RJ - Slayer of Trolls’s Comments

RJ - Slayer of Trolls’s comments from the 2025 Reading Challenge group.

Note: RJ - Slayer of Trolls is not currently a member of this group.

It's always amusing to me that "Ford" is used as a curse at the end of Chapter 2. My father, who worked for GM for 15 years, would approve.

Of course, "Ford" is actually meant as a substitute for "God" in the book, an example of how the future world has placed manufacturing and industry over religion in importance.

How about The Postman Always Rings Twice by James M. Cain? A drifter and a young woman would like to be together...if only it wasn't for her inconvenient husband.

I'm 80% of the way to my goal!

Finished #32 - The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon - the Nebula-Award winning novel of an autistic man who is presented with a possible opportunity for a cure - I liked it a lot even though there were some boring repetitive parts and I gave it 4 stars - you can read my full review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Replacing it in my Currently Reading pile is Redshirts by John Scalzi - essentially a Star Trek parody from the POV of one of those disposable security guards who accompany the main characters on away missions

And of course I'm still working on:
- The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
- Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley
- The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
- Ringworld by Larry Niven
- The Best American Mystery Stories 2015 edited by James Patterson
- Rama II by Arthur C. Clarke
- A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
- Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System from Crisis — and Themselves by Andrew Ross Sorkin
- Go Girl!: Raising Healthy, Confident and Successful Girls Through Sports by Hannah Storm and Mark Jenkins
- Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders by Neil Gaiman

It certainly gets off to a slow start.

I finished two more:

#30 - A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman - for the group read in this group - I liked it and gave it 3 stars - you can read my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

#31 - Savages by Don Winslow - not for a group read, just for fun - I liked it a lot and gave it 4 stars - you can read my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Replacing those in my currently reading pile are:

- Ringworld by Larry Niven - for a group read for the Dragons and Jetpacks GR group, although the read is almost over and I'm way behind

- Brave New World by Aldous Huxley - for the group read for this group - I read this originally in high school and thought it was just OK at the time but parts of the book have really stuck with me over the years so I'm happy to have an excuse to re-visit it

And of course I'm still chipping away at:
- The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon
- The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester
- Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
- The Rook by Daniel O'Malley
- The Best American Mystery Stories 2015 edited by James Patterson
- Rama II by Arthur C. Clarke
- A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
- Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System from Crisis — and Themselves by Andrew Ross Sorkin
- Go Girl!: Raising Healthy, Confident and Successful Girls Through Sports by Hannah Storm and Mark Jenkins
- Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders by Neil Gaiman

I'll probably finish a couple of those in the next week or so.

I finished it and gave it 3 stars. Here's my brief review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

At this point in the book the story has fallen into the following pattern:
1) Ove tries to kill himself
2) Someone inadvertently stops him
3) We learn something poignant about Ove's past
4) Repeat

I finished two more in the last couple days:

#28 - Blade Runner by Philip K. Dick - The real title of the book is "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" but my copy of the book says "Blade Runner" after the title of the movie it inspired - if you've seen the movie you have a good idea about the basic premise but the book has a lot to offer too - I really liked it and gave it 4 stars (this is my second read of the book and I gave it 4 stars the last time also) - you can read my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

#29 - The Gunslinger by Stephen King - this is the first book in his "Dark Tower" series which ties together many of King's other books - I thought it was just OK and gave it 2 stars although I'll probably continue on with the sequel since many readers believe this book is one of the weaker entries in the series - you can read my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Replacing those in my Currently Reading pile are a couple other group reads:

- The Rook by Daniel O'Malley - so far I'm not loving this urban fantasy - it's a bit over-written with a lot of chatty asides that are amusing yet unnecessary

- The Stars My Destination by the late great Alfred Bester - this is one of my all-time favorites so I'm happy to have a chance to re-read it

And of course I'm still chipping away at:
- A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
- The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon
- Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
- Savages by Don Winslow
- The Best American Mystery Stories 2015 edited by James Patterson
- Rama II by Arthur C. Clarke
- A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
- Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System from Crisis — and Themselves by Andrew Ross Sorkin
- Go Girl!: Raising Healthy, Confident and Successful Girls Through Sports by Hannah Storm and Mark Jenkins
- Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders by Neil Gaiman

I'll probably finish the first couple of those around the end of August, and I might finish 5 or 6 in September!

I read this back in high school as an extra credit assignment for my Biology class. At the time I didn't enjoy it because I found the dystopian world too depressing, but parts of the book really stayed with me over the years and I found myself thinking about it occasionally. I've often wanted to re-visit this one, so this is a great excuse for me to do so.

Ove is less cartoonish the further I get into the book, but there are parts that don't ring true to me, such as the part where Ove drives the cat around in the car. That was straight out of a Warner Bros Sylvester and Tweety cartoon. There are other bits like that, usually at least one in each chapter.

