I wanted to see what was going to happen next. I also wanted to throw this book at the wall on a regular basis. (five-sided hexagons? really?)
My entire review is summed up in the simple fact that it's *643 pages long* and took me a month to read. Phew!
This was a fun, relatively light zombie apocalypse read - good for passing time on the subway. The dialog was a little cheesy, and some of the supporting characters strict stereotypes, but still - it was fun. I'm going to read the next one.
The prime directive is "show! Don't tell!"This book is mostly a Harry Dresden monologue, and a pretty boring one at that. Feels phoned in. And if I hear one more cheesy Star Wars quip, I will scream and break things...
[eta: The 5th star remains reserved for Michelle, and October Daye. >:]Much (much!) better than I remember the first one being. Yay - the Seanan I love to read is back! (I'm kinda thinking I need to go back and re-read Discount Armageddon - it's possible I may have been unfairly harsh.)Anyway - more Verity! More Sarah! More interesting and unusual cryptids! Dominic acquired a third dimension! And of course - MORE AESLIN MICE!I really liked this. I would have read it in two days without life's distractions.(non sequitur - I was really confused by the excerpt from Silence "coming in May 2013" when I was sure I had read it! Coming in *paperback* in May 2013... ;)
Altered Carbon
I found the plot too convoluted (labyrinthine?). The book could easily have been shortened by 70 pages and been better for it. No terribly new ideas if you've been reading post-singularity SF. But still - well written, some interesting ideas about technology and society.Still not sure if I liked it or would recommend it.
Interesting read for the historical perspective - I can see how this book has influenced many modern disaster / post-apocalyptic novels and movies.However, don't think the book has itself stood the test of time. I found the characters a little to simplistic, and the collapse of society and the new organisations that form childishly naive - we've learned so much since about how the real enemy is always ourselves. This area in particular is where so many authors have taken this basic idea and done a much better job of using SF to portray the less savoury aspects of human nature...
I see why people like it, but not for me. Too slow, and the modern "chick-lit" style clashes strongly with the victorian/steampunk setting. I couldn't finish it.
Two and a half. This book needed to be at least a third shorter. Instead, it was far too complicated and convoluted, without advancing either the plot or the characters.I'm a little nervous about reading the next one now...
Magic Bites (Kate Daniels, #1)
Really 3.5, but I'm feeling generous today.Some uneven writing. Interesting, if unusual world building (I don't have a problem with being dropped into the middle, without a native guide, like some reviewers ;). And I really like the character of Kate Daniels. I'll continue this series...
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seriously over-hyped as a "plausible techno-thriller". It's not plausible, the tech is boring, the characters two dimensional and stereotyped, and the action way, way over the top. Pretty much like a video game, actually. ;)If you want a "reshaping society" technothriller, then Directive 51 (and Daybreak Zero) by John Barnes are much, much better. If you want secret AIs, then Robert Sawyer's WWW series is okay, and there are those books from an earlier and more innocent time like "The Adolesence of P1" by Thomas Ryan and "When Harlie Was One" by David Gerrold.
*sigh. This book is a major backslide into stupid, annoying protagonist and bad, poorly edited writing. "sour".Rachel has been shown to be smarter than she's behaving, which stretches my suspension of disbelief too far. The story jumps around too much, and the bad guys were 1.5 dimensional, and I really can't take any more of Rachel whining!And *then* Ms. Harrison goes and throws in half a dozen things that may or may not be teasers for new story arcs, but then ignores them for the rest of the book - the whole werewolf thing, for example.There were some good bits here, and the writing is still slightly better than the first couple, but this book is definitely not up to the bar set by A Pale Demon.Ugh. Go read Seanan McGuire's Toby Daye series instead, each book actually better than the last...
Ashes of Honor (October Daye Series #6)
Halfway through I was getting quite worried that this was another "things happen to October Day, and she bounces around like a pinball, out of control and reeling" story, but it worked - it kept my attention, and is full of fascinating world building. This series is pushing its way to the top of my favourite urban fantasy list...
