Shift, both had a tight cast of characters. Nary a piece of fat to cut from the narrative, or superfluous characters cluttering the pages or narrative. Dust, on the other hand was just the opposite. There where so many characters that provided no value to the narrative it diluted the sticking power of the whole book. Further if anything I ever say makes it to Howey please let it be this - character permanence. The characters of Wool and Shift were nowhere to be found in Dust. Oh Donny was about but� well his bit will be down in the spoiler section as he is fairly central to the narrative. In Howey’s future creations I hope he places more value/effort on character development and character permanence. As the story unfolded the characters started to meld into a coagulation character instead of the distinct characters they were in Wool and Shift. Remove the names from the pages of Dust and I think you’d be hard pressed to tell one character from the next. Save for Donny.

The narrative became too watered down by a parade of characters that were not necessary. Coupled with all the established characters being locked in cyclical narrative loops. Which cultivated scenes (and revelations) that felt redundant, not relevant, or both. The loops spun round and round while not really propelling the story or concluding any of the many dangling threads. There were scenes that felt like they should have slapped hard, but instead felt like the tortilla slap challenge. They are there but with no impact. Then as the audience you see an upcoming inevitable event develop before your eyes� you know it is inevitable because you’ve read the rest of the series� you know how this goes. Juliet knows how this goes� Donny Knows�. EVERYONE KNOWS. It’s the flipping SILO. It unfolds over chapters and you get more and more frustrated by the characters continuing to ignore what they would 100% see coming in Wool and Shift. It is not a satisfying engaging frustration either. It is an anger inducing frustration. Because ^^ no character permanence ^^ by this stage of the story there are not characters there is a character and it apparently doesn’t care about anything. I found the conclusion to be unsatisfying. Silo was a good ride. I recommend everyone take it for a spin. It left me hungry though, smelling food baking in the oven all day, just to open the oven and see a note card inside with “lasagna� written on it.

*Spoilers*

Donny; was a cunt the entire series. A coward of the highest order. No principles. A spine of pudding. Ready to act the victim 6 times a day. He is a small resentful little shit that always blames his weaknesses on others. Donny, is thee enabler who made most of the atrocities of the series possible and a reality. He’s the sort of character that would rat out his neighbors to the KGB then lament about their deaths for 5 years� just to turn in his new replacement neighbors to the KGB� then continue whining about the injustice of the KGB for killing his neighbors. Until he runs out of victims to trauma dump on, then he will try to kill a KGB agent� but he’s a cunt so he does it half assed and it blows up in his face. He’s a cunt. A cunt. A cunt. A cunt. A necessary cunt central to the story and the only character that made it intact until his end. But still a cunt.

Juliet; should have died in the airlock. She didn’t contribute anything of value late stage silo. When I mention character permanence Juliet is the primary victim I think of in the Silo Trilogy. She started the series as a hyper focused intelligent character committed to getting the job done, getting it done right, and knew how to solicit assistance from others - by Dust, she wasn’t really focused on anything. She fumbled her way from scene to scene like a drunkard trying to remember where they hid the flask. No matter what scene she was in - her focus was somewhere else. And usually in the least useful place. In Dust it felt like she was just another silo dweller responding to the slightest provocation with maximum knee jerk. And she was exclusively at fault for the demise of Silo 18. The silo relied on that position for stability. 1 didn’t kill silo 18, Juliet did. She knew what was going to happen, knew it was an inevitable outcome because of activities she initiated as mayor. Juliet even deduced how 1 would kill the silo. And she did absolutely nothing to address it. She confirmed how 1 would respond - then walked away to do some inconsequential thing. Then shook her fist at the walls as everyone around her died.

So she didn’t want to be mayor. That wouldn’t have made a difference to Juliet of Wool. Juliet in Wool would have found a way to fulfill both roles. She would have appealed to mechanical if nobody else. She definitely wouldn’t have walked away from the conduit she knew 1 was going to use to kill the silo� That would have been neutralized immediately.

Lucas; of anyone in the silo, he was most read in on the lengths 1 would go to. And yet he sat there chasing Juliet around the silo like a puppy� contributing nothing but a gloppy cold oatmeal death over the radio for his troubles.

I could keep going down the list of Dust characters but I believe the point is made thoroughly enough.

Conclusions and the lack thereof. I said this was a tale of a different flavor in a genera often stale� and that was true until Dust. There were so many loose ends and the conclusion was such that I had to take off 1 ½ stars�.. that’s basically the difference between John Wick and The Woman King by my rating scale. Howey, pulled a 180 at the 13th hour. Pulled a Harry Potter the boy who lives yet again. And I’m not sure why. The set up was there to really pull off a trailblazing conclusion. The writing is of such quality it is easy to overlook Howey is actually a very green author� was their pressure from the publisher� editor? Or did he just write himself into what he felt was a corner so took an easy ambiguous out? After so much cultivating he left Silo 40 and friends out completely. The green forest� an exclusion zone or is the whole world reclaimed� Every once and awhile creators try to run this schtick. Sopranos, comes to mind� it’s not art house. It’s not clever. You wrote the story write the ending to. Making the audience guess the outcome particularly when you left a jumble of ambiguous things needing resolution is not clever. It’s lazy.]]> 4.22 2012 Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1)
author: Hugh Howey
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2012
rating: 4
read at: 2023/06/19
date added: 2023/06/27
shelves:
review:
Silo Trilogy; before Dust, I would have said the series was well along the way to a solid 4 ½ stars - pretty high marks from me. Then I ran face first into, Dust. With the sort of hope one only finds in Disney cartoons I was sure Dust was going to be the conclusion the story deserved, a real banger. Before going in hard I will say � Silo is a trilogy worthy of your time. It is an interesting story, with a unique flavor to an often stale genera. However, the shortcomings of Dust acted as a fulcrum that pried the cracks in Wool and Shift into gaping maws� I’m being dramatic of course, but I reluctantly had to downgrade the series as a whole to 3 stars.

Spoiler free segment:
Wool and Shift, both had a tight cast of characters. Nary a piece of fat to cut from the narrative, or superfluous characters cluttering the pages or narrative. Dust, on the other hand was just the opposite. There where so many characters that provided no value to the narrative it diluted the sticking power of the whole book. Further if anything I ever say makes it to Howey please let it be this - character permanence. The characters of Wool and Shift were nowhere to be found in Dust. Oh Donny was about but� well his bit will be down in the spoiler section as he is fairly central to the narrative. In Howey’s future creations I hope he places more value/effort on character development and character permanence. As the story unfolded the characters started to meld into a coagulation character instead of the distinct characters they were in Wool and Shift. Remove the names from the pages of Dust and I think you’d be hard pressed to tell one character from the next. Save for Donny.

The narrative became too watered down by a parade of characters that were not necessary. Coupled with all the established characters being locked in cyclical narrative loops. Which cultivated scenes (and revelations) that felt redundant, not relevant, or both. The loops spun round and round while not really propelling the story or concluding any of the many dangling threads. There were scenes that felt like they should have slapped hard, but instead felt like the tortilla slap challenge. They are there but with no impact. Then as the audience you see an upcoming inevitable event develop before your eyes� you know it is inevitable because you’ve read the rest of the series� you know how this goes. Juliet knows how this goes� Donny Knows�. EVERYONE KNOWS. It’s the flipping SILO. It unfolds over chapters and you get more and more frustrated by the characters continuing to ignore what they would 100% see coming in Wool and Shift. It is not a satisfying engaging frustration either. It is an anger inducing frustration. Because ^^ no character permanence ^^ by this stage of the story there are not characters there is a character and it apparently doesn’t care about anything. I found the conclusion to be unsatisfying. Silo was a good ride. I recommend everyone take it for a spin. It left me hungry though, smelling food baking in the oven all day, just to open the oven and see a note card inside with “lasagna� written on it.

*Spoilers*

Donny; was a cunt the entire series. A coward of the highest order. No principles. A spine of pudding. Ready to act the victim 6 times a day. He is a small resentful little shit that always blames his weaknesses on others. Donny, is thee enabler who made most of the atrocities of the series possible and a reality. He’s the sort of character that would rat out his neighbors to the KGB then lament about their deaths for 5 years� just to turn in his new replacement neighbors to the KGB� then continue whining about the injustice of the KGB for killing his neighbors. Until he runs out of victims to trauma dump on, then he will try to kill a KGB agent� but he’s a cunt so he does it half assed and it blows up in his face. He’s a cunt. A cunt. A cunt. A cunt. A necessary cunt central to the story and the only character that made it intact until his end. But still a cunt.

Juliet; should have died in the airlock. She didn’t contribute anything of value late stage silo. When I mention character permanence Juliet is the primary victim I think of in the Silo Trilogy. She started the series as a hyper focused intelligent character committed to getting the job done, getting it done right, and knew how to solicit assistance from others - by Dust, she wasn’t really focused on anything. She fumbled her way from scene to scene like a drunkard trying to remember where they hid the flask. No matter what scene she was in - her focus was somewhere else. And usually in the least useful place. In Dust it felt like she was just another silo dweller responding to the slightest provocation with maximum knee jerk. And she was exclusively at fault for the demise of Silo 18. The silo relied on that position for stability. 1 didn’t kill silo 18, Juliet did. She knew what was going to happen, knew it was an inevitable outcome because of activities she initiated as mayor. Juliet even deduced how 1 would kill the silo. And she did absolutely nothing to address it. She confirmed how 1 would respond - then walked away to do some inconsequential thing. Then shook her fist at the walls as everyone around her died.

