It's full of facts of the sort people who talk about this subject work diligently to ignore. It just gives you an unfair advantage in a battle of witsIt's full of facts of the sort people who talk about this subject work diligently to ignore. It just gives you an unfair advantage in a battle of wits. ...more
The Merry Band of Pirates gets in some righteous retribution. There is some scaled up treachery and face-offs here. Of course Joe is in over his head The Merry Band of Pirates gets in some righteous retribution. There is some scaled up treachery and face-offs here. Of course Joe is in over his head and Skippy gets sick so there is a prolonged siege that you simply cannot imagine how they could get out of it. Aside from that, a lot of things happen in this book that fans have been waiting for a long time.
It's a good rounding up book for me,as I didn't read any of the Mavericks. So I suspect that will be the next installment. ...more
Fabulous. Just nailed the horror, the suspense, the frustration of lunkheads in a crisis, the mystery inside of the enigma basted with riddle sauce. FFabulous. Just nailed the horror, the suspense, the frustration of lunkheads in a crisis, the mystery inside of the enigma basted with riddle sauce. Frightening awe, reluctant heroism, cliffhanging suspense (well, not so much), Lovecraftian futility, body horror, cult fanatacism, end times, mass hysteria, and creatures from the black lagoon with spears. And Nikola Tesla.
Ahh. Resolution. Skippy goes beast mode at long last. That's all I'm saying. Ahh. Resolution. Skippy goes beast mode at long last. That's all I'm saying. ...more
Pollan does it again. I'm actually beginning to be jealous of him as a writer. He gets to do the coolest things. Although I wish he would spend a littPollan does it again. I'm actually beginning to be jealous of him as a writer. He gets to do the coolest things. Although I wish he would spend a little more time outside of the US when writing about the supply chains for 'grandma cooking' food ingredients, this book is a marvel. It makes me want to bake bread. ...more
I think I figured out this book too late, and I should have guessed where it was headed a lot earlier given my familiarity with Richard Kadrey. NevertI think I figured out this book too late, and I should have guessed where it was headed a lot earlier given my familiarity with Richard Kadrey. Nevertheless, it was voice acted well (Audible). The premise was very good, but not handled as well as Kadrey would have done. Characters were good, especially Kate (tangentially on that Millenial thing). The meta of this whole book is fabulous and it almost makes me want to reread the ending, but I haven't been compelled to.
It's probably not fair that I've read too much. This was fun, but not superb fun as I wanted it to be. The singular mystery at the center of the book seems to go on a bit too long. ...more
**spoiler alert** OK. Who doesn't love Udo? He's a loveable caveman. A little bit of what Huckleberry Finn might have grown up to be if he got beat up**spoiler alert** OK. Who doesn't love Udo? He's a loveable caveman. A little bit of what Huckleberry Finn might have grown up to be if he got beat up a few more times. He's the scruffiest ruffian, an unassuming type of lowlife who can't believe you don't hate him on sight. He expects nothing and gets nothing but the affection of his donkey who he's ironically named after the king of this ancient world.
The ancient world itself is recognizably medieval, with its own mythologies and pathologies, and a Sun, I think that rises in the north and sets in the south. The diggers are near the very bottom of the social totem pole and barely make enough dough to live in anything but a shack. Udo, not so good natured, but wise to the dirty affairs of men, is such a digger. A man who works with his hands, his back and his shoulders all which have been deformed through a life of toil. He's dirty, ugly, he stinks and he drinks. Whenever possible he drinks so he doesn't have to think his way through his pityable existence. His only respites are leading his donkey for an illicit booty call with a neighbor's mare, and a semi-annual trip to a town with the most luxurious whorehouse he can find. He barely makes enough money to keep himself and his donkey fed, and sometimes has to choose between eating and staying drunk, and he would certainly choose the latter.
Now you can't miss the fact that somewhere in here is an epic science fiction story, and you can guess that Udo is going to find himself, wise as he is to the ways of his feudal world, facing some mind-bending and life altering technology. You can tell because he is telling the story himself in the past tense. And every once in a great while, there is a third person voice making corrections and amplifications as if he has a chip in his head. Be that as it may, you get embedded deeply in Udo's head and Udo's world intimately. If you know Gayou, you know he knows how to write about how people scrap together bits and pieces of a life amongst deprivation and chaos. In that regard, this first volume is somewhat reminiscent of Gene Wolfe's Books of the New Sun or of Iain Banks' Matter. It's not quite up to Wolfe, but nobody is. If you liked his Wizard Knight, then you'll like this too.
Nevertheless, you're going to have to be much more patient for the deus ex machina because this story stays put on one planet. It's a full adventure, believe me, but you're going to be immersed in Udo's dirty world a long time - but not so long that you don't get to enjoy something remarkable happen to Udo that changes his fortunes. It's just that thing (and it's a big thing) dramatic as it is, remains mysterious all the way to the end of the book. So yes this is a big, big long epic.
As usual, RC Bray's reading is perfectly cast for the persona of Udo, and of course I cannot wait until the next installment....more
A profoundly well-considered meditation on intelligence, selfhood, authority, sovereignty, dissent, diplomacy and walking a mile in the other's shoes,A profoundly well-considered meditation on intelligence, selfhood, authority, sovereignty, dissent, diplomacy and walking a mile in the other's shoes, all wrapped up in Modern Nerdish with moments of drama, profundity and hilarity. The best of the series. ...more
Most deeply introspective of the psychology of combatants in the entire series. A brilliant breakdown of an inevitable civilizational conflict of the Most deeply introspective of the psychology of combatants in the entire series. A brilliant breakdown of an inevitable civilizational conflict of the ultimate proportions....more
Loading...
