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The Quantum Curators and the Fabergé Egg
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Quantum Curators & the Faberge Egg (Quantum Curators #1)[June 14, 2023]
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I hope this lives up to my expectations...
I picked this up on sale at Chirp recently and figured why not since I needed a short book to fit in before I start Red Country. I liked it well enough, (view spoiler)
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Why is it Beta Earth & Other Earth?... why no Alpha Earth / Earth Prime?
The idea that the survival of the Library of Alexandria led to an end of war is a stretch, but creates an interestingly different world... reminds me of the Rewinder series, which starts with UK-based world, turns into the real world after a small change during the Revolutionary War, and goes crazy off-the-rails, when the villains alters history all the way back to Genghis Khan, and totalitarian Mongolians instead rule the world...
Also, I'm suspicious of anyone named Cleo, after Mrs. Partridge, in the Chronicles of St. Mary's turned out to be one of the Fates...
Timelord Iain wrote: "Started, and have so many questions about the worldbuilding...Why is it Beta Earth & Other Earth?... why no Alpha Earth / Earth Prime?
The idea that the survival of the Library of Alexandria led..."
I listened at 1.5 speed and it went very quickly, pretty sure you will fly through much faster than I did. Interested to hear your thoughts, I feel like I have been super picky recently.
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I haven't noticed sentence tense issues too much... it's definitely a fast paced story... seems to be lots of hidden corruption on Beta Earth...
I'm really confused about what an angel is, tho... there's this whole plotline revolving around angels appearing through the portals and logs being wiped, and dead medics, but not much explanation... unless I missed something earlier and forgot...
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Harvesting entertainment from an alternate dimension reminds me of Worm
And Interdimensional Domination reminds me of the endgame of the Pendragon Adventure: The Merchant of Death
Neith's POV is the only one in first person, why? And you found out what the angels were, which is a neat concept, I liked it.
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Maybe things will change, now that they've been through the Q-Field together, and shared some memories/body parts...
Did you finish and if so did you like it? Also you mentioned a series by Jodi Taylor, do you think this is either a rip-off or a poor imitation of her books?
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Regarding Jodi Taylor, they are very different series... Jodi Taylor writes about historians with time travel devices that like to go back and experience history... and occasionally orchestrate the discovery of lost artifacts to finance things... later on the Time Police get involved, due to nefarious hijinks when others gain access to time travel (criminals and governments)... there's a bit of similar themes, but honestly, the series most closely reminds me of the The Invisible Library, which collects artifacts that tether the multiverse together... but that series has chaotic elves and lawful/orderly dragons as well...
I agree this will span possibly the whole series until it is resolved, I will definitely give 2 & 3 a chance since I own them and then decide if it is worth continuing from there lolI looked in to the Jodi Taylor series (both) and they sound good but the one is so long! I may give those a try at some point.
Timelord Iain wrote: "I got the ebook so I could do some text searches: Nieth's Earth IS Alpha Earth... I coulda sworn the audio was saying Other Earth...one mystery solved...
And angels are terminally ill Betas with..."
I listened to this yesterday more or less in one sitting, and I wish I'd picked up the ebook to do searches too... your clarifications were very useful, Iain!
Funny, I had some St. Mary's thoughts, but also a bit of the TV series Warehouse 13, and a bit of Eureka or Sliders with the time travel...
I can't say the book made much of an impression on me... I've been a bit out of it the past couple days so my brain wasn't in to it, but I didn't dislike the story either.
lol so kind of meh all around, quick & easy listen.
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Iain, you are speaking some real truth! I never would have thought about it this way, but absolutely! Thank you for articulating it so well!
@Iain, just saw your comment pop up on my feed and thought I'd add my two-pence; I hate mediocre books, they feel like a monumental waste of time to me, that's why I like to focus on the more supposedly "amazing" books lol. I feel like audio book listeners are more forgiving in general in ratings and for you guys the main focus is getting as many stories in as possible, in whatever variety, it doesn't matter if they're shit, you just like the experience of reading loads of different stuff.
Beena, you are mostly right, but even we don't tolerate things that are lazy, or just plain bad... We are in for the variety of the stories and can appreciate the imagination and the attempt, but we know when something is a waste of time... But as much heavy emotional stuff as we read, we really need the light and fluffy in between, because otherwise we would go crazy depressed and lose all hope in humanity... These types of light reads act as happy pills:)))
@Choko, that makes sense. I guess what you're saying is you like the "popcorn" reads, because most of what we read takes quite a lot to engage with. Whereas personally, "popcorn" stories just doesn't satisfy me enough, it's only if I'm unwell, or other personal stuff is going on that I'll resort to something fluffier. But that's usually stuff that are faves or nostalgic anyway. Ultimately, it's just different preferences in the way people prefer to consume their entertainment.