So she didn’t want to be mayor. That wouldn’t have made a difference to Juliet of Wool. Juliet in Wool would have found a way to fulfill both roles. She would have appealed to mechanical if nobody else. She definitely wouldn’t have walked away from the conduit she knew 1 was going to use to kill the silo� That would have been neutralized immediately.

Lucas; of anyone in the silo, he was most read in on the lengths 1 would go to. And yet he sat there chasing Juliet around the silo like a puppy� contributing nothing but a gloppy cold oatmeal death over the radio for his troubles.

I could keep going down the list of Dust characters but I believe the point is made thoroughly enough.

Conclusions and the lack thereof. I said this was a tale of a different flavor in a genera often stale� and that was true until Dust. There were so many loose ends and the conclusion was such that I had to take off 1 ½ stars�.. that’s basically the difference between John Wick and The Woman King by my rating scale. Howey, pulled a 180 at the 13th hour. Pulled a Harry Potter the boy who lives yet again. And I’m not sure why. The set up was there to really pull off a trailblazing conclusion. The writing is of such quality it is easy to overlook Howey is actually a very green author� was their pressure from the publisher� editor? Or did he just write himself into what he felt was a corner so took an easy ambiguous out? After so much cultivating he left Silo 40 and friends out completely. The green forest� an exclusion zone or is the whole world reclaimed� Every once and awhile creators try to run this schtick. Sopranos, comes to mind� it’s not art house. It’s not clever. You wrote the story write the ending to. Making the audience guess the outcome particularly when you left a jumble of ambiguous things needing resolution is not clever. It’s lazy.
]]> <![CDATA[The Society of the Sword Trilogy]]> 31076287 This omnibus edition contains all three parts of the trilogy, including The Tattered Banner, which was featured on BuzzFeed's 12 Greatest Fantasy Books of 2013, and is over 1000 pages of swashbuckling heroic fantasy.When Soren is plucked from the streets and given a place at the prestigious academy of swordsmanship, he thinks his dream of being a great swordsman has become a possibility. However, with great intrigues unfolding all around him, Soren discovers that he is little more than a pawn to the ambitions of others. As he is swept from high society into exile in foreign lands to escape those who see him as a threat, he must rely on a mysterious gift and the lessons learned at the academy if he hopes to survive in a society where disputes are settled with a sword.Get your copy now and save 20% over the individual list prices.The Tattered Banner (Book 1)In a land where magic is outlawed, ability with a sword is prized above all else. For Soren this means the chance to live out his dreams.Plucked from a life of privation, he is given a coveted place at Ostenheim’s Academy of Swordsmanship, an opportunity beyond belief.Opportunity is not always what it seems however, and gifts rarely come without conditions. Soren becomes an unwitting pawn in a game of intrigue and treachery that could cost him not just his dreams, but also his life.The Huntsman's Amulet (Book 2)Alone in a foreign land, Soren must come to terms with loss and a gift that has been as much a burden as a benefit.A long abandoned city may hold the answers he seeks about the Gift of Grace, but a lethal assassin proves that old enemies have not forgotten him.As misfortune pulls him ever farther from an unsettled score, he finds hope in an unexpected place�The Telastrian Song (Book 3)A remote farm and meagre crops are a far cry from Ostenheim and the life of a banneret, but they are not far enough. For Soren to be free of Amero, there is only one answer.In Ostenheim, Duke Amero presides over a war-weary population and an empty treasury, but still he hungers for more.An Intelligencier uncovers the disturbing resurgence of sorcery in the city, while an avaricious colleague sees the chance to prove his worth to the Duke.Enemies and allies emerge from unexpected places, as Soren must face his former patron and idol for a final reckoning.]]> 810 Duncan M. Hamilton Reads with Scotch 3 currently-reading 4.23 The Society of the Sword Trilogy
author: Duncan M. Hamilton
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.23
book published:
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2018/06/01
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Heir to the Shadows (The Black Jewels, #2)]]> 47957 Librarian's note: See alternate cover for this edition here.

Enough time has passed for the young girl Jaenelle, heir to the magical Darkness, for her physical wounds to heal, while amnesia keeps her frightening memories at bay. But with Saetan--a Black-Jewelled Warlord Prince and Jaenelle's foster-father--to protect her, she will continue to grow. Her magic will mature. Her memories will return. And Jaenelle will face her destiny when she remembers Daemon, Saetan's son, who made the ultimate sacrifice for her love....]]> 482 Anne Bishop 0451456726 Reads with Scotch 4 4.32 1999 Heir to the Shadows (The Black Jewels, #2)
author: Anne Bishop
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.32
book published: 1999
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2018/05/17
shelves:
review:
Kind of a romance, but not really. Different and good, with a solid ending.
]]> <![CDATA[Aethersmith (Twinborn Trilogy, #2)]]> 18001691
As Kyrus Hinterdale and Brannis Solaran work to understand the intricacies of their Twinborn connection, they must also analyze and unravel the game Jinzan and Denrick played to get a step ahead of them. While planning a war, and coming to terms with Juliana’s impending wedding to Iridan, Brannis knows that he needs to feed Kyrus more advanced magical knowledge and training if they ever hope to keep the Kadrin empire from destruction.

However, just as plans are starting to come together, a spell of Kyrus� goes very wrong, and the two find themselves in an even bigger dilemma than ever. With the help of other Twinborn, they struggle to gain the upper hand in the war, and set everything back as it should be.]]> 456 J.S. Morin Reads with Scotch 0 currently-reading 4.16 2013 Aethersmith (Twinborn Trilogy, #2)
author: J.S. Morin
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/08/04
shelves: currently-reading
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Firehurler (Twinborn Trilogy, #1)]]> 17408269
When they cross paths with another pair with knowledge from both worlds, it becomes a battle of wits � each must try to outmaneuver the other, with the fate of kingdoms, and their own lives, at stake.]]> 542 J.S. Morin 1939233011 Reads with Scotch 2
It's a book of, could have beens.

It could have been great.
The characters, could have been great.
The dialog, could have been great.

It simply isn't.

I'm only halfway through the first book. It has been a rocky start. I keep seeing reviews for how well it's written and I can only scratch my head. Despite its wooden, total lack of finesse, writing mechanics, the story itself is engaging and enjoyable.

It's a great story. But the writing is terrible. The characters would be great... if they had texture and personality. The dialog is nearly unbearable and almost story breaking. I say nearly, here, because I am still reading... The characters don't talk to one another. It's like they are reading off talking points form note cards instead of having a naturally flowing conversation with one another. Not to mention the flagrant overuse of cliches.

I've little to no idea what the characters look like outside of one having a scraggly not beard and one being broad of shoulder. Oh and the token love interest is tall and rail thin.


Ok, enough of chewing off chunks of glutes. To the good aspects... it's an interesting premise. And a great set up. It truly does have a literal buttload of potential. I just wish it was written by someone with talent to match their imagination.]]> 4.01 2013 Firehurler (Twinborn Trilogy, #1)
author: J.S. Morin
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2013
rating: 2
read at: 2017/08/04
date added: 2017/08/04
shelves:
review:
I'm enjoying the story if not the writing. If I had to sum up the book in a single concise sentence:

It's a book of, could have beens.

It could have been great.
The characters, could have been great.
The dialog, could have been great.

It simply isn't.

I'm only halfway through the first book. It has been a rocky start. I keep seeing reviews for how well it's written and I can only scratch my head. Despite its wooden, total lack of finesse, writing mechanics, the story itself is engaging and enjoyable.

It's a great story. But the writing is terrible. The characters would be great... if they had texture and personality. The dialog is nearly unbearable and almost story breaking. I say nearly, here, because I am still reading... The characters don't talk to one another. It's like they are reading off talking points form note cards instead of having a naturally flowing conversation with one another. Not to mention the flagrant overuse of cliches.

I've little to no idea what the characters look like outside of one having a scraggly not beard and one being broad of shoulder. Oh and the token love interest is tall and rail thin.


Ok, enough of chewing off chunks of glutes. To the good aspects... it's an interesting premise. And a great set up. It truly does have a literal buttload of potential. I just wish it was written by someone with talent to match their imagination.
]]> Norse Mythology 30809689 Neil Gaiman has long been inspired by ancient mythology in creating the fantastical realms of his fiction. Now he turns his attention back to the source, presenting a bravura rendition of the great northern tales.

In Norse Mythology, Gaiman stays true to the myths in envisioning the major Norse pantheon: Odin, the highest of the high, wise, daring, and cunning; Thor, Odin’s son, incredibly strong yet not the wisest of gods; and Loki—son of a giant—blood brother to Odin and a trickster and unsurpassable manipulator.

