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kpitts13's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.5
mollymctouch's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I love this series! The first season the characters are static—but that’s just because it’s early days. Growth occurs later in the series and it’s natural and very engaging.
faileskye's review against another edition
3.0
Overall, this isn’t bad, but it is very inconsistent. The best episodes come in at around four stars, while the worst can only be given two. Each episode is around an hour long, so even if one doesn’t jive with you, it’ll be over before you know it.
First, the good: With only five main characters, there is a nice focus throughout. The setup itself is a lot of fun, what with a ragtag group hunting demon-possessed books. Finally, all of the long and/or short storylines move along at a speedy click.
The bad: The first two episodes are a bit hard to follow. There is a long stretch of three or four episodes where I wanted to drop the book because characters were acting so counter to how they were originally set up – it felt like the series had lost its way. And last, a good number of the episode resolutions seemed like they came out of nowhere.
So in conclusion, it’s entertaining without many dull moments. However the lack of consistency in quality detracts too much from the final product. I suppose I’d recommend this to fans of Supernatural.
First, the good: With only five main characters, there is a nice focus throughout. The setup itself is a lot of fun, what with a ragtag group hunting demon-possessed books. Finally, all of the long and/or short storylines move along at a speedy click.
The bad: The first two episodes are a bit hard to follow. There is a long stretch of three or four episodes where I wanted to drop the book because characters were acting so counter to how they were originally set up – it felt like the series had lost its way. And last, a good number of the episode resolutions seemed like they came out of nowhere.
So in conclusion, it’s entertaining without many dull moments. However the lack of consistency in quality detracts too much from the final product. I suppose I’d recommend this to fans of Supernatural.
tani's review against another edition
4.0
I listened to the original audio from SerialBox for this. I have a pretty bad record with audiobooks, but this worked really well for me! I really enjoyed the narration from Xe Sands. I thought she did a really great job with conveying emotion through the season, and I truly enjoyed listening to her, which is not something I can always say about the audiobooks I've listened to before.
I will say, I picked this as an attempt to try out Max Gladstone, only to find out that the majority of it is actually written by other people! (Mur Lafferty, Margaret Dunlap, and Brian Slattery, to be exact.) I believe that only 3 episodes of the season were actually written by Max Gladstone himself. Which ended up being fine. I had no problem with any of the authors involved in the project, and I greatly enjoyed their work. It just wasn't quite what I expected with the author situation.
That aside, I really enjoyed the serial format. I think it made the audiobook easier for me, because each episode is about an hour long, and each episode could theoretically stand alone. You might not understand everything if you came in to the story in the middle, but you could get by, and you would get a full rising and falling action arc. That was really nice. I also think that the format lent itself really well to delving into ethical questions a bit earlier than might have happened in a conventional book. That was nice, as the ethical issues were very clear from the beginning.
I also enjoyed the characters. I think Grace was my favorite, although I quite liked everyone. I think my favorite episodes were the ones that really showed the team fighting and growing together. Even across the different authors, the characters remain very true to themselves, which was what I was worried about when I realized that there would be different authors throughout.
I was worried that the season would end on a huge cliffhanger, but thankfully, that wasn't the case. Although there's certainly a hook to keep you interested, it wasn't anything like the craziness that I was expecting! I was really glad that there was some kind of closure to the first season. I am definitely looking forward to listening to the second season when I get a chance!
I will say, I picked this as an attempt to try out Max Gladstone, only to find out that the majority of it is actually written by other people! (Mur Lafferty, Margaret Dunlap, and Brian Slattery, to be exact.) I believe that only 3 episodes of the season were actually written by Max Gladstone himself. Which ended up being fine. I had no problem with any of the authors involved in the project, and I greatly enjoyed their work. It just wasn't quite what I expected with the author situation.
That aside, I really enjoyed the serial format. I think it made the audiobook easier for me, because each episode is about an hour long, and each episode could theoretically stand alone. You might not understand everything if you came in to the story in the middle, but you could get by, and you would get a full rising and falling action arc. That was really nice. I also think that the format lent itself really well to delving into ethical questions a bit earlier than might have happened in a conventional book. That was nice, as the ethical issues were very clear from the beginning.
I also enjoyed the characters. I think Grace was my favorite, although I quite liked everyone. I think my favorite episodes were the ones that really showed the team fighting and growing together. Even across the different authors, the characters remain very true to themselves, which was what I was worried about when I realized that there would be different authors throughout.
I was worried that the season would end on a huge cliffhanger, but thankfully, that wasn't the case. Although there's certainly a hook to keep you interested, it wasn't anything like the craziness that I was expecting! I was really glad that there was some kind of closure to the first season. I am definitely looking forward to listening to the second season when I get a chance!
malreynolds111's review against another edition
2.0
I tried several times to get into this book. I just don't like the disjointed feeling from having so many different authors.
I received an ARC from Netgalley for an honest review.
