Ah, I keep changing the rating between 3 and 4 stars. Can't decide.

I think I liked Used Record and The Long Dream the most.

And I've enjoyed not only the author's commentary, but the included first draft pages as well. Great to see how much the stories changed since their first inception.

Exactly what a sci-fi novella should be: a concise expiration of an interesting premise.

It's not every day that I find a book with a good plot and written so well, that I'm always looking forward to the next scene. Maybe it'll be a lot of action, maybe a dialogue, a romantic scene, or anything else - but not a dull moment to be found.

Didn't like it much

If the excellent Pride and Prejudice was "just a bunch of people visiting each others' houses", and Middlemarch was "the same thing, but a bit too long", then this is "the same thing, but every character is a self-obsessed cretin".

It was a bit of a mixed bag. I don't generally like books that are mostly about people making other people suffer needlesly. In the beginning there were a few places where we got a wink and a nudge from the author, hinting that she knows exactly how pathological the characters are, and wants you to take it as such; but most of the second half was really horrid for me.

SPOILER: The ending helped it a bit, though I do think it's hilarious that "every main character died" counts as a happy-end here. 😀

Surprisingly good. Some parts of Sleepy's inner thoughts felt a bit awkward and stilted, especially the theological ones. But overall, an enjoyable book, a good set-up to the last book in the series, and I'm looking forward to finding out where it goes from here.

Another sci-fi classic that lived up to its reputation. Ah, the apprehension I felt when it was first hinted at how it'll end...

In a few places it really reminded me why I usually avoid realistic books full of human suffering, at least when reading for pleasure. But it wasn't as bad as I expected it to be, and more importantly, it simply is a good book. The way the protagonist was honest with himself (even while trying to project confidence) was endearing.

After finishing this book I realized I accidentally skipped the previous one in the series. I did wonder about the unusually high number of blanks the author left for the reader to fill in :D but the book still did make sense and I think I understood everything. So that's a definite plus for the book. There also were a few places where the mystery around the standard bearer were a little reminiscent of the Malazan Book of the Fallen, which was also a plus.

It feels like I went through a lot with these characters: in the first book, Croaker was a physician in a mercenary company, serving a distant Lady he could ony dream about. And so much has changed since then... That's been a really enjoyable aspect. But overall, I still think the book was too long and dragged out. And I missed Croaker a little.

At times I barely kept up with the pace, but it was fun. I also appreciate the punny name.

I wondered whether to give it 4 or 5 stars. There were parts where it was dragged out for way too long (e.g. the bit about masonry). But I guess I see what the author was doing there. Plus, the reminder of how much the previous regime sucked is also appreciated.

Not a bad fairytale. The subversion of the dragon trope - portraying them as vermin (and later saying they exist in all sizes) - was original and worked well to explain how the protagonist could train working with them while being poor and unimportant. On the other hand, this trope subversion was creative in a way similar to making vampires sparkle.

Yay for character development

This was almost flawless. Not only does it have a good story and great characters, but served as an interesting insight into cultural influence of a great empire onto small ones - from the PoV of someone from the small one. That rings relevant for many of us here in central Europe. The emphasis on language and custom as a way of shining light onto a clash of cultures was also very well done.

And Amy Landon's narration was unbelievably brilliant. Haven't heard its like in ages. I'll have to look up more books she narrated.

It was fun, but what the heck was with the ultimatum at the end?! 😅 Also it seems a bit of a shame that the book often feels that with minor changes and some more editing the prose could have been much nicer. (For example, there almost never is any foreshadowing. You learn any interesting world-building details in a short exposition dump at the moment it becomes relevant.)

Okay, I didn't expect a book this good from this series. The PoV change was interesting - we're no longer following Croaker. And I also like how the author went "remember the last book? Just you wait until you learn what was happening AROUND them, without them knowing!"

I liked the first book, but this one is even better. The characters seemed more like personable humans, and the various scams kept it varied and interesting.

I guess it was better than The Port of Shadows. Kinda liked it.