Gaiman fashions these primeval stories into a novelistic arc that begins with the genesis of the legendary nine worlds and delves into the exploits of deities, dwarfs, and giants. Once, when Thor's hammer is stolen, Thor must disguise himself as a woman—difficult with his beard and huge appetite—to steal it back. More poignant is the tale in which the blood of Kvasir—the most sagacious of gods—is turned into a mead that infuses drinkers with poetry. The work culminates in Ragnarok, the twilight of the gods and rebirth of a new time and people.

Through Gaiman’s deft and witty prose emerge these gods with their fiercely competitive natures, their susceptibility to being duped and to duping others, and their tendency to let passion ignite their actions, making these long-ago myths breathe pungent life again.]]> 299 Neil Gaiman 039360909X Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.10 2017 Norse Mythology
author: Neil Gaiman
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.10
book published: 2017
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2017/02/12
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Sunset (Nightlord, #1) 23464655 Sunset brought a hangover, a beautiful woman, and the thirst for... blood?

Eric didn't ask to be a vampire.
In fact, he didn't even believe in them. Then he meets a beautiful woman, wakes up with a hangover, and bites his tongue with his own fangs.

Which pretty much settles the question.

Now he's trying to hold down his day job while learning the rules of the Undead -- the most important being that bloodthirsty urges and predatory instincts are a real bitch.

Upside; Eric has the beautiful Sasha to teach him the ropes, including the magic he'll need to survive.
Downside; it turns out being a vampire is the least of his problems.

When Sasha is killed, Eric is thrust into an alternate world in his quest to avenge her death. There he becomes a Nightlord, fights a dragon with the help of his magical steed, Bronze, and upchucks a sword named Firebrand.

But things get really interesting when Eric finally finds Tobias, head of the Church of Light. Soon Eric finds himself at the center of an epic battle at the literal edge of the world in a fight to keep a terrible darkness at bay.

"When you fall off the Edge of the World into hordes of demonic 'Things from the Outer Darkness,' you really start to wonder about your life choices."
--Eric, part-time undead, expectant father, and short-term astronaut.]]> 680 Garon Whited Reads with Scotch 3
Eric, is the vampire genres Harry Dresden. The wit is droll, and often layered in dad jokes or puns.

I there are mechanical flaws with the series, as a whole, it is to be written as a diary but not every page sticks to the format...

Eric, a college physics professor, goes out with his mates for a pub crawl after being abruptly dismissed by his soon to be. He wakes in the morning ill. Which he contributes to being hung over but is in fact in his turning.

The series plays with physics and the fabric of reality. Touching on concepts of multiverse string theory, and the absurdity an educated man finding himself in a place were not only is the planet actually flat, but also lacks magnetism.

Not so much in the first book, but a main sticking point later in the series is Eric trying to figure out how the world he is in functions on a scientific level.


Over all, I'm enjoying the series. Though I do think the third book was pretty disappointing. The story line didn't really progress anywhere and ended in an anticlimactic cliff hanger. ]]> 4.17 2006 Sunset (Nightlord, #1)
author: Garon Whited
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2006
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2017/02/01
shelves:
review:
It's a quirky rambling narrative. Half the time I was silently demanding the story to get to the point. Then I was searching for the next book.

Eric, is the vampire genres Harry Dresden. The wit is droll, and often layered in dad jokes or puns.

I there are mechanical flaws with the series, as a whole, it is to be written as a diary but not every page sticks to the format...

Eric, a college physics professor, goes out with his mates for a pub crawl after being abruptly dismissed by his soon to be. He wakes in the morning ill. Which he contributes to being hung over but is in fact in his turning.

The series plays with physics and the fabric of reality. Touching on concepts of multiverse string theory, and the absurdity an educated man finding himself in a place were not only is the planet actually flat, but also lacks magnetism.

Not so much in the first book, but a main sticking point later in the series is Eric trying to figure out how the world he is in functions on a scientific level.


Over all, I'm enjoying the series. Though I do think the third book was pretty disappointing. The story line didn't really progress anywhere and ended in an anticlimactic cliff hanger.
]]> House of Suns 5225631
Only this millennium there is no gathering. Someone is eliminating the Gentian line. And Campion and Purslane-two shatterlings who have fallen in love and shared forbidden experiences- must determine exactly who, or what, their enemy is, before they are wiped out of existence.]]> 480 Alastair Reynolds 0441017177 Reads with Scotch 4 sci-fi 4.25 2008 House of Suns
author: Alastair Reynolds
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2008
rating: 4
read at: 2010/01/25
date added: 2015/11/18
shelves: sci-fi
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Fear the Future (The Fear Saga #3)]]> 24004424
Piloted by a six-year-old girl, the godlike Skalm guards the Districts of TASC. Her family is long dead. Her adopted father is a synthetic copy of an alien, her nanny an artificial mind, connected via subspace to every part of the globe, feeding the young girl information, finding prey to satiate her growing thirst.

But the young girl is but an innocent, a victim, one of millions the war has already claimed. Her innocence has been sacrificed by a man with singular purpose: a man who will stop at nothing in order to prepare earth for the coming conflict.

For the armada is approaching, its far off engines now bright as stars in the night sky. They mean to kill us. They have the power to do so. And as oblivion’s maw opens up to engulf us, we brace ourselves for battle.

We will fight to the last. Live or die, we will leave a scar upon our attackers that will last an age, even if we, ourselves, do not.]]> 439 Stephen Moss Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 3.91 2014 Fear the Future (The Fear Saga #3)
author: Stephen Moss
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/06/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Fear the Survivors (The Fear Saga, #2)]]> 23124373
While alien Agents stalk the earth, a team of exhausted scientists and military outcasts struggle to fight them amongst a planet on the brink. The brink of plague, the brink of war, and the brink of an invasion larger than they can possibly imagine.

But they have allies. Two of the alien Agents have forsaken their homes, their families, their very species to stop the greatest act of genocide any of them has ever known. John and Shahim have great abilities. They carry with them the knowledge we need to save humanity and take us into a new and marvelous age.

But Lana and the remaining enemy Agents are far from defeated. As they begin to reap havoc among the diseased and bereft, Neal, Ayala, and Barrett must find a way to achieve the impossible, by fair means or foul they must unite the world’s disparate nations. And they must do so quickly, for the Armada is fast approaching, and behind the great fires of their decelerating engines, the huge fleet is readying itself for war.


Praise for Volume 1: Fear the Sky

“Likely the best science fiction I have read in a really long while.�

“Great plot very well developed, interesting characters, well described.�

“Has the best elements of a thriller, a post-apocalyptic drama, and a military espionage novel.�

“Easily one of the most imaginative books I've read in recent memory.�

“Stephen Moss' extremely well researched and creative thriller is put forth in shockingly elaborate style.�

“My favorite read this year!”]]> 604 Stephen Moss Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.15 2014 Fear the Survivors (The Fear Saga, #2)
author: Stephen Moss
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.15
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/06/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Fear the Sky (The Fear Saga, #1)]]> 22171697
These foreboding lights will shine in our night sky like new stars, getting ever brighter until they outshine even the sun, casting ominous shadows and banishing the night until they suddenly blink out.

Their technology is vastly superior to ours, and they know they cannot possibly lose the coming conflict. But they, like us, have found no answer to the destructive force of the atom, and they have no intention of facing the onslaught of our primitive nuclear arsenal, or the devastation it would wreak on the planet they crave.

So they have flung out an advanced party in front of them, hidden within one of the countless asteroids randomly roaming the void.

They do not want us, they want our planet. Their Agents are arriving.]]> 394 Stephen Moss Reads with Scotch 4 sci-fi 4.08 2014 Fear the Sky (The Fear Saga, #1)
author: Stephen Moss
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.08
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2015/06/30
shelves: sci-fi
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Quicksilver (The Baroque Cycle, #1)]]> 823 Quicksilver is the story of Daniel Waterhouse, fearless thinker and conflicted Puritan, pursuing knowledge in the company of the greatest minds of Baroque-era Europe, in a chaotic world where reason wars with the bloody ambitions of the mighty, and where catastrophe, natural or otherwise, can alter the political landscape overnight.

It is a chronicle of the breathtaking exploits of "Half-Cocked Jack" Shaftoe--London street urchin turned swashbuckling adventurer and legendary King of the Vagabonds--risking life and limb for fortune and love while slowly maddening from the pox.

And it is the tale of Eliza, rescued by Jack from a Turkish harem to become spy, confidante, and pawn of royals in order to reinvent Europe through the newborn power of finance.

A gloriously rich, entertaining, and endlessly inventive novel that brings a remarkable age and its momentous events to vivid life, Quicksilver is an extraordinary achievement from one of the most original and important literary talents of our time.

And it's just the beginning...

(back cover)

This P.S. edition includes 16 pages of supplementary materials.

