I'm not the right audience for this. I've picked it up 3 times and listened to about 35 minutes of it altogether. But she keeps whining aDNF 3%
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I'm not the right audience for this. I've picked it up 3 times and listened to about 35 minutes of it altogether. But she keeps whining about how she can't trust Xaden because he didn't share rebel secrets with her, and she can't trust her brother because he faked his death and she had to mourn him for years. Seriously? If what they're saying is true, millions of lives are on the line if this rebellion fails. But no. Nobody trusted a kid and you had to be sad for a few years. Oh god. The horror! The pity!
When she got all snippy at the leaders of the rebellion for thinking they could "decide her fate" while she was "in the room" - in other words, decide if they should send her back into the school and trust that she wouldn't rat them out to her mother (the general!) - I decided I couldn't do another 27 and a half hours of this.
3.5 stars This is the best Mercy book I've read in a while!
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So excited to see some of that old magic back. I liked that all the sex scenes in thi3.5 stars This is the best Mercy book I've read in a while!
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So excited to see some of that old magic back. I liked that all the sex scenes in this basically faded to black, too. One, because I'm getting to the point that I've read so many sex scenes over the years that I'm just tired of them taking up page time. And two, because I don't think sex scenes are Briggs' forte to start with. Last time around, I was really starting to get an ick over Mercy and Adam's cringe relationship, but now they're back to just being a good, solid urban fantasy couple.
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The skinny gist of the story is that Mercy's brother, Gary, shows up at their house completely incoherent and unable to understand exactly who everyone is without a bit of help. It's up to Mercy and Adam to backtrack through the past few months of his life and figure out who or what cursed him.
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Their search leads them to a lodge in Montana during the middle of a supernatural snowstorm that has them completely cut off from the rest of the world, and a cast of characters that includes the fey, an elemental, a spider, a few goblins, and a vampire and her ghostly husband. All they have to do is find out which one of them stole a frost giant's magical harp. Oh, and if they don't figure it out soon, they might just be responsible for Ragnarok. I love it when Mercy's dad stirs the pot.
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I do wish Briggs wouldn't leave so many plot threads and characters dangling. Like, it's fine for one or two things to be mysterious to give us something to look forward to, but it seems like she starts something interesting in one book, forgets about it in the next, mentions it again for a second in another book, and then kind of forgets again. And she does this with multiple characters/plot threads. What's up with Tad and Zee? What the hell with Sherwood? Where's Stefan and all the vampires from the first few books?! Gabriel is getting married to some girl he just met?! And on and on and on. Just don't mention it at all if you don't plan on giving us a resolution or explanation in the next book. Please. But this was still a far more coherent and fun story than I've been used to from this title in the past few years, so we're going to call this one a win.
I didn't love it, didn't hate it, but also didn't get the point of it. Or, I guess that's not right. I got the point, but it didn't wow or horrify me.
[I didn't love it, didn't hate it, but also didn't get the point of it. Or, I guess that's not right. I got the point, but it didn't wow or horrify me.
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A person wakes up on a table and can't see. They can't remember...anything. For most of the rest of the book, a voice from another room instructs them in activities that will hopefully bring their mind and body to a state of health. The first few pages were interesting but I ended up thinking that it was ultimately kind of long and drawn out for what seemed to me to be a pretty foreseeable ending.
(view spoiler)[So what that she's making clones of her dead husband and none of them have survived? So what that he didn't "authorize" her to make the clones? When you're dead, you're dead. You won't care what happens to your DNA. It's like how I've never understood why some people get so freaked out over the idea that someone in a funeral home might fuck their dead body. Who cares? You're dead. If some weirdo has a last hurrah with my corpse...LOL! Are they gross? Yes. Does it concern me? No. (hide spoiler)]
This seems to be a favorite from the Forward Collection, but it was too disjointed to be a five-star read for me.
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So, the premise is cool and tThis seems to be a favorite from the Forward Collection, but it was too disjointed to be a five-star read for me.
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So, the premise is cool and the first half of the story really gives you a lot of food for thought. If you could choose your unborn child's temperament using genetic "nudging", would you? A fertility clinic gives a man the opportunity to see three different versions of what his son's life will be like using statistical probability based on what personality attributes they can bring to the forefront. Would you want your child to be content and stable if it meant they never lived up to their true potential? Would you choose a path that had creativity and passion if it also meant addiction and chaos? Would you pick a life where charm and charisma meant skating through life as an asshole until life invariably teaches them a hard lesson? You gotta think about that for a minute, right?