I may be in the minority here, but I went into this wanting to learn about music, not about the author - whom I knew nothing about. There was barely enough interesting info so the book earns the 3 stars. It was okay, I guess. But the parts where Byrne talked about places he went and people he met or worked with were absolutely uninteresting to me, and a bore to listen to.

The most interesting parts were right at the beginning: about how music influences the venues built for it, how the venues in turn influence musical compositions made with them in mind, how the changing social mores and easy access to technology shaped music, et cetera. The parts about various financing and distribution models were also somewhat interesting, though I don't think enough attention was paid to various issues with the contemporary streaming business models. (You can read some Doctorow if you're interested in that.)

A beautiful exploration of solitude - among the crowds and on an empty world. Very much recommended.

This is the right way to do a retelling: it is presented as an actual narrative, not an encyclopedia. Yet it doesn't try to re-interpret or change the source material. I liked Gaiman's retelling of the Norse myths for the same reasons.

In addition, Fry also sometimes steps away from the narrative to provide information or context for the reader - historical information, other interpretations or versions of the events, et cetera. He compellingly presents the narrative - but doesn't pretend his is the only valid interpretation.

This is an interesting twist on the usual LitRPG genre - this time the protagonist isn't an almighty hero running around being all smart and glorious; instead, he acts as a director, manager, trader, diplomat.

Don't get me wrong: it still kinda is a power fantasy. Except Charles' feel-good exploits are centered on capitalism, instead of a sword or a gun. (Interestingly, I don't think there were any 'exploits' in the traditional gaming sense of the word - using bugs or unintended feature interactions to get an advantage.)

The book was enjoyable enough; a typical "not great, not terrible, you get what it says on the tin" situation. But sometimes the prose was befouled by corpo-speak in unexpected places. For example, we are unironically presented a fantasy-medieval peasant woman saying things such as "You’re promoting people [and] you’re giving us the tools we need for success". 🙄

I guess I didn't like it all that much. 😕 The plot was all over the place and I really don't understand what the point of it all was.

I did like the other timeline set in the past. A mighty, not quite sane necromancer that is uninterested in domination and only yearns for a family and to continue his scientific pursuit is a breath of fresh air.

I'm not sure why I wanted to continue this series. It's been 5 years since I read the first one, and I only remembered small fragments. I gave it 4 stars back then. But somehow it nagged me, so I re-read it now and will continue the series. Let's see how it goes.

One thing is for sure: I got a bit better at reading books, so now I also caught parallels and trope twists that probably should have been obvious the first time around.

This was a fun little novella. It's a classic "US good, foreigner mafia bad" kind of story, but I guess that goes with the territory. It's also always fun to read older tech-heavy stories. The far future of 2010 never looked so enticing. 😁

It was fun, and I'm really looking forward to the next one. On the other hand, some parts felt like a slog, and the next book is three times as long as the first one was. I'll be taking a break before continuing the series.

In some places it seemed a bit too padded out. But the pace really picked up later, so all in all a fun read.

The second LitRPG author I've tried, and again a good one. I wonder if I'm choosing well, or if my previous skepticism about this genre was unwarranted.

Carl and Donut are endearing and funny. The premise of Earth being turned into a game dungeon by aliens as a money-grab to stave off bankruptcy also is interesting and creates interesting dynamics. It reminded me of the Hunger Games - but whereas there poor people were forced into a PvP battle by rich people, here all people are (killed or) forced into a PvE campaign by aliens, for realityshow and sponsorship money.

I'm not really sure why I liked this so much less than the previous one. At one point I felt quite put off by the protagonists' characters - but that makes little sense, because I knew from the past books that everyone here is a self-centered, callous ass. Maybe it was because here there were fewer extenuating circumstances to hide behind?

I will continue the series for sure - I want to see how the story pans out. But at this point I think there's no way it's gonna be a happy ending in any way, shape or form.