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(last edited Jun 20, 2023 08:33AM)
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rated it 4 stars
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But yea... audiobooks are my primary form of entertainment, so some fill the role of popcorn action movies or brainless reality TV... I also have plenty of time for re-reads of favorites...
"popcorn reads" are a term I took from Soo...
I mean this was okay and considering it was the author's debut I am willing to forgive some of the "telling rather than showing" and the issue I had with the tense which may have been purposeful. This had an interesting premise and engaged me enough to plan on reading more in the series and will make the determination to continue. And I too enjoy popcorn books just as I enjoy popcorn movies, speaking of which I will be a release day attendee for The Meg 2 (as I was for Cocaine Bear lol).
Exactly! Since my sports are now out for the season until regular season football starts, the popcorn reads are my distrrssors.. But yes, I am a very emotional reader and my preferred genre is Sci-Fi Fantasy, the big, epic, darker ones, and I get very drained after reading them... So yeah, I need popcorn in between:)))Ann-Marie, I want to see Cocaine Bear so bad!!! Need to make the time for it...
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(last edited Jun 20, 2023 09:35AM)
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rated it 4 stars
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Can't remember the last thing I saw that didn't fit one of those...
And yea... I can be a bit more forgiving of debuts and new authors... especially if somebody says they get better or it's a topic I really like...
And this author in particular seems to be a big proponent of libraries... there's a blog post about libraries on her author page on Goodreads...
Choko wrote: "Ann-Marie, I want to see Cocaine Bear so bad!!! Need to make the time for it..."Do it! I mean it was bad & awful but in the absolute best way possible! 100% lived up to my expectations lol
Ann-Marie, hahaha! That is exactly what I expect from it!:)))
re: Popcorn Reads--I find it really interesting what I notice and what bugs me in print v. audio... on Audio, I can definitely ignore bad writing more, but bad tropes are always bad (like what Iain mentioned)... and an amazing narrator can make me forgive a lot too. I also tend to zone in and out, which can make me forgive overall plot of individual scenes are good....
Nirkatze wrote: "re: Popcorn Reads--I find it really interesting what I notice and what bugs me in print v. audio... on Audio, I can definitely ignore bad writing more, but bad tropes are always bad (like what Iain..."I absolutely agree that a good narrator greatly adds to my enjoyment of a book (and a bad one can spoil a book!). My thing is once I find something bothersome while reading, whether it be editorial errors, tense issues, tropes done badly, etc, I cannot help but notice each & every example of that in the book. I also do not need very serious stories all the time and in fact I think I would hate that, I need to have light "popcorn" books to fit in between Abercrombie and the like. I lurve me some Logen but to read stories like that day in and day out would be way too much! There is a reason one of my most favorite things in books is snarky banter & humor <3
Love me some snarky banter:)))
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We can discuss here, or make a new thread, if anyone is gonna join (I'll just use here, to vaguely discuss with Ann-Marie about the general quality/plot, if nobody plans to read)
I can read this before the 18th, likely around the 12th or so. I am fine with either keeping it here or starting a new thread, whichever works best.
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I'd generally be fine with reusing this thread, since it's a small discussion, and we already probably have everyone here that's interested and/or going to read...
But I'm a mod now, and need to follow the rules, and we want all BRs to get their own unique thread as much as possible, and go through the proper channels, so I'll put in a request at some point :D
Timelord Iain wrote: "Ann-Marie wrote: "I can read this before the 18th, likely around the 12th or so. I am fine with either keeping it here or starting a new thread, whichever works best."I'd generally be fine with r..."
lol that works
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That sounds good to me. ^^
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I have the first 3 in audio and they are in KU so if I feel a driving need to finish the series then it's not a huge deal for me to do so. I feel like if the writing has not improved I may not be inclined to continue after 3 but we shall see, open mind and all that lol
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Fantasy Buddy Reads
Books mentioned in this topic
The Invisible Library (other topics)Phoenix Rising (other topics)
Worm (other topics)
The Merchant of Death (other topics)
The Quantum Curators and the Fabergé Egg (other topics)
Happy Reading!