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Because you're not just trying to weed out diseases or decide on an eye color. You're plotting out a roadmap for their life, and not in the hopeful let's make sure they go to a good school sort of way. No, you've gone whole hog in a manipulatively invasive way. Oh, wow! That's something to chew on.
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Then it veered off the rails and went in a whole new direction when he left the clinic to mull things over. Without giving any spoilers, I'll put it like this: Pretend you're sitting at a bar and you strike up a conversation about {insert SPORT here} that's playing on the television. Then suddenly, this other guy starts ranting about the ice wall around the flat earth and how 5G cellphone towers have been installed by the government to send out mind control signals. It's not where you thought your night was headed when you casually mentioned that you were pulling for the college basketball team on the television.
(view spoiler)[Sam's having doubts about his life choices and daydreams that his wife is having an affair with the fertility doctor, so he hits a bar on the way home. The bartender gives him some sob story about having triplets after their first child, causing him and his wife to have to re-arrange their priorities (this equals being poor), then tells him about his one smart daughter and 3 not-as-smart sons and all the sacrifices they made for her to get into the best college, only to be told by her doctor that they all needed to sit down and talk because ISSUES, and the whole family saw a therapist and the kids all talked about their childhood, and it was just the most specialist thing ever. Then the bartender and another patron proceed to tell him that they think the military is funding the clinic to make super-soldiers. Yes. Seriously. So Sam gets in his self-driving car and rides back to the clinic and snags his sperm. He hops back in his car, goes to the pub, and slaps his container full of spooge down on the bar. I'm taking my DNA back, baby! The three guys eyeball his jar of goo as the story fades to black... (hide spoiler)] I get it, but that whole last bit ruined the initial what if coolness of the first part of the story for me. It overexplained things in a way that took the fizzle out of it.
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The first half was such a great premise that I can't give it less than 3 stars, though....more
Very cute. So the gist is that (sometime in the future) a bunch of the 1 percenters got on a spaceship as the Earth was hitting a crisis point in the eVery cute. So the gist is that (sometime in the future) a bunch of the 1 percenters got on a spaceship as the Earth was hitting a crisis point in the ecological sense. They made a new version of Earth. A "better" version. One where they don't have to deal with peasants. Now they've sent back someone in the servant class to retrieve some kind of resource that they need, with the promise that he'll get this perfect skin as a reward. That part was very hard for me to visualize, but whatever. Basically, he'll get to be blond with a big dick. Earth was dying when they left, so all he's got to do is navigate this barren planet and get the goods. But he is in for the surprise of a lifetime.
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(view spoiler)[ Earth is flourishing. Filled to the brim with not only plant life, but people! And they're happy in their ecologically sound cities, where everyone has everything they need to live and no one is forgotten or abandoned. They even get paid if they don't work! It appears as though life got better for the have-nots once the haves left en masse.
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Inside his mind, he's got this chip with basically a downloaded version of the new world leaders' consciousness that's constantly talking to him and telling him what to do, how to do it, giving out information (that's a sunset, that's a tree, that's a woman, etc.), while informing him how gross it is on Earth when compared with the perfection they've created on their planet.
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At the end, our unnamed astronaut has to decide what he wants to do with this information.
Unfortunately, I'm not rich. And I've met my peers. Some are wonderful, some are horrid. Greed and callousness aren't character traits relegated only to the wealthy. So, while it's a lovely idea to say that if only we could get rid of the people in charge, the borders would come down and we would all peacefully work toward finding solutions that would benefit mankind as a global unit, I'm afraid that's just not so. What would realistically happen if they all disappeared is that their Great Value counterparts would step in to take their place. We'd still have wars, we'd still have genocide, we'd still have people that lacked basic necessities. It doesn't mean it's useless to try to make the world a better place, it just means that there's no such thing as a quick fix. (hide spoiler)] But this is fiction and I liked the story. Sci-fi, ftw!...more
An NPC in a game gains sentience. How? Why? No idea. Its creator spends years of her life trying to unpack what that means and trying to ensure that herAn NPC in a game gains sentience. How? Why? No idea. Its creator spends years of her life trying to unpack what that means and trying to ensure that her new life form doesn't get out of control. As with all new technology involving AI, it works out splendidly for the humans.