🍿

Hadn't I read this right after The Long Tomorrow by Leigh Brackett maybe I would have liked it even more. Where The Long Tomorrow had a clarity of focus, a thesis it went on to thoroughly explore in the entire book, and an interesting conclusion (where neither of the conflicting viewpoints were presented as immediately better, and the reader can think for himself) - this aspect was lacking in The Day of the Triffids.

The original blinding calamity and its fallout were interestingly handled and also explored nicely. But the titular triffids just felt added to increase the tension very slightly, and they played almost no significant role for 90% of the book.

It still is a good book, and I'd recommend it. And I loved the british vocab.

I like when a book picks a thesis and sticks to thoroughly exploring it through a personal narrative. The premise of society mostly reverting to a rural one after a nuclear holocaust, with familial and societal roles returning to what they weres some 300 years ago, and the new status quo being enforced by changes to the US Constitution and local religions was both believable and well crafted.

I loved that we got to see the world through an inquisitive, smart protagonist; and that it was set 80 years after the catastrophe, so there still were people alive who remembered the comparative opulence of life before. We are presented a lot of questions that the protagonist poses to himself, explores and tries to come to terms with. Multiple times we see him come to a conclusion or a resolution, only to be thrown off again by new perspectives. But in the end, we don't get any definitive answers. He eventually understands that pretending we can stay in the past forever is futile; but trying to return to the previous state of affairs might end up in disaster again. Which of the two distasteful options do you choose? And will you choose by your gut feelings and desires, or by what you consider a correct extrapolation of potential future developments?

Also props to the author for pulling off a fantastic post-apo book without resorting to any sci-fi elements.

Fave quote:

The cities were sucking all the life of the country into themselves and destroying it. Men were no longer individuals, but units in a vast machine, all cut to one pattern, with the same tastes and ideas, the same mass-produced education that did not educate but only pasted a veneet of catchwords over ignorance. Why do you want to bring that back?”

Herci boli prevazne fajn, aj ked vacsina z nich sa ani len nepokusila o vyslovnost prilezitostneho anglickeho slova.
Obsahovo to bolo trocha otaznejsie - niektore naozaj potesili, niektore skor nic moc, ale niektore sa vobec nijako netykali titularnej temy. To mi pri tematickych zbierkach celkom vadi.
(Na dovazok, to iste platilo aj o ich zbierke Slovensko komicke. Znie to, ze bud nemaju dost autorov, alebo nie su schopni si to ustrazit takze neocakavam, ze by ostatne diely serie boli z editorskeho hladiska lepsie.)

A decent ending to the series. I had a 10-year pause after the 3rd instalment, not sure how or why that happened.
The author made sure to tie the entire series with a nice bow, and made sure all characters introduced so far were given enough space. It was a bit too lengthy at times. And of course, this is based on fairytales, and a YA, and a part of the Lunar Chronicles - enjoy the ride, don't scrutinize the the logic of all the things too much. 😁 (Though there was no idiot ball juggling this time, which is appreciated.)

Getting interesting.

Cozy and nice, a very pleasant read. The audio narration was also great.
There was only very little romance, but the right amount of romance for me in a book such as this is zero, so it felt like too much, anyway.

Seems like a pretty okay start to what looks like a litrpg. I'm reading this after watching a few episodes of the anime and I have to say I appreciated how that adaptation added a little more context before diving into what happens here.

A short story, but Brett manages to show us all the tricks that make his stories a delight to read: rich characters, suspense, interesting plot that fits into the overarching narrative. And we get to see how a humble messenger influenced the fate of the world simply by being kind to kids.

The change to Andrea's point of view for the entire story was welcome.

One of the classics that lives up to its reputation. It perfectly captures all the joys of Christmas. ♥️

Nice

I don't like idiot plots. And the sex bargaining thing was extremely lame.

Enjoyable, if a bit dragged out at times. Still good fun.

A nice, thorough exploration of the meta-narrative from the PoV of people either within it, or creating it from the outside.

I had a bit of a hard time getting into the book, but that may just have been because I'd recently finished two other isekai litrpg books by the same author. Eventually it got better and was quite fun; I'll continue the series, I think.