Cover design by Richard L. Aquan
Cover illustration from the Mary Evans Picture Library; painting of Great Fire of London on stepback]]> 927 Neal Stephenson Reads with Scotch 4 historical-fiction 3.91 2003 Quicksilver (The Baroque Cycle, #1)
author: Neal Stephenson
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 3.91
book published: 2003
rating: 4
read at: 2015/06/30
date added: 2015/06/30
shelves: historical-fiction
review:

]]> Influx 22668803
The bureau’s mission: suppress the truth of sudden technological progress and prevent the social upheaval it would trigger. Because the future is already here. And it’s rewards are only for a select few.

When Grady refuses to join the BTC, he’s thrown into a nightmarish high-tech prison housing other doomed rebel intellects. Now, as the only hope to usher humanity out of its artificial dark age, Grady and his fellow prisoners must try to expose the secrets of an unimaginable enemy—one that wields a technological advantage half a century in the making.]]> 528 Daniel Suarez 0451469445 Reads with Scotch 1 3.95 2014 Influx
author: Daniel Suarez
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 3.95
book published: 2014
rating: 1
read at: 2015/06/30
date added: 2015/06/30
shelves:
review:
Influx is going well. Though a little heavy handed with the class/social warfare schtick. I'm trying to ignore those shrill bits.
]]> <![CDATA[The Girl with All the Gifts (The Girl With All the Gifts, #1)]]> 17235026
Every morning, Melanie waits in her cell to be collected for class. When they come for her, Sergeant Parks keeps his gun pointing at her while two of his people strap her into the wheelchair. She thinks they don't like her. She jokes that she won't bite, but they don't laugh.

Melanie loves school. She loves learning about spelling and sums and the world outside the classroom and the children's cells. She tells her favorite teacher all the things she'll do when she grows up. Melanie doesn't know why this makes Miss Justineau look sad.

The Girl with All the Gifts is a sensational thriller, perfect for fans of Stephen King, Justin Cronin, and Neil Gaiman.]]> 461 M.R. Carey 0356500152 Reads with Scotch 4 3.94 2014 The Girl with All the Gifts (The Girl With All the Gifts, #1)
author: M.R. Carey
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 3.94
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2015/06/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Half the World (Shattered Sea, #2)]]> 22055283
Fate places her life in the hands of the deep-cunning Father Yarvi as he sets out to cross half the world in search of allies against the ruthless High King. Beside her is Brand, a young warrior who hates to kill. A failure in her eyes and his own, the voyage is his last chance at redemption.

But warriors can be weapons, and weapons are made for one purpose. Will Thorn always be a tool in the hands of the powerful, or can she carve her own path? Is there a place outside of legend for a woman with a blade?]]> 366 Joe Abercrombie 0804178429 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.16 2015 Half the World (Shattered Sea, #2)
author: Joe Abercrombie
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.16
book published: 2015
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/03/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Great North Road 13573419
Or maybe not so friendly. At least that's what the murder of a North clone in the English city of Newcastle suggests to Detective Sidney Hurst. Sid is a solid investigator who'd like nothing better than to hand off this hot potato of a case. The way he figures it, whether he solves the crime or not, he'll make enough enemies to ruin his career. Yet Sid's case is about to take an unexpected turn: Because the circumstances of the murder bear an uncanny resemblance to a killing that took place years ago on the planet St. Libra, where a North clone and his entire household were slaughtered in cold blood.

The convicted slayer, Angela Tramelo, has always claimed her innocence. And now it seems she may have been right. Because only the St. Libra killer could have committed the Newcastle crime. Problem is, Angela also claims that the murderer was an alien monster.

Now Sid must navigate through a Byzantine minefield of competing interests within the police department and the world's political and economic elite...all the while hunting down a brutal killer poised to strike again. And on St. Libra, Angela, newly released from prison, joins a mission to hunt down the elusive alien, only to learn that the line between hunter and hunted is a thin one.]]> 948 Peter F. Hamilton 034552666X Reads with Scotch 3 4.05 2012 Great North Road
author: Peter F. Hamilton
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2015/03/01
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Off to Be the Wizard (Magic 2.0, #1)]]> 18616975
What could possibly go wrong?

An American hacker in King Arthur’s court, Martin must now train to become a full-fledged master of his powers, discover the truth behind the ancient wizard Merlin� and not, y’know, die or anything.]]> 373 Scott Meyer 1612184715 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.00 2013 Off to Be the Wizard (Magic 2.0, #1)
author: Scott Meyer
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.00
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/03/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Mallet of Loving Correction]]> 17654195 “In a very real sense, Whatever is my life’s work; it’s fifteen years (so far) of me thinking about what’s going on in my life and in my world.”—John Scalzi

What sort of idiot spends fifteen years writing a blog? New York Times Bestselling author John Scalzi is that sort of idiot. And in those fifteen years the blog he’s written, called Whatever, has won awards, had its entries republished in newspapers, magazines and books, and has seen millions of readers each year come by to read Scalzi’s observations on life, the world, and just about everything that happens in both. It’s one of the most popular personal blogs on the planet.

The Mallet of Loving Correction (named for Scalzi’s method of moderating the comment sections of his site) is the second collection of entries from Whatever. It spans two elections, a civil rights revolution, the fall of MySpace and the rise of Twitter and Facebook, and a whole era on the Internet and on the planet Earth.

Nothing is sacred (“Taunting the Tauntable� is the motto of Whatever): Scalzi takes on politicians, bigots, vengeful nerds and major corporations with righteous sarcasm—and also takes time to muse on love, marriage, children and faith. Everything and anything is up for discussion, examination and explanation.

The Mallet of Loving Correction, in short, is the whole range of one human’s experience, in one easy-to-carry package.]]> 488 John Scalzi 1596065796 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 3.52 2013 The Mallet of Loving Correction
author: John Scalzi
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 3.52
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/03/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Particle at the End of the Universe: How the Hunt for the Higgs Boson Leads Us to the Edge of a New World]]> 15744013 320 Sean Carroll 0525953590 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.05 2012 The Particle at the End of the Universe: How the Hunt for the Higgs Boson Leads Us to the Edge of a New World
author: Sean Carroll
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.05
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2015/03/01
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Beautiful You 19523454 "A billion husbands are about to be replaced."

From the author of Fight Club, the classic portrait of the damaged contemporary male psyche, now comes this novel about the apocalyptic marketing possibilities of a new product that gives new meaning to the term "self-help."Ěý

Penny Harrigan is a low-level associate in a big Manhattan law firm with an apartment in Queens and no love life at all. So it comes as a great shock when she finds herself invited to dinner by one C. Linus Maxwell, a software mega-billionaire and lover of the most gorgeous and accomplished women on earth. After dining at Manhattan's most exclusive restaurant, he whisks Penny off to a hotel suite in Paris, where he proceeds, notebook in hand, to bring her to previously undreamed-of heights of gratification for days on end. What's not to like?

This: Penny discovers that she is a test subject for the final development of a line of feminine products to be marketed in a nationwide chain of boutiques called Beautiful You. So potent and effective are these devices that women by the millions line up outside the stores on opening day and then lock themselves in their room with them and stop coming out. Except for batteries. Maxwell's plan for battery-powered world domination must be stopped. But how?]]> 240 Chuck Palahniuk 0385538030 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 3.05 2014 Beautiful You
author: Chuck Palahniuk
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 3.05
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/11/16
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Me Talk Pretty One Day 4137 272 David Sedaris 0349113912 Reads with Scotch 3 4.01 2000 Me Talk Pretty One Day
author: David Sedaris
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2000
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/11/14
shelves:
review:

]]> The Mist 813214
The mist is alive, seething with unearthly sounds and movements. What unleashed this terror? Was it the Arrowhead Project—the top secret government operation that everyone has noticed but no one quite understands?

And what happens when the provisions have run out and you're forced to make your escape, edging blindly through the dim light?]]> 176 Stephen King Reads with Scotch 3 3.95 1980 The Mist
author: Stephen King
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 3.95
book published: 1980
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/11/14
shelves:
review:

]]> Breakfast of Champions 4980 Alternate cover for this ISBN can be found here

In Breakfast of Champions, one of Kurt Vonnegut’s most beloved characters, the aging writer Kilgore Trout, finds to his horror that a Midwest car dealer is taking his fiction as truth. What follows is murderously funny satire, as Vonnegut looks at war, sex, racism, success, politics, and pollution in America and reminds us how to see the truth.]]> 303 Kurt Vonnegut Jr. 0385334206 Reads with Scotch 3 4.08 1973 Breakfast of Champions
author: Kurt Vonnegut Jr.
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.08
book published: 1973
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/11/14
shelves:
review:

]]> A Light in the Attic 30118 Last night while I lay thinking here
Some Whatifs crawled inside my ear
And pranced and partied all night long
And sang their same old Whatif song:

Whatif I flunk that test?
Whatif green hair grows on my chest?
Whatif nobody likes me?
Whatif a bolt of lightning strikes me?...This 20th anniversary of Shel Silverstein's A Light in the Attic includes a CD of highlights from his Grammy Award-winning album.

Here in the attic of Shel Silverstein you will find Backward Bill, Sour Face Ann, the Meehoo with an Exactlywatt, and the Polar Bear in the Frigidaire. You will talk with Broiled Face, and find out what happens when Somebody steals your knees, you get caught by the Quick-Digesting Gink, a Mountain snores, and They Put a Brassiere on the Camel.