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Ok, this is one book that I would recommend you go the audio version. Rosa Salazar killed it with the narration - the amount of emotion conveyed was just *chef's kiss* I mean, I'm talking about her voice cracking and everything. Good stuff, good stuff.
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In the end, I was on the side of the AI. (view spoiler)[I mean, everyone's going to die someday, so why not kill everyone off and upload them into a reality without all the nonsense and anxiety? I didn't really see what all the fuss was about. Our main character was miserable already. And as far as the "noooo! just let me end!" argument, well...you are ending. It's whatever cleaned-up version of you that the AI uploads into their new reality that will keep on keeping on. (hide spoiler)]
When a genius gets her husband to help her cheat at Keno with the help of a quantum computer and entanglementThe house always wins. Or does it?
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When a genius gets her husband to help her cheat at Keno with the help of a quantum computer and entanglement theory, it looks like she's covered all of her bases. But she forgot that while she's got brains, the owner of the casino has decades of experience catching would-be cheaters. So what's a girl to do when it looks like the chips are down?
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I loved this one! It was just long enough to tell a story and get me invested in the characters. It can be hard to do that with shorts, but Weir managed it. Recommended....more
When a genius gets her husband to help her cheat at Keno with the help of a quantum computer and entanglementThe house always wins. Or does it?
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When a genius gets her husband to help her cheat at Keno with the help of a quantum computer and entanglement theory, it looks like she's covered all of her bases. But she forgot that while she's got brains, the owner of the casino has decades of experience catching would-be cheaters. So what's a girl to do when it looks like the chips are down?
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I loved this one! It was just long enough to tell a story and get me invested in the characters. It can be hard to do that with shorts, but Weir managed it. Recommended....more
Agatha doesn't do divorce cases. Or so she says right up till she realizes that her business is going to go under unless she gets off of her moral highAgatha doesn't do divorce cases. Or so she says right up till she realizes that her business is going to go under unless she gets off of her moral high horse.
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But around the same time she takes on a disgusting new client who wants her to spy on his wife, a teenage girl goes missing. So she and her new photographer head out to see if they can find something the police overlooked. Turns out they did miss something. Her body. Naturally, Aggie takes on the case pro bono to get some free press - and because she's secretly not so heartless that she can just trip over a dead teen and then walk away.
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Meanwhile, that divorce case starts to get weird. But one can't possibly have anything to do with the other. Right?
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This was one of the better murder mystery plots Beaton (or whomever) wrote for Agatha and Co., but if I never hear the phrase capacious handbag again it will be too soon. Enough already. She's got a big purse. We get it already! Oh, and two new (and hopefully permanent) characters show up in this one. An elderly photographer and a seemingly surly young man who both end up being quite useful detectives to the agency. Also, prepare yourself for a jump scare at the end, folks. (view spoiler)[Why is James Lacey back and how is she not over this turd yet? (hide spoiler)]
Agatha has a new neighbor. And this time it isn't a handsome gentleman, it's a 67 year old woman who wants to work for Agatha's new detective agency. OhAgatha has a new neighbor. And this time it isn't a handsome gentleman, it's a 67 year old woman who wants to work for Agatha's new detective agency. Oh, did I forget to tell you she's finally opened her own agency? Well, she has. And high time, too. Thanks to "the Paris incident", in which she was treated shabbily (or so she thought) by the Gendarmerie after her purse was riffled while she was on public transit, Agatha has decided to go legit.
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This story had depth! I mean, in as much as an Agatha Raisin story can have depth. But I was pleasantly surprised at some of the ways the characters (one in particular) developed and changed throughout the story. Would love to elaborate but that would be a spoiler.
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The gist is that Agatha is trying to juggle a new business, jealousies, friendships, and her own feelings of inadequacy. Now that I think about it, the only new thing here is the business. And yet, I love her. Go figure. Recommended for fans....more
Martien Halvorson-Taylor weaves a tale that spans thousands of years, using what we know about the ancient history of the Near East to piece together Martien Halvorson-Taylor weaves a tale that spans thousands of years, using what we know about the ancient history of the Near East to piece together the who's, how's, and why's of the texts we call the Old Testament. The stories make sense when you step back and look at them through a historical lens, and I've been looking for a lecture that covered it this way for quite some time.
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Her love of the history of the Old Testament is evident in the way she explains the stories behind the stories in the Bible. You can tell she's very aware that she is dealing with a religious text that means a great deal to people around the world and is respectful of that, while still giving a secular lecture about the origins of the scriptures.
