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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
Absolutely loved the audio of this high-science time-travelling magic tale of bureaucracy. It definitely deserves more than its current GR score, even if it had more than a few plot holes and left some questions at the end. Fun, a good slow build of tension with a wild series of events at the end and a large cast of likable characters.
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
An interesting take on magic and time travel rooted in a new government organization, this became a bit of a slog. I'm proud I finished it, enjoyed the process and think Neal has better more intricate tales.
Meh. Had some moments of real cleverness and fun, but overall way too dense for satire, and too much satire for straight sci-fi. It tried to straddle two genres, and ended up kind of failing at both.
I love this book! The wending of history with fiction, the juxtaposition of science and magic, the depth of characters who feel like friends ... brilliant just brilliant!
From a practical physics point of view this is the most realistic portrayal of time travel I have ever read. And from a engineering background I found that fascinating and extremely interesting.
My only issue with this book is that it took until a third of the way in for the actual plot to start. The first third was all background, explanations, examples of how time travel works, etc. And it felt like the author thought the plot was going to be one thing, and once they got 2/3rds of the way in realized it would work better being something else... but then didn't feel it necessary to let us know how the first plot would have gone.
Even though I have some issues with the way the story progressed, overall I did find it to be a relatively enjoyable book.
My only issue with this book is that it took until a third of the way in for the actual plot to start. The first third was all background, explanations, examples of how time travel works, etc. And it felt like the author thought the plot was going to be one thing, and once they got 2/3rds of the way in realized it would work better being something else... but then didn't feel it necessary to let us know how the first plot would have gone.
Even though I have some issues with the way the story progressed, overall I did find it to be a relatively enjoyable book.
WOW. This truly had it all: magic; witches; time travel; quantum physics; science; Vikings; even a battle in a Wal-Mart. And told through a series of different methods, from narratives, to IMs, to PowerPoint slide decks, and more. Even though this was over 700 pages, I read it in two days because I. Could. Not. Put. It. Down. A great end to 2021 Reading!
This is such an interesting concept time travel, controlled by witches, enabled by science and funded by USA govt back ops!
The characters work overall but disappointingly the females characters did feel a bit stereotyped at times despite all of the witches being female.
at times the style of this book grates being styles like a US govt hearing report, while I get the concept at times it really made the story drag.
There are moments of genuine humour and the rapport between the main characters feels genuine and really works.
The least said about the ending the better feels like a set up for future books but I can't imagine they would make a good read.
overall I enjoyed this but it does have its flaws and I can imagine it annoyed a lot of other readers.
The characters work overall but disappointingly the females characters did feel a bit stereotyped at times despite all of the witches being female.
at times the style of this book grates being styles like a US govt hearing report, while I get the concept at times it really made the story drag.
There are moments of genuine humour and the rapport between the main characters feels genuine and really works.
The least said about the ending the better feels like a set up for future books but I can't imagine they would make a good read.
overall I enjoyed this but it does have its flaws and I can imagine it annoyed a lot of other readers.
A story about time-travelling linguists and academics, powered by witches, and caught up in bureaucratic bs? And it's funny? This should have been a 5-star read for me. And it's entirely possible it would have been had I read it at a different time. But this really felt like it was 25% too long. I'm still going to try the second in the series, but I'm not going to go run towards it. There's just too many other things on my TBR to make it a priority. 3 stars.
Ratings:
Erik - 8
Ron - 4
Cheri - 8.5
Eneasz - 8
Jessica - 7
Cindy - 8
Polly - 7.5
Average - 7.3
Average Deviation - 1.02
Stephanie 5.5
Erik - 8
Ron - 4
Cheri - 8.5
Eneasz - 8
Jessica - 7
Cindy - 8
Polly - 7.5
Average - 7.3
Average Deviation - 1.02
Stephanie 5.5