I received an ARC from Netgalley for an honest review.
casualdarings's review against another edition
3.0
Max Gladstone's one of my favorite authors so seeing his name on the cover was enough to get me reading, unfortunately he only contributed to a handful of the "episodes", the other entries vary widely in tone and occasionally lack continuity. Naturally given the serial format the pacing is quite slow but things really pick up around episode 11, and kept my attention through to the end. I don't see myself picking up the later installments but I don't regret having read this one. It was basically CSI: the Vatican, and probably more fun to read in bite-size pieces as intended.
What brought this rating down was anything written by Lafferty, her sections were especially painful to read. It's like she cared more about incorporating a "clever" quip than staying true to the scene itself. It's disjointed and loses whatever momentum the other authors managed to establish, let alone for the characters themselves. In Lafferty's hands, they don't feel like real people, they don't react or talk like real people, it's jarring especially when they have distinct voices and story arcs in all the other episodes. I know this is a fantasy story, but they're not believable. I don't believe that these characters could exist when they're in her hands, and worse I don't care what happens to them. In a way, I'm glad she contributed to this series so I know to avoid anything else written by her in the future.
What brought this rating down was anything written by Lafferty, her sections were especially painful to read. It's like she cared more about incorporating a "clever" quip than staying true to the scene itself. It's disjointed and loses whatever momentum the other authors managed to establish, let alone for the characters themselves. In Lafferty's hands, they don't feel like real people, they don't react or talk like real people, it's jarring especially when they have distinct voices and story arcs in all the other episodes. I know this is a fantasy story, but they're not believable. I don't believe that these characters could exist when they're in her hands, and worse I don't care what happens to them. In a way, I'm glad she contributed to this series so I know to avoid anything else written by her in the future.
trueperception's review
3.0
Not bad books, but I don't have the desire to continue the series. They just didn't grab my attention.
Received free copy via Goodreads Giveaway.
Received free copy via Goodreads Giveaway.
ashsalt's review against another edition
4.0
This is a fun read. I really love that four authors are taking turns building the story. It would have been even better to read an episode or so at a time with breaks in between instead of hurrying to read 790 pages and get it back to the library by its due date. Something I should remember for Volume 2.
tmleblanc's review against another edition
2.0
One part Warehouse 13 and one part Supernatural, Bookburners is one extremely long wild ride in pursuit of books and artifacts bent on destroying the planet. This novel was originally publish in serial format and Saga Press compiled Season 1 into a single book for better or worse.
At the start, Bookburners shined. Episode 1 drew me in with the known (a cop trying to rescue her brother) and the unknown (a secret Vatican agency hunting demons). Each installment or episode was another adventure. Each story was contained with a few short chapters with a bit of backstory about each team member slowly leaked out creating a cohesive story. Sure some of the stories were stronger than others (the story in Scotland about Ashanti’s mentor was a bit of a mess), but I enjoyed them like a binge reading fool. It also helped that there was a bit of dark humor and religious philosophy to keep the mind thinking and mulling over deeper elements hidden between the lines.
But in the end, Bookburners is just too long. It clocks in at over 800 pages, now I’m not afraid of big books, especially since my goal every year is to read 20,000 pages. Right around episode 10, the mood and focus of the book changes. With few hints that the big baddie from episode 1 has returned, suddenly Bookburners wants to become a cohesive novel with a single overarching storyline. By about episode 13, I repeatedly checked my percent progress through the book because the elements I loved about the first 9 episodes were gone.
If Bookburners had remained truly episodic and maintained its lighthearted dark humor nature through all 16 episodes, I would be more likely to explore this serial further. As it stands now, I can’t honestly recommend all 16 episodes of season 1 because of the poor connection between episode 1 and the later episodes in the serial. The attempt to create a novel out of serialization failed in Bookburners and left me upset the tone and direction of that the story changed so dramatically between page one and page 800.
This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews
At the start, Bookburners shined. Episode 1 drew me in with the known (a cop trying to rescue her brother) and the unknown (a secret Vatican agency hunting demons). Each installment or episode was another adventure. Each story was contained with a few short chapters with a bit of backstory about each team member slowly leaked out creating a cohesive story. Sure some of the stories were stronger than others (the story in Scotland about Ashanti’s mentor was a bit of a mess), but I enjoyed them like a binge reading fool. It also helped that there was a bit of dark humor and religious philosophy to keep the mind thinking and mulling over deeper elements hidden between the lines.
But in the end, Bookburners is just too long. It clocks in at over 800 pages, now I’m not afraid of big books, especially since my goal every year is to read 20,000 pages. Right around episode 10, the mood and focus of the book changes. With few hints that the big baddie from episode 1 has returned, suddenly Bookburners wants to become a cohesive novel with a single overarching storyline. By about episode 13, I repeatedly checked my percent progress through the book because the elements I loved about the first 9 episodes were gone.
If Bookburners had remained truly episodic and maintained its lighthearted dark humor nature through all 16 episodes, I would be more likely to explore this serial further. As it stands now, I can’t honestly recommend all 16 episodes of season 1 because of the poor connection between episode 1 and the later episodes in the serial. The attempt to create a novel out of serialization failed in Bookburners and left me upset the tone and direction of that the story changed so dramatically between page one and page 800.
This review was originally posted on Second Run Reviews
franzis_buecher's review against another edition
I've tried to get into this multiple times but I just don't really care about the characters or anything that's happening:/