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3.86 AVERAGE
3.86 AVERAGE
medium-paced
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I love the amazing premise of this book. I finished it a long time ago (audio book) and am on #6 I think. I object to a lot of series; I hate it when books don't stand alone or a book has obviously been chopped into three pieces so as to be a series. This topic and these books are of epic proportions. I like the characters and the plot develops well. The author has a story that may outlive him. My only complaint is the author's penchant for describing people's facial expressions over and over as they speak to others or inwardly. The "thin, cold smiles," the "showing of teeth" and "giving himself a shake" (who does that?). "Something between a snarl and a growl." Really?? Would you please demonstrate? The characters even do it mentally. An inward chuckle; a smile he was careful not to show (WHY DESCRIBE IT THEN???---tell us another way he is amused!). Ad infinitum. Got that off my chest. I've been listening to these books for 8 months. Small price to pay for such a good story.
Our family's newest Weber indulgence. Wet navy battles and high tech surveillance. Captain Picard would shudder at how deliberately the Prime Directive is violated here. Great read.
Political intrigue, war on a global basis, what more could you want? This was a really fun read and I can recommend this to anyone who enjoys sci-fi, fantasy or historical fiction. The first book is great and the rest in the series follow along. I am ready though to see how he will wrap up all the story lines.
I just don't know what to think about this book. It was too well set up to follow the path that it did. It was incredibly predictable and there weren't any surprises. It was kind of interesting to see history repeat itself, but the protagonist was just too much of a boring hero. The only thing I can say that was good about this book is that I finished it and I want to the read the second, only to know what happens, but I probably won't ever get to it because I'm sure I know what'll happen.
I think I might like this book, if only I could get past the spelling of the names. It seems like an interesting story and I love that it seems to be based in part on the Merlin myth but I just can't deal with the names.
I understand why the author did it, because names (and their spelling) would evolve over that length of time. I approve of it, in theory. That said, trying to parse out how to pronounce each new character name because it's familiar but different throws me completely out of the story and makes it difficult to follow what's going on.
I like David Weber's other work but I much prefer the way David Drake chose to handle the same issue in his RCN series, each book is prefaced with a version of: Yes, I know language and other things would likely have evolved in the time between now and then but I've chosen to use current language and terminology. Think of it as me translating for you. I'm summarizing but you get the idea. This is, of course, a personal preference. Enough people seem to like this series that I think I'm in a minority for finding it annoying enough not to continue with the series.
I tried listening to the audiobook and got significantly further into the story but the recording is 30+ hours long. I may finish listening to it on my next vacation but I'm going to pass on the rest of the series.
I understand why the author did it, because names (and their spelling) would evolve over that length of time. I approve of it, in theory. That said, trying to parse out how to pronounce each new character name because it's familiar but different throws me completely out of the story and makes it difficult to follow what's going on.
I like David Weber's other work but I much prefer the way David Drake chose to handle the same issue in his RCN series, each book is prefaced with a version of: Yes, I know language and other things would likely have evolved in the time between now and then but I've chosen to use current language and terminology. Think of it as me translating for you. I'm summarizing but you get the idea. This is, of course, a personal preference. Enough people seem to like this series that I think I'm in a minority for finding it annoying enough not to continue with the series.
I tried listening to the audiobook and got significantly further into the story but the recording is 30+ hours long. I may finish listening to it on my next vacation but I'm going to pass on the rest of the series.
I like this series. There is a lot of exposition at the beginning of this book, though, which sets up the story and was okay when I read it the first time but was kinda boring on a re-read.
Also, the main character is a woman passing as a man (it's actually more complicated than that, but close enough) and there's so much potential there which isn't explored, and, like, I know these books and this author aren't going to explore it but it's still a bit of a disappointment. Like, we could talk about gender feelings! In so many ways! Like, surprisingly okay with it because turns out she doesn't have strong gender feelings at all, or surprisingly not okay with it even though she doesn't want to live with the restrictions women are placed under. Also, we could explore the (definitely existing 'cause humans gonna human, though it never appears on page) gay subculture!
Also, the main character is a woman passing as a man (it's actually more complicated than that, but close enough) and there's so much potential there which isn't explored, and, like, I know these books and this author aren't going to explore it but it's still a bit of a disappointment. Like, we could talk about gender feelings! In so many ways! Like, surprisingly okay with it because turns out she doesn't have strong gender feelings at all, or surprisingly not okay with it even though she doesn't want to live with the restrictions women are placed under. Also, we could explore the (definitely existing 'cause humans gonna human, though it never appears on page) gay subculture!
Life held me up getting through the first 50 pages, but after I got free, I tore through this book! Loved it!