Scan barcode
arock1013's review
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
4.25
this_fishy_reads's review
4.0
Okay, so it's X-Men, if Dick Cheney were president and his twin brother Rick Cheney were head of the CIA, which just so happens to run Charles Xavier's School for Attractive Muties.
And go!
And go!
shadybanana's review
3.0
I couldn’t decide between a 3 and a 4 really.
I think I need to cut on the Sci-fi (especially dystopian kind) because that’s all I’ve been reading lately and the pattern in all of these books is painfully similar. This book was very predictable. I didn’t see one thing coming but by the end of that chapter it didn’t even matter. It was almost as if the author had a stroke of genius but he was like nah.
Anyway the X-man feels are real in this. One thing I liked, is that the abnormals dont shoot laser beams out of their palms or are not psycokinetic or whatever. It just makes things interesting that they’re to every extent normal people who can just do certain normal things in a better way. That sounds vague but in my head it makes sense. This saga has been highly recommended to me and it just doesn’t seem very exciting right now. I’ll read it to completion of course.
I’m hoping to see certain things happen and if they do happen this series would be just another among the many mediocre books around right now. Dazzle me
I think I need to cut on the Sci-fi (especially dystopian kind) because that’s all I’ve been reading lately and the pattern in all of these books is painfully similar. This book was very predictable. I didn’t see one thing coming but by the end of that chapter it didn’t even matter. It was almost as if the author had a stroke of genius but he was like nah.
Anyway the X-man feels are real in this. One thing I liked, is that the abnormals dont shoot laser beams out of their palms or are not psycokinetic or whatever. It just makes things interesting that they’re to every extent normal people who can just do certain normal things in a better way. That sounds vague but in my head it makes sense. This saga has been highly recommended to me and it just doesn’t seem very exciting right now. I’ll read it to completion of course.
I’m hoping to see certain things happen and if they do happen this series would be just another among the many mediocre books around right now. Dazzle me
natleesaurusrex's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this book, though I certainly would have enjoyed it more if instead of a six month gap between story lines we had followed Nick Cooper through his transformation from DAR agent through his deep cover development.
squirrelsohno's review
3.0
BRILLIANCE was a book that had been on my radar awhile, and I'll be honest - it was on my radar because it's a very reasonably priced novel being from a traditional publisher. That and the cover! It's epic in my opinion. Eventually, I borrowed it from the Prime Lending Library and dug in. And I read. I kept reading. A few weeks passed, still working on it. Still reading. Eventually I finished and came to a conclusion.
As epic as the book sounds on the back cover, it's not as epic once you realize that you've basically read a play by play of a movie, not a book.
A CINEMATIC BOOK
Coming from Amazon Publishing's Thomas & Mercer imprint, BRILLIANCE follows Nick Cooper, an agent of a secret unit of the US government tasked with dealing with the sudden rise of Brilliants, human beings that suddenly evolved beginning with people born in 1980. Their powers range from being able to play an instrument perfectly to manipulating the stock market in order to make $300 billion and crash the US economy in a matter of days. But when Cooper uncovers a terrorist plot, he goes deep undercover to expose it while taking the blame himself - and to save his family. Oh, and he is a Brilliant. That bears mentioning.
Yeah, it's a pretty standard plot.
The main issue I had with BRILLIANCE was the fact it seemed like Sakey was describing the action in a movie. We never really get into the heads of the characters, and there most certainly isn't character development. The action is fun, it's fast-paced, it's thrilling, but it's just action. It's a movie on paper. Likewise, our characters really are just cardboard. Cooper's personality is dull, and the people around him are just figures. We never know anyone, and it really lowers the quality of the story.
WHERE HAVE I SEEN THIS BEFORE...
BRILLIANCE also suffers from sameness. While exciting - I mean, a book can't be anything but exciting with the twists and turns and neat tricks Cooper uses - it just feels like a rehash of X-Men to an extent. The characters feel played out, and the plot seems a little stale. Although, I do give Sakey credit for buying up Wyoming to turn it into a Brilliant homeland full of technology and super-advanced stuff, although his Wyoming seemed an awful lot more like Nevada or Arizona. I enjoyed the book for what it was - a mindfluff story - but it's little more. Oh well.