It sometimes felt a tad too dragged out. It was a completely bonkers book about the insanities of war.

The protagonist was a cute little crab! And he got a starfish friend, who was a ninja! It was adorable!

Unfortunately, it was also very wordy and kinda bloated. I kept getting back to the book because I've just finished Rimmel's Noobtown series and wanted more of the same, but sadly, this was nowhere near as good.

It really was cute, though; and the world was interesting. (It also clearly has deep worldbuilding behind it, which I tend to like; but maybe there was too much of it crammed into too little other stuff.)

The audiobook narrator, Johnathan McClain, is excellent. And multiple times during this book I had to pause, to give myself a bit of time to stop laughing. Then I rewound a bit, listened again, laughed some more.
When I was done with the book, I went over the bookmarked funny parts for another laugh.

Can't give a book that does this a bad rating, now can I.

The going gets tougher for Jim!
At first I thought this one will get a lower rating, but the ending was great.

Was curious what these look like.

I decided to try myself a LitRPG. I expected a short, fun, light-hearted romp, and that's what I got.

I initially wanted to subtract a star because, especially in the beginning, the re-iteration of the protagonist's character sheet was annoying; and it was wordy, so I listened to the audiobook at a much-increased pace. (Read: I probably wouldn't have the patience if I had to read it on paper.)

But on second thought: it was fun, I got what I asked for, and it did make me want to start the next one immediately. So as long as you go into it with expectations properly set, I'd recommend it. 👍🏻

The aspect of people killing each other for the entertaninment of others will surely remind you of Battle Royale or the Hunger Games; but unlike those, Chain-Gang All-Stars is set to pretty much the modern-day USA, with a sci-fi gadget or two thrown into the mix.

As with those other two books, it dissects what people are willing to accept with enough brainwashing and convincing that it's okay as long as it happens to other people. Especially if they're from an undesirable social class. All of the characters are well developed and interesting, on all sides of the conflict, and Adjei-Brenyah pulls no punches.

I'm not an expert on those topics, but I think the USA's societal issues this book touches on are handled well and do represent the views on all sides quite accurately.

A superhero story set into an alternate history; I loved how it unapologetically embraced all of the superhero/supervillain tropes. Both PoVs were great.

The villainous single-mindedness and conceit reminded me of Yahtzee's Dr Diablerie. 😁👍🏻

The audiobook, especially Paul Boehmer's performance, is a treat.

Fun novella-length explorations of four contemporary issues. I think I liked Unauthorized Bread and Masque of the Red Death the most.

It again was really dragged out. A lot less of interesting character exploration, a lot more travelling. And fighting.

Still, once I adjusted my expectations, it was a lot of fun. I'd give it one star more, were it not fort he ending. I don't expect every ending to be a happy one, every endeavor a success - but if you say that basically nothing in the book mattered, then what was the point?

If this were the first book in a series, I would not continue. Since there's only one left, I guess I'll finish it, but my expectations aren't high at this point.

The beginning was really dragged out. And the ending felt abrupt - it's not a satisfying, self-contained story by any stretch. But I liked the characters well enough to want to continue the series.

I don't understand why people claim that it's science fiction. Just because there are aliens in it? Come on!

It's a book about war. Specifically, World War II; more specifically, the firebombing of Dresden.

The author uses a disturbed protagonist who believes he was abducted by aliens to justify the book's unique non-linear structure that jumps around in time. It's largely an autobiographical work, spiced up with the narrative device of Tralfamadorian aliens.

My audio version had a bit of conversation between the author and (I think) his editor at the end. That was also great.

It's worth noting that I don't usually read "realistic, historical" books about wars because I have zero interest in reading unnecessarily detailed descriptions of people being thrown into the meat grinder of suffering. This book is not like that.

Just as rich and complex as one comes to expect from Stephenson. There were moments where I had to pause just to exclaim along the lines of "did you seriously just write that? Who let you do that?! That's hilarious and amazing!" 😁

The audiobook was excellent as well. It's one of those where there is music at the start of chapters. In this instance, I liked the music immediately; and got my mind blown when it turned out to be relevant to the plot.
(And the dictionary definitions at the beginnings of chapters were narrated by Stephenson himself, which I also appreciated.)