From the creator of the beloved poetry collections Where the Sidewalk Ends and Falling Up, here is another wondrous book of poems and drawings.]]> 176 Shel Silverstein 0060513063 Reads with Scotch 3 books-from-childhood 4.36 1981 A Light in the Attic
author: Shel Silverstein
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.36
book published: 1981
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/11/14
shelves: books-from-childhood
review:

]]> Where the Sidewalk Ends 30119 Come in... for where the sidewalk ends, Shel Silverstein's world begins.

Shel Silverstein, theĚýNew York Times bestselling author of The Giving Tree, A Light in the Attic, Falling Up, and Every Thing On It, has created a poetry collection that is outrageously funny and deeply profound.

You'll meet a boy who turns into a TV set, and a girl who eats a whale. The Unicorn and the Bloath live there, and so does Sarah Cynthia Sylvia Stout who will not take the garbage out. It is a place where you wash your shadow and plant diamond gardens, a place where shoes fly, sisters are auctioned off, and crocodiles go to the dentist.

Shel Silverstein's masterful collection of poems and drawings stretches the bounds of imagination and will be cherished by readers of all ages.]]> 176 Shel Silverstein 0060513039 Reads with Scotch 3 books-from-childhood 4.34 1974 Where the Sidewalk Ends
author: Shel Silverstein
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.34
book published: 1974
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/11/14
shelves: books-from-childhood
review:

]]> Animal Farm 7613
When Animal Farm was first published, Stalinist Russia was seen as its target. Today it is devastatingly clear that wherever and whenever freedom is attacked, under whatever banner, the cutting clarity and savage comedy of George Orwell’s masterpiece have a meaning and message still ferociously fresh.]]> 129 George Orwell Reads with Scotch 0 important-reads 3.90 1945 Animal Farm
author: George Orwell
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 3.90
book published: 1945
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/11/14
shelves: important-reads
review:

]]> River God (Ancient Egypt, #1) 429138 664 Wilbur Smith 0312954468 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.21 1993 River God (Ancient Egypt, #1)
author: Wilbur Smith
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.21
book published: 1993
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/11/14
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Doors of Stone (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #3)]]> 21032488 896 Patrick Rothfuss 0575081449 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 3.51 The Doors of Stone (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #3)
author: Patrick Rothfuss
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 3.51
book published:
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/11/05
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Cursor's Fury (Codex Alera, #3)]]> 29394 442 Jim Butcher 0441014348 Reads with Scotch 2 crap-fantasy 4.35 2006 Cursor's Fury (Codex Alera, #3)
author: Jim Butcher
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.35
book published: 2006
rating: 2
read at: 2014/11/04
date added: 2014/11/04
shelves: crap-fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Red Seas Under Red Skies (Gentleman Bastard, #2)]]> 887877
This time, however, they have targeted the grandest prize of all: the Sinspire, the most exclusive and heavily guarded gambling house in the world. Its nine floors attract the wealthiest clientele � and to rise to the top, one must impress with good credit, amusing behavior... and excruciatingly impeccable play. For there is one cardinal rule, enforced by Requin, the house's cold-blooded master: it is death to cheat at any game at the Sinspire.

Brazenly undeterred, Locke and Jean have orchestrated an elaborate plan to lie, trick, and swindle their way up the nine floors... straight to Requin's teeming vault. Under the cloak of false identities, they meticulously make their climb � until they are closer to the spoils than ever.

But someone in Tal Verrar has uncovered the duo's secret. Someone from their past who has every intention of making the impudent criminals pay for their sins. Now it will take every ounce of cunning to save their mercenary souls. And even that may not be enough...

]]> 558 Scott Lynch 0553804685 Reads with Scotch 4 fantasy 4.23 2007 Red Seas Under Red Skies (Gentleman Bastard, #2)
author: Scott Lynch
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.23
book published: 2007
rating: 4
read at: 2014/11/04
date added: 2014/11/04
shelves: fantasy
review:
I’m about done with the second “Gentlemen Bastardâ€� book â€Red Seas under red skiesâ€�. Over all it is an enjoyable book, and series. The Characters continue to develop. Lynch, does a fine job of keeping the plot devices fresh, even in the confines of the format he is writing in. The main power of the series lies in the colorful dialog. For me at any rate. I look forward to the third book.
]]> <![CDATA[The Slow Regard of Silent Things (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #2.5)]]> 21535271
Her name is Auri, and she is full of mysteries.

The Slow Regard of Silent Things is a brief, bittersweet glimpse of Auri’s life, a small adventure all her own. At once joyous and haunting, this story offers a chance to see the world through Auri’s eyes. And it gives the reader a chance to learn things that only Auri knows...

In this book, Patrick Rothfuss brings us into the world of one of The Kingkiller Chronicle’s most enigmatic characters. Full of secrets and mysteries, The Slow Regard of Silent Things is the story of a broken girl trying to live in a broken world.


AUTHOR’S FOREWORD

You might not want to buy this book.

I know, that’s not the sort of thing an author is supposed to say. The marketing people aren’t going to like this. My editor is going to have a fit. But I’d rather be honest with you right out of the gate.

First, if you haven’t read my other books, you don’t want to start here.

My first two books are The Name of the Wind and The Wise Man’s Fear. If you’re curious to try my writing, start there. They’re the best introduction to my world. This book deals with Auri, one of the characters from that series. Without the context of those books, you’re probably going to feel pretty lost.

Second, even if you have read my other books, I think it’s only fair to warn you that this is a bit of a strange story. I don’t go in for spoilers, but suffice to say that this one is ... different. It doesn’t do a lot of the things a classic story is supposed to do. And if you’re looking for a continuation of Kvothe’s storyline, you’re not going to find it here.

On the other hand, if you’d like to learn more about Auri, this story has a lot to offer. If you love words and mysteries and secrets. If you’re curious about the Underthing and alchemy. If you want to know more about the hidden turnings of my world...

Well, then this book might be for you.

]]> 159 Patrick Rothfuss 0756410436 Reads with Scotch 4 3.88 2014 The Slow Regard of Silent Things (The Kingkiller Chronicle, #2.5)
author: Patrick Rothfuss
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 3.88
book published: 2014
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/11/04
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Shattered (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #7)]]> 16280678 Acclaimed author Kevin Hearne makes his hardcover debut with the new novel in his epic urban fantasy series starring the unforgettable Atticus O’Sullivan.

For nearly two thousand years, only one Druid has walked the Earth—Atticus O’Sullivan, the Iron Druid, whose sharp wit and sharp sword have kept him alive as he’s been pursued by a pantheon of hostile deities. Now he’s got company.

Atticus’s apprentice Granuaile is at last a full Druid herself. What’s more, Atticus has defrosted an archdruid long ago frozen in time, a father figure (of sorts) who now goes by the modern equivalent of his old Irish name: Owen Kennedy.

And Owen has some catching up to do.

Atticus takes pleasure in the role reversal, as the student is now the teacher. Between busting Atticus’s chops and trying to fathom a cell phone, Owen must also learn English. For Atticus, the jury’s still out on whether the wily old coot will be an asset in the epic battle with Norse god Loki—or merely a pain in the arse.

But Atticus isn’t the only one with daddy issues. Granuaile faces a great challenge: to exorcise a sorcerer’s spirit that is possessing her father in India. Even with the help of the witch Laksha, Granuaile may be facing a crushing defeat.

As the trio of Druids deals with pestilence-spreading demons, bacon-loving yeti, fierce flying foxes, and frenzied Fae, they’re hoping that this time, three’s a charm.]]> 352 Kevin Hearne 0345548485 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.27 2014 Shattered (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #7)
author: Kevin Hearne
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/09/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hunted (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #6)]]> 16071748 Ěý
Crashing the pantheon marathon is the Norse god Loki. Killing Atticus is the only loose end he needs to tie up before unleashing Ragnarok—AKA the Apocalypse. Atticus and Granuaile have to outfox the Olympians and contain the god of mischief if they want to go on living—and still have a world to live in.

