Justin Monisit > Recent Status Updates

The Evitable Conflict - 5.5/10 - that is what I call ending on a whimper. I liked the concept but it was just a lot of exposition rather than an actual story, but there was still some interesting stuff. Also like how it subtly concluded everything from the previous stories.

Evidence - 7.5/10 - definitely the story with the best concept that could have been stretched out to a full length novel. It just doesn't commit to being a compelling mystery nor does it have the charm then other stories had. Still good but it could have been great.

Midterms are coming up so that means that my workload will steadily decrease. More time for reading I guess.

College is fun when it involves you chilling for a solid 3 days before getting bombarded with work for an entire week. Long hiatus but here with another short story.

Escape! - 7/10 - wasn't too keen on this. The climax of this is just glossed over, but the conflict is interesting enough that it's an enjoyable read. Just paced a bit too quickly that doesn't earn much tension in the story.

Finally got back into reading after an intense amount of work (still have stuff to do over the weekend but still)

Little Lost Robot - 7/10 Kind of fun, but did drag with how much they experimented with solutions. It is evident that Asimov wrote without an outline in this one as it seems like it was being made up as he went along, but still another fun logic puzzle story

I have been so busy with college that I haven't had time to even read a short story consistently. For those who are keeping track, I'm not MIA, just a bit sidetracked with all these life events that prevent me from doing my hobby.

Appreciate that free time while you have it!

Liar! - 9/10 - definitely my favorite one in a while. It is lighthearted and funny, and is just a lot of fun to read. It's surprisingly clever how it ends.

Really enjoyed this one, it was dense with detail but also very simple. The climax was great and though the very end was a little disappointing, it was a great example of how prose can elevate a rather simple horror story.

Definitely really liking this. I love the way we doubt ourselves as to if the events are a product of insanity or the supernatural, it is tense without much danger happening at all.

First official Halloween season read (that's not Lovecraft).

Definitely not what I expected, and the dense amount of descriptions of scenery does take some time to get used to. I was ambivalent before, but I'm actually really interested as to where the story will go next - the personification of everything is such an interesting choice, almost supernatural.

Catch that Rabbit - 7/10 - really struggles with its pacing, but it is a still a solid story after that. Just kind of wish the climax was a bit longer than it was (and had more of a resolution).

Robbie - 8/10
Runaround - 6/10
Reason - 7/10 Actually a really solid story that has a pretty anticlimactic and cop-out ending. Didn't expect Asimov to lean into the evil robot trope (since he was trying to subvert it), but does it in a way loyal to his philosophy. Wish it had a better ending though.

Robbie - 8/10
Runaround - 6/10 - definitely a step down, it was more of a logic puzzle than an actual engaging story. It lacked the heart of the story prior, though it did finally expand on the lore of the 3 Laws of Robotics. Still an enjoyable read, but not as good as the first story.

Decided to read collections of short stories rather than novels during college, and read something I'm excited about.

Robbie (#1) - 8.5/10. It's so simple but written so well that it's charming all the way through.

Catching up on the reading I missed after studying my heart out and being occupied with college stuff.

Still not digging Lovecraft's stuff. I like the concept but the execution doesn't exactly make it an entertaining read. But I must plough on for this month nonetheless.

Goodness gracious that was a long chapter...that I unfortunately wasn't into. It didn't feel as suspenseful as he intended and was drawn out for so long. It was especially weighed down by the excessive description that I may or may not have just skimmed over to the point of I was a tiny bit confused.

Way for Lovecraft to ruin an entire chapter by writing it broken English making it hard to understand, sucking away a lot of the "horror" from it. And it was ALL backstory here. No drunk speaks like this.

Lovecraft probably isn't for me. I like the concept of cosmic horror but this story is just too slow for my liking.

Kind of a lull I guess? I'm not a fan of these incredibly long descriptions (which is a preference) which was what this ENTIRE chapter was about. The man just wanders through the town describing how bad Innsmouth is - which is probably entertaining for some, but not for me.

But I'm still interested somehow. I expect it to pay off in some spectacular way.

Hooray for the public domain!

Lovecraft's flaws really came up within the first chapter: the stilted dialogue; the exposition dump; the racism (which he was eager to get to in this one).

But he sure knows how to hook me in anyways. I'm afraid of commitment after being betrayed by The Golden Compass, so I'm hoping this keeps steady. It's setting up some really interesting stuff.

I'M DONE.

I proved I could read a book that I dislike all the way through, but I never want to prove that again. The ending to this book was garbage - tying up plot threads suddenly and way too neatly. And I still don't know ANYTHING about Dæmons. Why are they so important? How does Christianity even exist with Dæmons?

And this book leaves on a cliffhanger, but there is no way I'm reading the next book.

GOODBYE

You know you're not enjoying a book when you literally have one short chapter left and you put it off until tomorrow because you can't handle reading it anymore. (That being more than 2)

...if I gave up now, that would be admitting I was weak. The sunken cost fallacy has really gotten me to the point where I am persevering even though this book just falls into mediocre writing.

Curious to see how the adaptations fixes any problems I had with the book.

Welp - I can't wait to see the climax of this book on screen because I can't fathom how you would make anything like that not as eye rolling as it was on the page.

Will probably finish the book by this weekend or next week.

Chapter 18 was so good that it reminded me of why I liked the book so much in the first place. It took its time to develop the characters, and have them settle down, rather than get caught up in a plot. I want to get to know these people, but the book isn't concerned with that. Probably a preference thing.

Trying to get through this as fast as I can before college destroys my reading schedule.

The book isn't all that great anymore; it's fine, but as usual - the worldbuilding is shallow. The plot takes itself way too seriously, relying on emotional connections that just were not established. It's just frustrating to see it turn so generic after such a strong first half.

In college now so my reading may slow down a bit.

And this book's quality is becoming more of a Bell Curve the further I go into it. The dæmons are stupid, but the author doesn't do anything at all to explain why they're important, and we are told about the connections rather than feeling it. The book is well written, but it is that one aspect that is starting to ruin this book when it relies on it SO much.

Okay now I see why this book has the middling reviews it has. As it goes on, the flaws of the book really begin to show - especially now and I can't say that I'm enjoying it as much as I did...maybe even kinda bored?

The lack of world building is detrimental to the book, as well as the dæmons who still have done nothing! And more expository dumps.

It started off so well too :(

Getting ready for college (tomorrow) has been getting in the way of reading, but I managed to finish part 1 of 3 of the book.

Very solid book so far with minor critiques. Dæmons still don't add anything to the story and the lack of character description surprisingly throws me off.

Also, I accidentally picked this up without realizing it was being adapted into an HBO show. Now I gotta finish it before it comes out

In retrospect I could have probably read the next Harry Potter book but whatever, this book is still pretty solid so far.

My only complaint so far is finding out what the point the dæmons serve, as they have little to no bearing on the plot but are literally everywhere. But I'm sure something will come of use eventually.

Still really enjoying it, and now I'm reading a lot more than I usually do because of that.

Disregard what I last said. That 3rd chapter is incredibly long but so worth the effort of reading that thing in a single sitting.

I've never seen quality turn from bad to great in a single chapter.

The best is yet to come and now I'm excited.