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chan_fry's reviews
164 reviews
1.0
Promoted as “a mind-altering romp through a future America so bizarre, so outrageous... you’ll recognize it immediately”, Snow Crash may very well be that. But not in the first two chapters, which was as far as I got. Eighteen pages of comic book-style descriptions of “the Deliverator”, who anarchistically delivers pizza in a near future libertarian/capitalist fever dream of America where private corporations own even the roads and every housing development is its own constitutional nation. Including three paragraphs of description about a gun he doesn’t even carry anymore.
All the verbs are present tense, which is unsettling, but not in an enjoyable way.
For a book written in 1992, I also expected fewer sexist or xenophobic tropes. Both the Deliverator and the author seem startled to learn that a skilled courier is a woman, by Jove, which was a pleasant break from weird phrases like “knowing more about pizza than a Bedouin knows about sand” and endless strings of unimaginative acronyms (“TMAWH”, for example).
I finally decided to stop at the revelation that the hero/protagonist’s name is... seriously: “Hiro Protagonist”.
According to very good ratings and reviews on both Amazon and Goodreads, this book is going to get really, incredibly interesting. Any minute now. You might almost be to the interesting part. But not yet. Right now we’re still on the 18th page about how exciting it is to deliver pizza.
3.0
I went into this not realizing it was a (I don't think this counts as a spoiler) "parallel novel", telling the same story as The Last Colony. Even after beginning, and realizing I'd seen these scenes before, I thought I was going to get a little background on Zoë and then move on to an entirely new story. It might have been humorous had a nearby mind-reader observed me slowly realizing what was going on.
It was a fun idea and I think Scalzi carries it off well. (I haven't read other parallel novels so I can't compare.) Also, Zoë saw and did things that her adopted father John Perry couldn't have told in his version of the book -- I had wondered about the lack of exposition on a couple of scenes in The Last Colony; this book filled in those holes.
It probably helped that my previous two reads were by Christopher Hitchens and Neal Stephenson, but whatever the reason I enjoyed this book. It was fun and light.
(I have published longer review on my website.)
4.0
This was an enjoyable read and I think I liked it just a *bit* more than The Collapsing Empire; together the two are my favorite Scalzi novels. The scope is epic, the characters interesting and fun (fun to read about, not necessarily to be around), and the setting intriguing.
Like the first book, this one didn't bring the story to an end, but a major subplot did come to a close. There were a handful of what felt like anachronisms — "tinfoil hat", "protein bar", etc., but I suppose we have no way of knowing which products and phrases will survive into the distant future. I also found a few weird editing glitches (I assume) where verb tenses didn't match the sentence. But none of this took away from my enjoyment of the story.
(I published a longer review on my website.)
3.0
I give Ra credit for accurately portraying the arguments/claims of creationists (rather than strawmanning them). He gets further credit for cleanly and powerfully debunking them — or, more accurately, showing them for the absurdities they are. And I say this as a former Young Earth Creationist (as part of my fundamentalist, evangelical upbringing). Further, Ra's writing style is efficient; the reading went smoothly.
But I take off points for two things. (1) A book like this needs at least a list of sources/documentation at the end, but preferably also inline citations to those sources. While I know firsthand that much of what he said is true, and everything else I looked up turned out to be true as well, I'm imagining a reader who isn't already convinced. (2) The organizational structure is lacking. While each sentence and paragraph was written well enough, it often seemed like they were printed separately and shuffled out of order. (This was less true in some chapters than in others.)
Still, I highly recommend the book for anyone raised with creationism and who is having doubts. (Also for anyone who wants to become familiar with what creationists actually assert, but who doesn't want to directly interact with the absurdity.)
(I have published a longer review on my website.)
4.0
This was enjoyable, though also sad and disquieting, and a very easy read. Almost none of the things I was told about this book were true. Certainly the circuit judge in Todd v. Rochester Community Schools was lying when he called this book “depraved, immoral, psychotic, vulgar, and anti-Christian” in 1972. (Okay, it's a tad anti-Christian, but that is a minor component.)