VERDICT: Without character development, or characterization period, BRILLIANCE is a fun but entirely lacking story. With more attention paid to the characters, it would have taken off to the heavens, but instead just exists.
As epic as the book sounds on the back cover, it's not as epic once you realize that you've basically read a play by play of a movie, not a book.
A CINEMATIC BOOK
Coming from Amazon Publishing's Thomas & Mercer imprint, BRILLIANCE follows Nick Cooper, an agent of a secret unit of the US government tasked with dealing with the sudden rise of Brilliants, human beings that suddenly evolved beginning with people born in 1980. Their powers range from being able to play an instrument perfectly to manipulating the stock market in order to make $300 billion and crash the US economy in a matter of days. But when Cooper uncovers a terrorist plot, he goes deep undercover to expose it while taking the blame himself - and to save his family. Oh, and he is a Brilliant. That bears mentioning.
Yeah, it's a pretty standard plot.
The main issue I had with BRILLIANCE was the fact it seemed like Sakey was describing the action in a movie. We never really get into the heads of the characters, and there most certainly isn't character development. The action is fun, it's fast-paced, it's thrilling, but it's just action. It's a movie on paper. Likewise, our characters really are just cardboard. Cooper's personality is dull, and the people around him are just figures. We never know anyone, and it really lowers the quality of the story.
WHERE HAVE I SEEN THIS BEFORE...
BRILLIANCE also suffers from sameness. While exciting - I mean, a book can't be anything but exciting with the twists and turns and neat tricks Cooper uses - it just feels like a rehash of X-Men to an extent. The characters feel played out, and the plot seems a little stale. Although, I do give Sakey credit for buying up Wyoming to turn it into a Brilliant homeland full of technology and super-advanced stuff, although his Wyoming seemed an awful lot more like Nevada or Arizona. I enjoyed the book for what it was - a mindfluff story - but it's little more. Oh well.
VERDICT: Without character development, or characterization period, BRILLIANCE is a fun but entirely lacking story. With more attention paid to the characters, it would have taken off to the heavens, but instead just exists.
whatsmacksaid's review
1.0
137 pages in--I tried, I really tried, but this thing was awful. He needs to stop describing movie scenes and start writing.
h3dakota's review
4.0
A little predictable, but I enjoyed the characters so much that I want to continue with the series.
felix_matteo's review
2.0
It's like X-Men meets Jason Bourne, and it's fine. Just fine, though, not great.
The story gets off to a promising start, plunging us headlong into a world of secret government agencies and mysterious powers, and more than one tense rooftop chase.
However, from there it devolves into a cookie-cutter thriller with all the trappings of just about every secret agent film you've ever watched. There is plenty of action, but for me it was devoid of all suspense. I never once doubted that the book would turn out the way it ultimately did. The dialogue was stilted, the characters mostly uninteresting, and the plot just so damn convenient. The characters, and especially the antagonists, make baffling decision after baffling decision, and it all gets wrapped up in a neat little bow at the end.
If you're into secret agent thrillers, it's worth a read. But if you want unadulterated science fiction goodness, this book is probably not for you.
The story gets off to a promising start, plunging us headlong into a world of secret government agencies and mysterious powers, and more than one tense rooftop chase.
However, from there it devolves into a cookie-cutter thriller with all the trappings of just about every secret agent film you've ever watched. There is plenty of action, but for me it was devoid of all suspense. I never once doubted that the book would turn out the way it ultimately did. The dialogue was stilted, the characters mostly uninteresting, and the plot just so damn convenient. The characters, and especially the antagonists, make baffling decision after baffling decision, and it all gets wrapped up in a neat little bow at the end.
If you're into secret agent thrillers, it's worth a read. But if you want unadulterated science fiction goodness, this book is probably not for you.