Tag: en

That was one of the longest reads i had in the recent years as i started this book in October last year (~10 months). It is a huge novel, of course. But main reason for long read time was that it was so tedious and boring. Usually, i don’t throw away books if i don’t like something and try to complete no matter what. And this one was not even close to some of the worst books i have read. But it was not great. I liked his “Seveneves” (although last 1/4th of the book was underwhelming), i remember reading it at night not being able to put it away. Didn’t happen with Termination Shock. Usually i would read books during breaks at work or waiting for a lunch, sometimes during commute to work and back. This is on average probably 15 minutes a day. And i didn’t have a desire to read it more, so year, 10 months it is. After some time i got used to the style and pace of it and to the characters and eventually liked some of them. But man, in the beginning it was rough. It is a big book and so often not much interesting things are happening. People are driving/going somewhere and it seems like you are actually going along with them by the amount of pages you have to read. Then they are also talking about some politics that are often too vague and cryptic. Why do we have to learn about every political figure presented in this book, about their looks and hobbies? Why so many side stories about history of some families when it doesn’t add much to the story? It feels like every event or story in this book can be trimmed a lot or skipped altogether to make it a more engaging book overall. Story itself is somewhat interesting. What would happen if we try to alter the climate on a bigger scale actively. But it only covers a few years and it is not something like “in a few decades Earth turned into Ice Age planet”. It is more grounded and realistic, i guess. But it is also boring. The ending was also open ended and vague. So, in conclusion, a few interesting ideas and lets say interesting imagining on climate state in the near future (books finished in 2021), a few likable characters and too long of a book. 5/10

Saw a few recommendations for this book on reddit in sci-fi posts. Then bought hard back as a gift for my father and he really liked it. So, picked it up for myself on Amazon Kindle. I liked it too. It is fun and dynamic, with quickly changing scenes, stories, has good pace and quite original ideas. So, will start with a few nitpicks. In the beginning you really like the style of inserting joke here and there, especially when talking about grim things. But, then you notice it never ends. Jokes, tones of jokes. Every character in this book is just some standup comedian with instant comebacks and puns. It becomes old. Ha, non pun intended, but i am leaving this in 🙂 And i understand that main characters are life hardened olds, but also to be honest, most olds are whining, nagging. Not hitting you with witty lines all the time. That’s another kind of nitpick or just a thought for discussion. The whole concept of sending old people, who don’t have anything going for them anymore, to do war (after let’s say “refreshing” them) sounds good on paper. But these are old minds, tired of life, accustomed to slow flowing of time. Even if you train them and rejuvenate them, they are still old in their souls. So, this thing was a bit less believable. Of course, they state that most of them still are used kind of like cannon fodder. Ghost brigades, briefly touched in this first book, probably make more sense. But then again. All this technology, just seems wasted. Probably would be more efficient to go the Star Wars way and clone your armies. Another thing that let me to some doubtful thoughts is that i would expect most of them to defect when they learn what they are getting into. I know that they chose to enlist and have contracts, but, they never really knew what they were going to do and go against of. Maybe there were lots of defectors, but book just didn’t touch on that. Of course, that would not make for exciting story. And stoty is interesting. With a twist about “rejuvenating” that i was not expecting. Reminded me a bit my favorite sci-fi “Cobra” (mostly about enhancing human body for war). And also Lord of Light, which is a more close connection. Going into a bit of spoiler category ***it was fascinating to try to imagine how it would be to experience your mind in two bodies simultaneously watching at each other, single mind in two locations at once***. There is enough of science in this book. And it even goes briefly into all the jazz about alternate universes and that it is not actually jumping through space that their drives do, but entering alternate reality. Which is a giant can of worms and can be worth a whole separate book. And there is romance. First somber, then sexy, then weird, but in the end romantic somehow. And it leaves on a note that hints more books. Which i already new when buying it on Amazon and seeing covers for the next 5 or so novels. I might read some of them later. It did hook me to read non stop instead of going to sleep, but not as much as to swallow the whole series. So, if i was doing fractions in ratings, i would give it 8.5. Not quite 9 or even 10. But good. Solid 8/10.

Looks like it was first best seller from this author that made it possible for him to leave work in police and become a writer. Also, this and many other of his books were turned into movies. Which is not surprising. This Man Is Dangerous feels like that of those black and white gangster movies. And like those movies the plot and style are very simple and light. It was not boring to read, but there is not enough of plot to make your brain work, no huge twists that makes you go “oh”. There is one twist, which you start to anticipate early into reading. And when it is revealed, it is kind of expected based on a few hints dropped throughout the book and based on how main character is behaving in some situations. At the end of the book there is a tad too much of backstabbing back and forth. I guess to make it more intriguing. It was unexpected though that main action, although started in US, was actually happening in UK. Well, we author was British, but it is strange that book about American gangsters happens in Europe. The style itself is not the one i particularly enjoy. Internal monologue of the main character or from his perspective and also with lots of witty words and expressions, which just makes it feel like a cheap movie. It is for sure not some dark or serious story, nothing feels realistic. Just and entertaining, short gangster flick. 6/10

This is probably biggest disappointment in a few years. And not because it is worse than something i have read recently (like second book in the Null-A trilogy, which i rated 5/10). But because The Little Lady of the Big House is by Jack London, whose books i usually love and one of my favorites is his “The Valley of the Moon”. It just didn’t resonate with me at all. Although it has some shared aspects with other books. Like very similar love triangle like in “Hearts of Three”, where main female character loves two men and can’t decide who is more important to her. But “Hearts of Three” is an adventure book in essence and the love story doesn’t bog it down and doesn’t feel very serious. It is just a side element. Depiction of how main character of this book establishes his business can be seen similar to how couple of Moon Valley are settling on a new territory. But in that book there is struggle for survival in the beginning, the travels and kind of adventures. This book is too bland and boring in comparison to above mentioned other works. I am not used to such London. All crazy adventures in this book are described as something that happened at some point in the past and are mentioned by characters  in passing during conversations. First, this book starts depicting our main male character, going back to his teenage years, showing his strong will and good eye for business from early days. It was somewhat interesting to read about how he established everything in his estate, although servants naming scheme was odd and probably wouldn’t fly today at all. But at some point i started to feel it is too much of all the technical information on how to breed these animals and sell them and grow these crops better, etc. After some point i couldn’t make myself continue to read this book. Then they briefly introduce his kind of eccentric and unique wife. And then a third man appears on the scene and i thought to myself “Really? A love triangle?”. It also developed in a very banal way, so it was not engaging or interesting to follow. Ending was tragic and got me a little bit. But now thinking back on it, was still banal and probably common for love novels. After writing this review i am thinking maybe it was on par with the worse book in recent time actually. Maybe i should have re-read The Valley of the Moon for the 5th time instead 🙂 5/10