If there is any moral theme at all, it seems to be that war is terrible (and possibly the accompanying theme that you shouldn't expect too much from the human race). The story is disjointed, told in easily-digestible fragments which aren't in chronological order because the main character has become detached from our usually linear timeline. I found this unsettling, which was countered by the comforting, rhythmic mantra of a few phrases (“so it goes”) and themes.
But I'm also not convinced this book belongs on so many “greatest of all time” lists.
(I have a longer review on my website.)
4.0
I enjoyed Trading In Danger quite a bit and am looking forward to other books in the series.
The opening felt underwhelming to me, but the story steadily and methodically hooked me. I liked being inside Kylara's point of view, and I felt her tensions and struggles and they came and went. The universe Moon created for this series seems interesting and believable, though she didn't waste any space providing backstory for it.
I loved that the narrative was linear — entirely in chronological order instead of the "jump-ahead-but-then-go-back-to-catch-up" style that so many other authors employ. The story moved. Even the down-time was rich with inner dialog and description.
(I have published a longer review on my website.)
Edit: I've re-rated this four stars. The briefest way to explain it: sometimes I feel five stars right after reading, but a week later realize four is probably more accurate.
4.0
Call it a 4.5 — there is very little to dislike about this book. One thing: it’s not a standalone sequel (which I understand can be difficult to do). It definitely requires having first read Trading In Danger. Another: there is at least one spot in which the author forgets to follow up on something — for example, Ky says she’s about to talk to police about some missing cargo, but then she immediately undocks her ship and flies away.
Aside from these two very minor complaints, Marque And Reprisal is well done. There’s more nonstop action than in the first book, additional characters are developed and interesting new ones are introduced, and Ky’s character arc continues — the gradual changes she accumulates due to experience and new information are perhaps the most realistic growth/change I’ve ever seen in a fictional character. It’s so subtle you barely notice it, but now go back and read the first couple of chapters of Book 1 and you’ll see what I mean.
Edit: I want to add how refreshing it was for Ky (minor spoiler!) to rebuff a man’s advance right at the end. She had repeatedly told him she wasn’t interested, wasn’t attracted to him, but a dozen other books I’ve read would have had her giving in at last. Moon didn’t play that game with Ky, and good for her.
(I have published a longer review on my website.)
3.0
Like the first two installments of the series, Engaging The Enemy (Book 3 of Vatta’s War) is a fun diversion — which is the entire reason I read science fiction. While it wasn’t as action-packed as the second book, and didn’t focus on character development as either of the first two, there is still plenty of ground covered.
Kylara Vatta remains a character who I can at least partly identify with, realistic with her self-doubts and ability to overcome them.
This is also the first of the three books to introduce a major surprise/twist — (no spoilers!) it involves genetics and major characters.
(I have published a longer review on my website.)
4.0
I continue to enjoy the Vatta's War series, and I thought Command Decision was a step up from the slower third book. More action, better dialog, more advancement of the overall plot. (I say “overall plot” because clearly these five books work best as one 1,900-page novel.)
This one focused less on protagonist Kylara Vatta than the previous books, expanding the action to multiple locations and multiple protagonists, building on the introduction and development of secondary protagonists Rafe, Stella Vatta, and Aunt Grace. Still, I identify most with Ky and her struggle for validity in a civilization that doesn’t want to recognize her value.
(I have published a longer review on my website.)
4.0
3.5 stars. Victory Conditions, overall, is a satisfying and conclusive end to the five-book Vatta’s War series. As always, I enjoyed identifying with Kylara Vatta during her adventures.
A couple of criticisms: (1) I thought the space-battle scenes were more chaotically written than in previous books, especially the first major battle halfway through. (2) After reading the final 33 pages (everything after the final battle), I wished this slow and anticlimactic ending had been squeezed into a two-page epilogue.
(I have published a longer review on my website.)