Haven't read a Discworld novel in quite a while. I've missed Pratchett's style. Though I think all the books I've read previously were set in the Discworld at large, not just a single, grimy city, so it was a tad more oppressive than what I'm used to.

This book starts off centered around side-characters from the previous books: Orbus, Sniper, and Vrell. And the plot doesn't even touch the planet of Spatterjay itself. I wouldn't mind that in itself; actually, the first parts of the book have shown interesting character development for Orbus. That's something this series really could use.

But by the halfway mark, all of that was forgotten... and also the book pivoted from a nice sci-fi to a sci-fantasy with elements I also disliked in Asher's book Dark Intelligence. It's not all bad; even though the descriptions of battles were long and drawn out, the rest of the plot was okay, and the ending was good. However:

Without going into spoilers, what basically happened was they resurrected the Sealed Evil in a Can, which immediately had random godlike powers and got to ignore all the rules of the series so far. As a narrative device to heighten the stakes, it failed for me utterly. If it were handled differently and had the character development not disappeared in the latter half of the book, this might have been the best book of the series. (Most especially, if the time scale the Jain thing happened on was longer; then it could have been written without what basically boils down to "suddenly the balrog got resurrected and did evil magic".)

As it is, it's the worst one by a wide margin.

I'd give this 3 stars; it was decent, but not amazing. But I'll add one because it was cute, positive and uplifting. 😊

I didn't expect it to be as good as the first book, but it still was a huge disappointment.

The first book had actual plot, where the protagonist was building his knowledge, putting in the work, building friendships, and eventually won through the Power of Determination and Friendship.

This has none of that.

Know what? I'll put it into a videogame simile, to keep with the theme of the book.
Reading the first book was like playing a complex game; a roguelike, or an MMO. There were failures, there was a lot of wiki-browsing and note-taking, a lot of exploration. Progress seemed earned.

Reading the second one was like watching someone speedrun a game, if that someone is just following a walkthrough, has no idea what's going on most of the time, and hands the controls off to someone else when he's too lost. It reads like a long list of outtakes from the first book - a ton of quest descriptions with no relevance or impact to the plot whatsoever. It could have been 50-60% shorter. I've only finished it because I had it in audio and could listen at almost 2x speed most of the time.

Yes, there were some decent moments, but overall, it's not worth it. And I didn't like the kind of bullshit about people's minds and bodies the book pushes as fact.

And that leads us to the last two important points. First: Wade, I think, was supposed to undergo an arc. In the beginning, he acts as a rich asshole; but then understands his errors and tries to mend things. He even acknowledges that he wasn't in the right regarding ONI, just as Samantha also acknowledges some points about it. BUT:

If you really accept the book' premise about the ONI principles (keeping it vague here to avoid spoilers): the protagonists very much commit unforgivable non-consensual violations against millions of innocent people. They do realize this. They just don't care. Their stance on the most important question on morals, volition, consent and basic bodily autonomy in their universe is "we'll figure it out later; we'll just do whatever we feel like, for now."

I think it was supposed to be a positive, upbeat ending; I found it sickening.

It was fun, and the world full of vividly colored "monsters" interesting to imagine. The characters were always deeper and more complex than they at first appeared.

Yet somehow, I'm not especially eager to read the rest of the series. Not completely sure why.

Some of the young-adult aspects were bringing it down a bit. But at least the romance wasn't botched.

And if you're wondering: no, you don't need to know anything about the 80s pop culture.

Quite good. Unnecessarily drawn out at times.
I also appreciate a detective story with no murders.

A good enough ending to the trilogy, even though I liked it less than the previous installments. It still was split into three separate sub-arcs, just like the previous books, and there were a few intersting twists. But alas, it was a lot longer than it needed to be. It felt drawn out and lost a lot of the impact it could have had.