Also contains the novella "Two Ravens and One Crow" (#4.5).]]> 384 Kevin Hearne 0345533631 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.29 2013 Hunted (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #6)
author: Kevin Hearne
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.29
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/09/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Trapped (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #5)]]> 13536649
Having no other choice, Atticus, his trusted Irish wolfhound, Oberon, and Granuaile travel to the base of Mount Olympus, where the Roman god Bacchus is anxious to take his sworn revenge—but he’ll have to get in line behind an ancient vampire, a band of dark elves, and an old god of mischief, who all seem to have KILL THE DRUID at the top of their to-do lists.]]> 290 Kevin Hearne 034553364X Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.27 2012 Trapped (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #5)
author: Kevin Hearne
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.27
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/09/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Tricked (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #4)]]> 12700306
But the mischievous Coyote is not above a little sleight of paw, and Atticus soon finds that he’s been duped into battling bloodthirsty desert shapeshifters called skinwalkers. Just when the Druid thinks he’s got a handle on all the duplicity, betrayal comes from an unlikely source. If Atticus survives this time, he vows he won’t be fooled again. Famous last words.]]> 341 Kevin Hearne 0345533623 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.25 2012 Tricked (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #4)
author: Kevin Hearne
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.25
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/09/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hammered (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #3)]]> 9595620
One survival strategy has worked for Atticus for more than two thousand years: stay away from the guy with the lightning bolts. But things are heating up in Atticus’s home base of Tempe, Arizona. There’s a vampire turf war brewing, and Russian demon hunters who call themselves the Hammers of God are running rampant. Despite multiple warnings and portents of dire consequences, Atticus and Leif journey to the Norse plain of Asgard, where they team up with a werewolf, a sorcerer, and an army of frost giants for an epic showdown against vicious Valkyries, angry gods, and the hammer-wielding Thunder Thug himself.]]> 312 Kevin Hearne 0345522486 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.21 2011 Hammered (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #3)
author: Kevin Hearne
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/09/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hexed (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #2)]]> 9595650
Atticus O’Sullivan has had cause to mistrust witches in his storied past, but he’s willing to live and let live with the Sisters of the Three Auroras, a legendary local coven, even going so far as to sign a non-aggression treaty with them. But that treaty is tested immediately when a deadly new coven sweeps into town seeking to take over, along with some Bacchants from Las Vegas and a fallen angel who’s decided to snack on high school students like they were trail mix.

It’s more than Atticus can handle alone and he must enlist the trickster Coyote, the headhopping abilities of the witch Laksha Kulesekaran, and his neighbor’s illegal arsenal if he wants to keep the city safe from diabolical takeover. He must also exchange favors with his vampire attorney, Leif Helgarson, in a deal that might prove to be the worst of his long life—for Leif doesn’t want to be paid by the hour.

To defeat the mortal hexes of this new coven and keep his apprentice—and his city—safe, Atticus must think fast, make promises, keep his sword handy, and hope he’ll survive to fight another day.]]> 296 Kevin Hearne 0345522494 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.22 2011 Hexed (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #2)
author: Kevin Hearne
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.22
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/09/21
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Hounded (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #1)]]> 9533378
Unfortunately, a very angry Celtic god wants that sword, and he’s hounded Atticus for centuries. Now the determined deity has tracked him down, and Atticus will need all his power—plus the help of a seductive goddess of death, his vampire and werewolf team of attorneys, a bartender possessed by a Hindu witch, and some good old-fashioned luck of the Irish—to kick some Celtic arse and deliver himself from evil.]]> 304 Kevin Hearne 0345522478 Reads with Scotch 3 4.09 2011 Hounded (The Iron Druid Chronicles, #1)
author: Kevin Hearne
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2011
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/09/21
shelves:
review:

]]> The Fault in Our Stars 11870085
Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.]]> 313 John Green Reads with Scotch 2 4.13 2012 The Fault in Our Stars
author: John Green
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.13
book published: 2012
rating: 2
read at:
date added: 2014/07/23
shelves:
review:

]]> Haunted 22288
The stories are told by people who have all answered an ad headlined 'Artists Retreat: Abandon your life for three months'. They are led to believe that here they will leave behind all the distractions of 'real life' that are keeping them from creating the masterpiece that is in them.

But 'here' turns out to be a cavernous and ornate old theater where they are utterly isolated from the outside world - and where heat and power and, most importantly, food are in increasingly short supply. And the more desperate the circumstances become, the more desperate the stories they tell - and the more devious their machinations to make themselves the hero of the inevitable play/movie/non-fiction blockbuster that will certainly be made from their plight.]]> 419 Chuck Palahniuk 1400032822 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read, novel 3.60 2005 Haunted
author: Chuck Palahniuk
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 3.60
book published: 2005
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/07/21
shelves: to-read, novel
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)]]> 1 652 J.K. Rowling Reads with Scotch 4 4.57 2005 Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (Harry Potter, #6)
author: J.K. Rowling
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.57
book published: 2005
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/04/28
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Book of the Dead (Pendergast, #7; Diogenes, #3)]]> 697079 His brilliant, psychotic brother, about to perpetrate a horrific crime...
A young woman with an extrodinary past, on th edge of a violent breakdown...
An ancient Egyptian tomb with an enigmatic curse, about to be unveiled at a celebrity-studded New York gala...
Memento Mori]]> 597 Douglas Preston 0446618500 Reads with Scotch 4 good-crap 4.01 2006 The Book of the Dead (Pendergast, #7; Diogenes, #3)
author: Douglas Preston
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.01
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at:
date added: 2014/04/11
shelves: good-crap
review:

]]> Lullaby 22206 Lullaby is a comedy/drama/tragedy. In that order. It may also be Chuck Palahniuk's best book yet.]]> 260 Chuck Palahniuk 0099437961 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 3.76 2002 Lullaby
author: Chuck Palahniuk
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 3.76
book published: 2002
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/03/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Snuff 1840511 From the master of literary mayhem and provocation, a full-frontal Triple X novel that goes where no American work of fiction has gone before

Cassie Wright, porn priestess, intends to cap her legendary career by breaking the world record for serial fornication. On camera. With six hundred men. Snuff unfolds from the perspectives of Mr. 72, Mr. 137, and Mr. 600, who await their turn on camera in a very crowded green room. This wild, lethally funny, and thoroughly researched novel brings the huge yet underacknowledged presence of pornography in contemporary life into the realm of literary fiction at last. Who else but Chuck Palahniuk would dare do such a thing? Who else could do it so well, so unflinchingly, and with such an incendiary (you might say) climax?]]> 208 Chuck Palahniuk 0385517882 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 3.23 2008 Snuff
author: Chuck Palahniuk
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 3.23
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/03/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Diary 22284
Suddenly, though, Misty finds her artistic talent returning as she begins a period of compulsive painting. Inspired but confused by this burst of creativity, she soon finds herself a pawn in a larger conspiracy that threatens to cost hundreds of lives. What unfolds is a dark, hilarious story from America’s most inventive nihilist, and Palahniuk’s most impressive work to date.]]> 262 Chuck Palahniuk 1400032814 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 3.65 2003 Diary
author: Chuck Palahniuk
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 3.65
book published: 2003
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/03/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Damned (Damned, #1) 9912994
The author described the novel as "if The Shawshank Redemption had a baby by The Lovely Bones and it was raised by Judy Blume." And "it's kind of like The Breakfast Club set in Hell."]]> 256 Chuck Palahniuk 0385671105 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 3.41 2011 Damned (Damned, #1)
author: Chuck Palahniuk
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 3.41
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/03/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey]]> 22285 320 Chuck Palahniuk 0385517874 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 3.85 2007 Rant: An Oral Biography of Buster Casey
author: Chuck Palahniuk
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 3.85
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/03/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Invisible Monsters 3304435 original cover of ISBN 0393319296

She's a fashion model who has everything: a boyfriend, a career, a loyal best friend. But when a sudden freeway "accident" leaves her disfigured and incapable of speech, she goes from being the beautiful center of attention to being an invisible monster, so hideous that no one will acknowledge that she exists. Enter Brandy Alexander, Queen Supreme, one operation away from becoming a real woman, who will teach her that reinventing yourself means erasing your past and making up something better. And that salvation hides in the last places you'll ever want to look.

In this hilarious and daringly unpredictable novel, the narrator must exact revenge upon Evie, her best friend and fellow model; kidnap Manus, her two-timing ex-boyfriend; and hit the road with Brandy in search of a brand-new past, present, and future. Changing names and stories in every city, they catapult toward a final confrontation with a rifle-toting Evie � by which time the narrator will have learned that loving and being loved are not mutually exclusive, and that nothing, on the surface, is ever quite what it seems.

]]> 297 Chuck Palahniuk Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.03 1999 Invisible Monsters
author: Chuck Palahniuk
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.03
book published: 1999
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/03/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Choke 29059 Victor Mancini, a medical-school dropout, is an antihero for our deranged times.

Needing to pay elder care for his mother, Victor has devised an ingenious scam: he pretends to choke on pieces of food while dining in upscale restaurants. He then allows himself to be “saved� by fellow patrons who, feeling responsible for Victor’s life, go on to send checks to support him.

When he’s not pulling this stunt, Victor cruises sexual addiction recovery workshops for action, visits his addled mom, and spends his days working at a colonial theme park.

His creator, Chuck Palahniuk, renowned author of classics like Fight Club, is the visionary we need and the satirist we deserve.]]> 293 Chuck Palahniuk 0385720920 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 3.71 2001 Choke
author: Chuck Palahniuk
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 3.71
book published: 2001
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/03/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[First Lord's Fury (Codex Alera, #6)]]> 6316821 465 Jim Butcher 044101769X Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.38 2009 First Lord's Fury (Codex Alera, #6)
author: Jim Butcher
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2009
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/03/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Codex Alera, #3-5 11920110 * Cursor's Fury: The Codex Alera, Book 3
* Captain's Fury: The Codex Alera, Book 4
* Princeps' Fury: The Codex Alera Book 5]]> Jim Butcher 1780811039 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.58 2011 Codex Alera, #3-5
author: Jim Butcher
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.58
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/03/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Princeps' Fury (Codex Alera, #5)]]> 2903736 From the New York Times bestselling author of Captain's Fury and the Dresden Files novels.

