Andrew Benesh > Recent Status Updates

It's weird doing this as an audio book, but I do enjoy the voice work. The revelations so far have been minor but great - someone called Dooku "Doo" to his face and lived, and Star Wars merch exists within the Star Wars universe.

I knew there was variation in personal microbiomes, but I had no idea just how much there was. This is fascinating.

Any prologue featuring pangolins automatically increases my interest in the book. In curious how this will compare with my readings on invasive species.

Done! That ending is a whirlwind, with some signature Claudia Gray gut punches. The parallels with Queen's Shadow and the renewed focus on the prequels raises since interesting questions.

Damnit, Rael! The Prequel themes are incredibly strong here. The evolution of Obiwan and Qui-Gon's relationship is definitely a two steps forward, one step back dance. The political conflict is taking an interesting shape.

Fanry is really growing as a character. Pax is getting a lot more sympathetic, which I did not expect. Good backstory is perfect.

The conflict here is written with great emotion, which I like. Rael is... concerning. In enjoying the references to other novels, foreshadowing the films, and connections to TCW.

I relate to Qui-Gon's questions and worries about his role as a teacher a little too much.

The way Gray develops conflicts internal to her characters as drivers of the plot rather than relying on external factors is one of the things I've always enjoyed. Their growth comes before their situation, which makes them instantly relatable. And Qui-Gon is just awesome.

Well, I've tried, but this book just isn't working for me. Find to relegate it to the "abandoned" pile and move to something more enjoyable.

And Part I is compete! The plot is still meandering, bit at least it's defined now. This whole thing feels really unfocused, which I understand to be the intent, but it still makes it difficult to read. I wish we could get past the weird and frankly dreary sex scenes and advance the story more.

It feels like it's coming together - I get Slothrop and the interest in him - and then it gets arbitrarily fuzzy. I really wonder if this author has ever met a woman, because his descriptions of sex and his preoccupation with erections is excessive and poorly executed.

This book is getting more coherent, but not less weird or penis obsessed. WTF.

This increasingly feels like the meandering thoughts of someone heavily intoxicated. There are moments of clarity, fragments of story, and a growing atmosphere of for malaise but its not congealing well. The racism and sexism of the characters, and the author's preoccupation with erections is getting increasingly hard to accept.

This is really practical so far, but it seems to assume numbers of CITs that I don't have. I'm also a little bothered by a few examples in their red light green light activities that we categorized as "yellow" bit should be bright red (e.g., sexual relationship with supervisor). Still, the general skills approach is great.

I like the style, but the book feels like it's going nowhere fast. A little more time with each character would go a long way.

This is a messy read to be sure, but there's a lot packed in. When it hits flows it's really great, but the jumble in between is hard to navigate.

Done! I wish there were more - I could easily read another hundred pages of Padmé building bridges and challenging power. My need for Sabé content is equally high.

I absolutely love that we get a full chapter of Naberrie family life. I want fanart of that babysitter. I feel for Sio Bibble, and wish we got a bit more of him. The reconciliations and refocusing feel very authentic. Eritraé is the secret hero of this book.

The character evolution is great. Seeing Padmé and Sabé transitioning while working on their friendships is deeply enjoyable, as is the political focus of the book. I don't think I can take more Clone Wars / Prequel references!

I like seeing Padmé evolve to meet new challenges.

I like how there's an exploration of the differences between being queen and being senator, and that the new handmaidens have a chance to shine. The parallels to Leia: Princess of Alderaan are delightful, as are the frequent TPM references. The attention to detail in the constant shifts from authenticity to performance makes me want to do a rewatch.

I'm really enjoying the connections in the opening chapters. There's a clear love of the idea of the handmaidens, and careful reflection on the way they got into the culture of Naboo. The mediation on the purpose of Amidala's gowns and headpieces was brilliant.

Done! Apparently the rest of footnotes!

The final chapters were a little hard to follow, mostly because they detailed people discovering things that had already been revealed to the reader much earlier in the book. That kills some of the suspense.

Still, I really enjoyed the attention to detail and the larger context of the museum community.

I really like this Italian prosecutor. The Getty lawyers and board are absurd; they clearly know they're in the wrong, but keep making ham fisted maneuvers to create the impression of innocence.

The Italians closing in and the museum realizing just how sketchy True has been is intense. I feel bad for the non-evil employees caught in the middle of this.

The level of animosity here is truly amazing.

True is frustrating; she seems to feel bad about her unethical behavior, but not enough to change it more than superficially. The lack of enforceable law and policy remains astounding.

The obviousness of the illegality of the Aphrodite is incredible. I'm seriously amazed how wildly the museum is ignoring reality. True, Walsh, and Williams can't reasonably classroom any ignorance here.

Apparently ethics are for chumps. Even the more ethical people are sketchy and knowingly committing crimes.