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She not only goes into the history of the Bible but also goes into the history of the scholars throughout the ages who have tried to figure out the origins of the stories in the Bible. For example, the Documentary Hypothesis is something that anyone who has looked into this subject will have heard a lot about, and she does an excellent job explaining what it is, how it came about, and why it is generally thought of as flawed in some ways.
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The little oddities in translation that gave us stories like Joseph's coat of many colors, instead of a long-sleeved tunic, is just one of the ways that the text has changed and morphed and become something for new generations of readers. Regardless of how it came to be, it has become part of our own lore and new authors have taken the core story and made it into something present-day people find recognizable and perhaps relatable.
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I was particularly interested in the origins of the Septuagint, having just listened to a lecture on ancient Egypt. I didn't realize that it was so different from the Masoretic Text that is (mostly) used in English translations of the Christian Bible. Very cool.
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I found the parts about King Josiah far more interesting than I originally anticipated. The idea that the written word was possibly considered sketchy at first was a new concept to me. The prophet Jeremiah seems to be saying that perhaps the word of God should not be written down but only spoken through prophets like himself. This might have been a reflection of a turning point when the oral traditions were starting to become written traditions. Jeremiah 8:8 New Revised Standard Version How can you say, “We are wise, and the law of the LORD is with us,” when, in fact, the false pen of the scribes has made it into a lie?
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It's a fascinating lecture on a misunderstood and sometimes maligned ancient text. Check it out....more
Something is wrong with Murderbot. And by something, I mean more than the usual pletEeeeeeeeeverybody cries Eeeeeeeverybody hurts Sooooooometimes.
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Something is wrong with Murderbot. And by something, I mean more than the usual plethora of things that always seem to be wrong with them. This isn't just your average social anxiety and awkward exchanges that have our favorite SecUnit's thoughts spiraling. Could it be their organic parts are causing problems?
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Whatever the issue, they need to fix it fast because having our entire system shut down in the middle of an emergency is just ONE more anxiety that they don't need. Because those soft, squishy, stupid humans will certainly get themselves killed if left to their own devices.
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My favorite thing about System Collapse is that ART and Murderbot are reunited. And ART is so much more self-aware that they just fill in all the emotional gaps in Murderbot. Which is what a good friendship does. Friendship! <--how cute is that?
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I see a lot of people saying that they find these books dull. Or the plot just isn't going anywhere. Or they just don't get what the big deal is. Or they liked the first few and then the rest seem like wash, rinse, repeat - boring! And I don't think they're wrong necessarily. Because an opinion can't be wrong. If you don't like tuna, it doesn't mean that tuna is disgusting. It means that you don't personally like the taste. Avoid seafood restaurants. Or maybe order the lobster? I said all that to say this: if you didn't enjoy the first book, or you haven't enjoyed the last few books, just let it go.
Recommended.<--unless, you know, you hated the other ones...more
But the only things that haunted this book were continuity errors. What the hell was up with Charles having childreI love a haunted house story.
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But the only things that haunted this book were continuity errors. What the hell was up with Charles having children with his ex-wife? In the last book, it was plain that his then-wife had tricked him into thinking she was pregnant with twins when she wasn't pregnant with anything but bloat, and then ran off and got an annulment once she found out what a cheap bastard he was. Where was Beaton's editor?!
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I think we're also starting to see Agatha run through one-and-done men instead of trying to beat the old relationships to death. Which is fine with me. Except it's almost as inconceivable that James' old house keeps getting sold to one hot middle-aged man after another, as is it that Agatha seems to stumble on every single dead body in the entirety of England.
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Oh well. Wish fulfillment isn't something I'm docking points for with these books. And on the plus side, the mystery was a bit more interesting this time around.
Yes. I do intend to keep reading these. Recommended for Raisinets only....more
Readable but not exactly riveting. Scalzi is a good writer, so while it's a go-nowhere story, I was able to listen to it. <--if that makes sense?
[imagReadable but not exactly riveting. Scalzi is a good writer, so while it's a go-nowhere story, I was able to listen to it. <--if that makes sense?
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The skinny gist is that a spaceship is sent from Earth to start life on a new planet. Its programming allows it to become sentient and the reader follows its incredibly boring journey through the stars - for about an hour if you've got the audiobook.
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There's not much to say because not much happens unless you're interested in the benign inner ramblings of a spacecraft. It's part of The Far Reaches series and was (at the time I am writing this) a freebie on Audible if you have a subscription.
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