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bmartino's reviews
1205 reviews
They'd Rather Be Right, or The Forever Machine by Frank Riley, Mark Clifton
1.0
Well, I can't say I enjoyed it. To me this was a mess of a book. It's like there were 4 or 5 completely separate science fiction "ideas" that the authors wanted to explore, but they didn't hang together at all. Immortality, telepathy, computers that make decisions for humanity, and "single-value" vs "multi-value physics" (whatever THAT is) all make cameo appearances amid a very light framework of a plot that could have been MUCH more interesting. There's much better classic sci-fi out there, so I probably wouldn't recommend this book to anyone who isn't reading through all the Hugos like I am!
Naamah's Curse by Jacqueline Carey
3.0
Well, it was an entertaining read, I guess, but there was no depth to it. The previous two trilogies had so many more emotions going on - while I felt a little of that in book 1 of this trilogy, I felt almost nothing at all in this one. Kushiel's Avatar left me breathless at so many points in the story, but this was more like Season 3 of a silly action TV show - you know they're going to get out of the situation, it's just the small details that differ between episodes. Yawn. Plus, I know the traveling to different countries/cultures has been a staple of the whole series, but it really got on my nerves here. There just seemed to be no good need for it. Lastly, the book could have done with some tighter editing. There was a lot of repetition of thoughts, memories, recaps from book 1, etc. I'd give it 3.5 stars but am rounding down for GoodReads purposes due to this.
Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon
2.0
Paper-thin characters and a plot that just kind of plodded from here to there but at any given moment never felt like it was going anywhere. Maybe it's because I was reading the ebook version and breaks/sections weren't defined as well as they could have been, but it drove me NUTS that the viewpoint/narration would switch around to several different characters in the same scene - just pick one and stick with it for more than a paragraph, please. And seriously, that was the lamest Satan/Devil/embodiment of evil EVER.
Brainiac: Adventures in the Curious, Competitive, Compulsive World of Trivia Buffs by Ken Jennings
5.0
4.5 stars; needed more Jeopardy anecdotes. Alright, I know it wasn't really supposed to be that kind of book, but still. :) Rounded up for reminding me eerily of my dad.