Tavi of Calderon, now recognized as Princeps Gaius Octavian and heir to the crown, has achieved a fragile alliance with Alera's oldest foes, the savage Canim. But when Tavi and his legions guide the Canim safely to their lands, his worst fears are realized.

The dreaded Vord - the enemy of Aleran and Cane alike - have spent the last three years laying waste to the Canim homeland. And when the Alerans are cut off from their ships, they find themselves with no choice but to fight shoulder to shoulder if they are to survive.

For a thousand years, Alera and her furies have withstood every enemy, and survived every foe.

The thousand years are over…]]> 386 Jim Butcher 0441016383 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.37 2008 Princeps' Fury (Codex Alera, #5)
author: Jim Butcher
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.37
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/03/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Captain's Fury (Codex Alera, #4)]]> 346087 451 Jim Butcher 0441015271 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.36 2007 Captain's Fury (Codex Alera, #4)
author: Jim Butcher
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.36
book published: 2007
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/03/30
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Academ's Fury (Codex Alera, #2)]]> 133664
Tavi has escaped the Calderon Valley and the mysterious attack of the Marat on his homeland. But he is far from safe, as trying to keep up the illusion of being a student while secretly training as one of the First Lord's spies is a dangerous game. And he has not yet learned to use the furies, making him especially vulnerable.

When the attack comes it's on two fronts. A sudden strike threatens the First Lord's life and threatens to plunge the land into civil war. While in the Calderon Valley, the threat faced from the Marat is dwarfed by an ancient menace. And Tavi must learn to harness the furies if he has any chance of fighting the greatest threat Alera has ever known . . .]]> 702 Jim Butcher 0441013406 Reads with Scotch 3 4.26 2005 Academ's Fury (Codex Alera, #2)
author: Jim Butcher
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.26
book published: 2005
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/03/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera, #1)]]> 29396 In this extraordinary fantasy epic, the #1 New York Times bestselling author of the Dresden Files leads readers into a world where the fate of the realm rests on the shoulders of a boy with no power to call his own ...

For a thousand years, the people of Alera have united against the aggressive and threatening races that inhabit the world, using their unique bonds with the furies - elementals of earth, air, fire, water, wood, and metal. But in the remote Calderon Valley, the boy Tavi struggles with his lack of furycrafting. At fifteen, he has no wind fury to help him fly, no fire fury to light the lamps. Yet as the Alerans' most savage enemy - the Marat horde - returns to the Valley, Tavi's courage and resourcefulness will be a power greater than any fury, one that could turn the tides of war ...

]]> 688 Jim Butcher 044101268X Reads with Scotch 3 4.12 2004 Furies of Calderon (Codex Alera, #1)
author: Jim Butcher
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.12
book published: 2004
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/03/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[White Night (The Dresden Files, #9)]]> 91475
Someone is targeting the members of the city’s supernatural underclass—those who don’t possess enough power to become full-fledged wizards. Some have vanished. Others appear to be victims of suicide. But now the culprit has left a calling card at one of the crime scenes—a message for Harry Dresden.

Harry sets out to find the apparent serial killer, but his investigation turns up evidence pointing to the one suspect he cannot possibly believe guilty: his half-brother, Thomas. To clear his brother’s name, Harry rushes into a supernatural power struggle that renders him outnumbered, outclassed, and dangerously susceptible to temptation.

And Harry knows that if he screws this one up, people will die—and one of them will be his brother...]]> 407 Jim Butcher 0451461401 Reads with Scotch 3 4.38 2007 White Night (The Dresden Files, #9)
author: Jim Butcher
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.38
book published: 2007
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/03/30
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Like a Mighty Army (Safehold, #7)]]> 17910043
For centuries, the world of Safehold, last redoubt of the human race, lay under the unchallenged rule of the Church of God Awaiting. The Church permitted nothing new-no new inventions, no new understandings of the world.

What no one knew was that the Church was an elaborate fraud--a high-tech system established by a rebel faction of Safehold's founders, meant to keep humanity hidden from the powerful alien race that had destroyed old Earth.

Then awoke Merlyn Athrawes, cybernetic avatar of a warrior a thousand years dead, felled in the war in which Earth was lost. Monk, warrior, counselor to princes and kings, Merlyn has one to restart the history of the too-long-hidden human race.

And now the fight is thoroughly underway. The island empire of Charis has declared its independence from the Church, and with Merlyn's help has vaulted forward into a new age of steam-powered efficiency. Fending off the wounded Church, Charis has drawn more and more of the countries of Safehold to the cause of independence and self-determination. But at a heavy cost in bloodshed and loss--a cost felt by nobody more keenly that Merlyn Athrawes.

The wounded Church is regrouping. Its armies and resources are vast. The fight for humanity's future isn't over, and won't be over soon...

Safehold Series
1. Off Armageddon Reef
2. By Schism Rent Asunder
3. By Heresies Distressed
4. A Mighty Fortress
5. How Firm A Foundation
6. Midst Toil and Tribulation
7. Like A Mighty Army
8. Hell's Foundations Quiver
9. At the Sign of Triumph]]> 672 David Weber 0765321564 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.09 2014 Like a Mighty Army (Safehold, #7)
author: David Weber
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.09
book published: 2014
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2014/01/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Midst Toil and Tribulation (Safehold, #6)]]> 13118201 Safehold Series1. Off Armageddon Reef 2. By Schism Rent Asunder 3. By Heresies Distressed 4. A Mighty Fortress 5. How Firm A Foundation 6. Midst Toil and Tribulation 7. Like A Mighty Army 8. Hell's Foundations Quiver 9. At the Sign of TriumphAt the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.]]> 608 David Weber Reads with Scotch 3 4.14 2012 Midst Toil and Tribulation (Safehold, #6)
author: David Weber
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.14
book published: 2012
rating: 3
read at:
date added: 2014/01/26
shelves:
review:

]]> <![CDATA[A Memory of Light (The Wheel of Time, #14)]]> 7743175
When Robert Jordan died in 2007, all feared that these concluding scenes would never be written. But working from notes and partials left by Jordan, established fantasy writer Brandon Sanderson stepped in to complete the masterwork. With The Gathering Storm (Book 12) and Towers of Midnight (Book 13) behind him, Sanderson now re-creates the vision that Robert Jordan left behind.

Edited by Jordan's widow, who edited all of Jordan's books, A Memory of Light will delight, enthrall, and deeply satisfy all of Jordan's legions of readers.

The Wheel of Time turns, and Ages come and pass.
What was, what will be, and what is,
may yet fall under the Shadow.
Let the Dragon ride again on the winds of time.]]> 912 Robert Jordan 0765325950 Reads with Scotch 3 fantasy
The death of many main characters was expected but passed with no hoopla. It just felt like ok- this is the last battle people need to die... so you, you, you, and you die now... oh you too lay down.

I also wasn't impressed with the final conclusion in respect to the characters. After all the griping and debating and annoyances with Rand and his little harem there is no conclusion. One can’t really claim a realistic conclusion on many of the main characters and what happened next. All the foreshadowing throughout the series was turned on its ear with all changes in the pattern. The foretelling’s were all off. Avenda’s experiences were off. Elane’s were wrong. So what happened? Rand walks off into the world with a new face- walking away from everything and everyone? Really? Faw. 3 ½ stars.
]]> 4.56 2013 A Memory of Light (The Wheel of Time, #14)
author: Robert Jordan
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.56
book published: 2013
rating: 3
read at: 2013/02/07
date added: 2014/01/10
shelves: fantasy
review:
Overall, I liked the conclusion of the series. I'm glad it is over. That doesn't mean I didn't have problems with the final book. I thought it was cumbersome and clunky. There were too many subplots that were ignored for too long in the series- they were brought back out of nowhere and for no real purpose. In fact the "last battle" didn't really serve much purpose. If everyone would have stayed home in their own house the end result would have been the same. The "battle sequences" were drawn out and lacking excitement. After all the talk of the Dragons and dragon eggs they made brief uninspired appearances.

The death of many main characters was expected but passed with no hoopla. It just felt like ok- this is the last battle people need to die... so you, you, you, and you die now... oh you too lay down.

I also wasn't impressed with the final conclusion in respect to the characters. After all the griping and debating and annoyances with Rand and his little harem there is no conclusion. One can’t really claim a realistic conclusion on many of the main characters and what happened next. All the foreshadowing throughout the series was turned on its ear with all changes in the pattern. The foretelling’s were all off. Avenda’s experiences were off. Elane’s were wrong. So what happened? Rand walks off into the world with a new face- walking away from everything and everyone? Really? Faw. 3 ½ stars.

]]> <![CDATA[Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (30 Minute Expert Summary)]]> 17185950
Thinking, Fast and Slow ...in 30 Minutes is the essential guide to quickly understanding the fundamental components of decision making outlined in Daniel Kahneman's bestselling book, Thinking, Fast and Slow.