I have found Ove to be a much more sympathetic character the more I got to know about him. The chapter about his father early in the book was really eye-opening and took the book in a slightly different direction than I thought it was going. I appreciate the author's attempts to develop Ove's backstory with a bit of pathos instead of just relying on the slapstick bits.

Elina wrote: "Once I startet, the last third of the book just was so fast paced, that I read it in one day :D "

So true. I called in sick and finished it off in one sitting.

Ilona wrote: "I'd like to nominate Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman"

I'll second Norse Mythology.

The chapter about Ove's father was the best in the book so far. It certainly gives us an idea about where the author means to take this character.

Finished two more:

#26 - Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman - I liked it a lot and gave it 4 stars - you can read my short yet witty review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

#27 - Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer - I also really enjoyed this one and gave it 4 stars - you can read my short but creepy review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Replacing those in my Currently Reading pile are:
- The Gunslinger by Stephen King for a group read for the Sword and Laser GR group - note: I am reading the original version, not the 2003 revised version. Why? Because that's the one I had sitting on my bookshelf. And it's worth noting that this book is the first volume in King's Dark Tower series which is often called his masterpiece by fans, and the book forms part of the basis for the Dark Tower movie that is in theaters now.

- The Speed of Dark by Elizabeth Moon - It's my first book by Moon, also the first SF novel I have ever read featuring a autistic protagonist. Group read for the SciFi and Heroic Fantasy GR group

And I'm still chipping away at:
- Blade Runner by Philip K. Dick
- A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
- Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames
- Savages by Don Winslow
- The Best American Mystery Stories 2015 edited by James Patterson
- Rama II by Arthur C. Clarke
- A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
- Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System from Crisis — and Themselves by Andrew Ross Sorkin
- Go Girl!: Raising Healthy, Confident and Successful Girls Through Sports by Hannah Storm and Mark Jenkins
- Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders by Neil Gaiman

SarahKat wrote: "Just finished chapter 9. So far it sort of reminds me of Up. Ove acts like Mr. Fredrickson."

Great analogy. I would like to see "Dug" appear for some comic relief. SQUIRREL!

Nikki wrote: "Still not clear on whether or not the Tralfamadorians are real. Also would like other opinions on if the guy really can time travel, or if he is just "reliving" previous memories or what-not."

I didn't take any of the Tralfamadorian or time-travel stuff literally. All that started after he was in a pretty violent plane crash in which he was the only survivor, right? So it could have been taking place all inside his own head. It reminded me in many ways of some of the novels by Philip K. Dick, especially Ubik. But jumping around in time kept me interested in the story despite the fact that Vonnegut gave away the ending in the first few pages.

I read this one a couple years ago. Heads up: it starts off a little slow and some readers get frustrated. Stick with it - it picks up in the middle and the last 300 pages or so are unputdownable.

I read this last year along with my daughter's 7th grade English class and thought it was just OK. I'll be interested to see what others here think. I'm certainly in the minority - this appears to be a beloved book of many here at GR.

I finished two more in the last week or so:

#24 - Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut Jr. - this was my first Vonnegut and it didn't disappoint - it's terrifically unique and memorable in its presentation and also is a great conversation piece - I gave it 4 stars - you can read my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

#25 - The Coming of Conan the Cimmerian by Robert E. Howard - this is a collection of the early Conan stories written in the early 1930s and published in pulp magazines - like many stories from that era they contain some content and stereotypes that may be offensive to a modern reader, but they are also stories that were crucial in the creation of the Sword and Sorcery genre - I gave the collection 4 stars - you can read my review here: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

Replacing those in my currently reading pile (which is still swollen due to a large number of group reads I am participating in) are:

- Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep? by Philip K. Dick - I read this 25 years ago when the Director's Cut of the movie Blade Runner (based on this book) was first released - now with Blade Runner 2049 to be released this fall it's time for a re-read

- Kings of the Wyld by Nicholas Eames - for a group read in the Dragons and Jetpacks GR group - the author has been kind enough to join us and answer some questions - I'm probably not going to finish it this month though...

And of course I'm still picking away at these (in order of likely completion):
- Anansi Boys by Neil Gaiman
- Annihilation by Jeff VanderMeer
- A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman
- Savages by Don Winslow
- The Best American Mystery Stories 2015 edited by James Patterson
- Rama II by Arthur C. Clarke
- A Dance with Dragons by George R.R. Martin
- Too Big to Fail: The Inside Story of How Wall Street and Washington Fought to Save the Financial System from Crisis — and Themselves by Andrew Ross Sorkin
- Go Girl!: Raising Healthy, Confident and Successful Girls Through Sports by Hannah Storm and Mark Jenkins
- Fragile Things: Short Fictions and Wonders by Neil Gaiman

I've read the first 3 chapters so far. It's not bad, but it hasn't really grabbed me either. For a character-based storyline, the character of Ove is kind of cartoonish, like a hammy curmudgeon. I'll be interested to see how it develops from here.