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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Fun read.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
funny
fast-paced
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
I wouldn't say I enjoyed this sequel as much as the first book, but I thought it was a good continuation.
Mickey offers the same level of humor and absurdity. But, for better or worse, this story gives more time for other characters to shine. Nasha wasn't specifically annoying, but I didn't think she added anything to the story other than being a companion. Berto felt slightly more rounded, but the highlight was Speaker. For his character alone, I would recommend the audiobook. Hearing his voice portrayed with the same accent as Berto was a nice touch. My big disappointment was Marshall. His actions at the end felt out of character and unearned.
Regardless, I thought both books were fun, quick reads and would definitely recommend them.
Mickey offers the same level of humor and absurdity. But, for better or worse, this story gives more time for other characters to shine. Nasha wasn't specifically annoying, but I didn't think she added anything to the story other than being a companion. Berto felt slightly more rounded, but the highlight was Speaker. For his character alone, I would recommend the audiobook. Hearing his voice portrayed with the same accent as Berto was a nice touch. My big disappointment was Marshall. His actions at the end felt out of character and unearned.
Regardless, I thought both books were fun, quick reads and would definitely recommend them.
So you write a book where your protagonist is an Expendable. Then you resolve some issues with that. What do you write next? This book, apparently.
I think my reaction to this book is due mostly to the fact that the author didn't write the book that I wanted to read. Instead, he writes one where an alien race takes 2 years to become almost totally fluent in English, and generally understand what's going on IN SPITE OF BEING machine-organic constructs. Seriously, this is one of my pet peeves in humans-meet-aliens books. I understand that there wouldn't be much in the way of stories if there was no communication possible. But cripes, I hate it when it's TOO easy. It's just not interesting to me. That was strike #1.
Then there's the fact that surprise! There's another sentient race on the planet! And nobody every takes thought the terraforming the humans are doing MAY have deleterious effects on the natives. I say MAY because apparently it doesn't occur to anyone even to think about it. Oh, and in the first book the humans were willing to DESTROY THE ALIENS AS COMPLETELY AS POSSIBLE. Ugh. Strike #2.
And let's just gloss over that a crew has to set out in a rover. They couldn't use a flier because the flier cores were needed to keep the dome running (caveat: "flier cores" may not be the right term.) That lasted till the last quarter of the book when they really, really needed a flier, and one was made available without any significant quibbling. That just annoyed me.
I listened to the audiobook. This is not the author's fault, but the narrator I listened to thought that giving some of the characters stupid accents (one was Australian, one sounded like Glen from Letterkenny, etc) was the right way to distinguish among them. Well, yeah, I could tell who was who, but the accents were so ANNOYING. And whenever he said Nasha's name, I kept thinking it sounded like "Nausea." I should have eye-read it instead, but who knew.
It all just didn't work for me very well. 2.5 star, rounded to 3.
I think my reaction to this book is due mostly to the fact that the author didn't write the book that I wanted to read. Instead, he writes one where an alien race takes 2 years to become almost totally fluent in English, and generally understand what's going on IN SPITE OF BEING machine-organic constructs. Seriously, this is one of my pet peeves in humans-meet-aliens books. I understand that there wouldn't be much in the way of stories if there was no communication possible. But cripes, I hate it when it's TOO easy. It's just not interesting to me. That was strike #1.
Then there's the fact that surprise! There's another sentient race on the planet! And nobody every takes thought the terraforming the humans are doing MAY have deleterious effects on the natives. I say MAY because apparently it doesn't occur to anyone even to think about it. Oh, and in the first book the humans were willing to DESTROY THE ALIENS AS COMPLETELY AS POSSIBLE. Ugh. Strike #2.
And let's just gloss over that a crew has to set out in a rover. They couldn't use a flier because the flier cores were needed to keep the dome running (caveat: "flier cores" may not be the right term.) That lasted till the last quarter of the book when they really, really needed a flier, and one was made available without any significant quibbling. That just annoyed me.
I listened to the audiobook. This is not the author's fault, but the narrator I listened to thought that giving some of the characters stupid accents (one was Australian, one sounded like Glen from Letterkenny, etc) was the right way to distinguish among them. Well, yeah, I could tell who was who, but the accents were so ANNOYING. And whenever he said Nasha's name, I kept thinking it sounded like "Nausea." I should have eye-read it instead, but who knew.
It all just didn't work for me very well. 2.5 star, rounded to 3.
3.5 Stars
Not nearly as good as the first book, but still a pretty fun read
Not nearly as good as the first book, but still a pretty fun read
adventurous
funny
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I enjoyed this one too, but it loses a little bit of the voice that made me like the first one so much.
Def also felt a bit rushed — like it felt like there was a much bigger story to be told here — but still an enjoyable quick read!
Def also felt a bit rushed — like it felt like there was a much bigger story to be told here — but still an enjoyable quick read!
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Lack of self awareness held this back.