Understand the key ideas behind Thinking, Fast and Slow in a fraction of the time:

* Concise chapter-by-chapter synopses
* Essential insights and takeaways highlighted
* Illustrative case studies demonstrate Kahneman's groundbreaking research in behavioral economics

In Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman, best-selling author and recipient of the Nobel Prize in Economics, has compiled his many years of groundbreaking research to offer practical knowledge and insights into how people's minds make decisions. Challenging the standard model of judgment, Kahneman aims to enhance the everyday language about thinking to more accurately discuss, diagnose, and reduce poor judgment.

Thought, Kahneman explains, has two distinct systems: the fast and intuitive System 1, and the slow and effortful System 2. Intuitive decision making is often effective, but in Thinking, Fast and Slow Kahneman highlights situations in which it is unreliable--when decisions require predicting the future and assessing risks.

Presenting a framework for how these two systems impact the mind, Thinking, Fast and Slow reveals the far-reaching impact of cognitive biases--from creating public policy to playing the stock market to increasing personal happiness--and provides tools for applying behavioral economics toward better decision making.

A 30 Minute Expert Summary of Thinking, Fast and Slow

Designed for those whose desire to learn exceeds the time they have available, the Thinking, Fast and Slow expert summary helps readers quickly and easily become experts ...in 30 minutes.]]> 40 The 30 Minute Expert Series Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 3.89 2012 Thinking, Fast and Slow by Daniel Kahneman (30 Minute Expert Summary)
author: The 30 Minute Expert Series
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 3.89
book published: 2012
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/11/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> Thinking, Fast and Slow 11468377 Thinking, Fast and Slow, Kahneman takes us on a groundbreaking tour of the mind and explains the two systems that drive the way we think. System 1 is fast, intuitive, and emotional; System 2 is slower, more deliberative, and more logical. Kahneman exposes the extraordinary capabilities—and also the faults and biases—of fast thinking, and reveals the pervasive influence of intuitive impressions on our thoughts and behavior. The impact of loss aversion and overconfidence on corporate strategies, the difficulties of predicting what will make us happy in the future, the challenges of properly framing risks at work and at home, the profound effect of cognitive biases on everything from playing the stock market to planning the next vacation—each of these can be understood only by knowing how the two systems work together to shape our judgments and decisions.

Engaging the reader in a lively conversation about how we think, Kahneman reveals where we can and cannot trust our intuitions and how we can tap into the benefits of slow thinking. He offers practical and enlightening insights into how choices are made in both our business and our personal lives—and how we can use different techniques to guard against the mental glitches that often get us into trouble. Thinking, Fast and Slow will transform the way you think about thinking.]]> 499 Daniel Kahneman 0374275637 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.17 2011 Thinking, Fast and Slow
author: Daniel Kahneman
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.17
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/11/24
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> The Things They Carried 133518
The Things They Carried depicts the men of Alpha Company: Jimmy Cross, Henry Dobbins, Rat Kiley, Mitchell Sanders, Norman Bowker, Kiowa, and the character Tim O’Brien, who has survived his tour in Vietnam to become a father and writer at the age of forty-three.

Taught everywhere—from high school classrooms to graduate seminars in creative writing—it has become required reading for any American and continues to challenge readers in their perceptions of fact and fiction, war and peace, courage and fear and longing. The Things They Carried won France's prestigious Prix du Meilleur Livre Etranger and the Chicago Tribune Heartland Prize; it was also a finalist for the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award.]]> 246 Tim O'Brien 0767902890 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.14 1990 The Things They Carried
author: Tim O'Brien
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.14
book published: 1990
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/11/20
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard, #3)]]> 2890090
Magi political elections are imminent, and the factions are in need of a pawn. If Locke agrees to play the role, sorcery will be used to purge the venom from his body - though the process will be so excruciating he may well wish for death. Locke is opposed, but two factors cause his will to crumble: Jean's imploring - and the Bondsmage's mention of a woman from Locke's past: Sabetha. She is the love of his life, his equal in skill and wit, and now, his greatest rival.

Locke was smitten with Sabetha from his first glimpse of her as a young fellow orphan and thief-in-training. But after a tumultuous courtship, Sabetha broke away. Now they will reunite in yet another clash of wills. For faced with his one and only match in both love and trickery, Locke must choose whether to fight Sabetha - or to woo her. It is a decision on which both their lives may depend.

]]> 650 Scott Lynch 0553804693 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.21 2013 The Republic of Thieves (Gentleman Bastard, #3)
author: Scott Lynch
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.21
book published: 2013
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/11/19
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard, #1)]]> 127455 Ocean's Eleven, and entirely enthralling...

An orphan's life is harsh � and often short � in the island city of Camorr, built on the ruins of a mysterious alien race. But born with a quick wit and a gift for thieving, Locke Lamora has dodged both death and slavery, only to fall into the hands of an eyeless priest known as Chains � a man who is neither blind nor a priest.

A con artist of extraordinary talent, Chains passes his skills on to his carefully selected "family" of orphans � a group known as the Gentlemen Bastards. Under his tutelage, Locke grows to lead the Bastards, delightedly pulling off one outrageous confidence game after another. Soon he is infamous as the Thorn of Camorr, and no wealthy noble is safe from his sting.

Passing themselves off as petty thieves, the brilliant Locke and his tightly knit band of light-fingered brothers have fooled even the criminal underworld's most feared ruler, Capa Barsavi. But there is someone in the shadows more powerful � and more ambitious � than Locke has yet imagined.

Known as the Gray King, he is slowly killing Capa Barsavi's most trusted men � and using Locke as a pawn in his plot to take control of Camorr's underworld. With a bloody coup under way threatening to destroy everyone and everything that holds meaning in his mercenary life, Locke vows to beat the Gray King at his own brutal game � or die trying...

]]> 499 Scott Lynch 0553804677 Reads with Scotch 4 fantasy 4.28 2006 The Lies of Locke Lamora (Gentleman Bastard, #1)
author: Scott Lynch
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.28
book published: 2006
rating: 4
read at: 2013/11/19
date added: 2013/11/19
shelves: fantasy
review:

]]> <![CDATA[For the Love of Physics: From the End of the Rainbow to the Edge of Time - A Journey Through the Wonders of Physics]]> 7841672 The New York Times declared, “Walter Lewin delivers his lectures with the panache of Julia Child bringing French cooking to amateurs and the zany theatricality of YouTube’s greatest hits.� For more than thirty years as a beloved professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Lewin honed his singular craft of making physics not only accessible but truly fun, whether putting his head in the path of a wrecking ball, supercharging himself with three hundred thousand volts of electricity, or demonstrating why the sky is blue and why clouds are white. Now, as Carl Sagan did for astronomy and Brian Green did for cosmology, Lewin takes readers on a marvelous journey in For the Love of Physics, opening our eyes as never before to the amazing beauty and power with which physics can reveal the hidden workings of the world all around us. “I introduce people to their own world,� writes Lewin, “the world they live in and are familiar with but don’t approach like a physicist—yet.� Could it be true that we are shorter standing up than lying down? Why can we snorkel no deeper than about one foot below the surface? Why are the colors of a rainbow always in the same order, and would it be possible to put our hand out and touch one? Whether introducing why the air smells so fresh after a lightning storm, why we briefly lose (and gain) weight when we ride in an elevator, or what the big bang would have sounded like had anyone existed to hear it, Lewin never ceases to surprise and delight with the extraordinary ability of physics to answer even the most elusive questions. Recounting his own exciting discoveries as a pioneer in the field of X-ray astronomy—arriving at MIT right at the start of an astonishing revolution in astronomy—he also brings to life the power of physics to reach into the vastness of space and unveil exotic uncharted territories, from the marvels of a supernova explosion in the Large Magellanic Cloud to the unseeable depths of black holes. “For me,� Lewin writes, “physics is a way of seeing—the spectacular and the mundane, the immense and the minute—as a beautiful, thrillingly interwoven whole.� His wonderfully inventive and vivid ways of introducing us to the revelations of physics impart to us a new appreciation of the remarkable beauty and intricate harmonies of the forces that govern our lives.]]> 320 Walter Lewin 1439108277 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.24 2011 For the Love of Physics: From the End of the Rainbow to the Edge of Time - A Journey Through the Wonders of Physics
author: Walter Lewin
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.24
book published: 2011
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/10/28
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Skeptoid: Critical Analysis Of Pop Phenomena]]> 2678844 222 Brian Dunning 1434821668 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.02 2008 Skeptoid: Critical Analysis Of Pop Phenomena
author: Brian Dunning
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.02
book published: 2008
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/10/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]> <![CDATA[Flim-Flam!: Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions]]> 662277 342 James Randi 0879751983 Reads with Scotch 0 to-read 4.02 1982 Flim-Flam!: Psychics, ESP, Unicorns, and Other Delusions
author: James Randi
name: Reads with Scotch
average rating: 4.02
book published: 1982
rating: 0
read at:
date added: 2013/10/26
shelves: to-read
review:

]]>