Andrew

Excellent Story Arc and Twists

Reviewed: 06-18-22

Yes! Purgatory in audiobook form with good narration. I read this book in a sea of LitRPG on Kindle Unlimited and it stood out as one of the few books where I felt appreciable character growth in a MC not just stat growth. Also it gave me what we LitRPG fans love above all else novelty, it has a couple excellent twists.

How does Purgatory compare to other LitRPGs?

Let's get to brass tacks here. Purgatory is a great LitRPG, around top 10% if I had to ballpark it. It isn't as expansive, funny, and all around entertaining as something like Dungeon Crawler Carl nor is it as rote, recycled or meh as system apocalypse book #104. You might still read #104, the main character would have a unique class, he would be responsible for building some new town, and on and on. Purgatory is better than that but it doesn't have the scope (yet) to reach the best in genre.

I know I know at this point you are probably rolling you eyes saying "I get it the book is good, just tell me about it already!". Screw you, read the description buddy! Just kidding.

Purgatory is mostly a solo leveling adventure through you guessed it purgatory 2.0 with a trusty guide companion. Think Shadeslinger although not quite the full Frank. Frankly though (get it), the beginning and setup to the story kind of sucks. It treats Christianity with a kind of casualness that authors often treat other religions. As Ramon from the LitRPG podcast says in the Amazon reviews it also has a hill to climb because people typically don't like angels/devils books (me included). Purgatory is good enough that is proven my expectations wrong, if you can suspend your disbelief (or skip) the setup it is more than worth it.

TWISTS! It is all about those twists, full M. Night Shyamalan baby. Ok it isn't just all twists but in this story wow are they powerful. One of the best things an author can do to us long time LitRPG readers/listeners is surprise us. Subverting expectations is getting harder and harder. Purgatory did that in a way that will crack the hardened exterior of even the most jaded 10x speed listener.

Overall well worth the credit, can't wait for book 2.

Disclaimer: I read this book on Kindle Unlimited and got a free copy of the audio version from a giveaway because I remembered it was awesome and hoped it would come to audio.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

2 people found this helpful

Promising Fluff

Reviewed: 05-31-22

Alright so the first off the criticisms are right in the reviews, 10 of the 17 hours is just internal monologue/could be cut. The story is just barely a complete arc/cliffhanger. Compared to other cutesy progression fantasy type books this one doesn't rate by itself.

So why then do I say it is promising?

It feels like an authors first book, it gets better as it goes, and if the author can cut a lot of the repetitive internal dialogue there might be some cool ideas to explore in the next book. Honestly if it were me I would have edited out like 2/3rds of it but ok maybe it was a serial? The author didn't have time?

I am giving the author the benefit of the doubt because I think for people that like stories like Cinnamon Bun by RavensDagger this could be right up your alley.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Too Thick A Slice of Life

Reviewed: 08-02-21

Excellent setting/individual elements with passable characters really hooked me on this initially. The setup is good for the first half of the book but unfortunately the slice of life gets a bit too thick. At around halfway through the story the tension breaks in both story lines and the main characters just repeat the same conversations with different people. A LOT! It is the complete inverse of the show not tell axiom.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

5 people found this helpful

Space Opera Without Humans

Reviewed: 12-29-20

Space Opera as a genre is fantastic but it can sometimes get repetitive or predictable. Human-centrism is one of its main limitations. It makes sense, we listeners are human after all. Refuge inverts that trope in a delightful way. There aren't any humans to speak of in the entire tale.

Normally that would make it hard to relate to the alien cultures but I found that making the characters behave like humans was enough. It was nice to not see the same old protect Earth story. I wish there had been even more immersion in the alien cultures and their interaction.

The weakest elements of the story are the whiny MC which goes on a little too long, the abrupt if expected ending, and some of the interpersonal conflicts. The strongest parts of the story are the characterization and supporting cast, the setting, and the different alien cultures. The strong bits far outweighed the weak parts and therefore I highly recommend this book.

Finally Kate Reading is excellent as usual, not much to really add there for those that don't know her.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Fantastic PDF!

Reviewed: 09-28-20

I am taking notes after I listen to parts of the book so I figured I might as well take a look at the PDF. In my experience these are usually poorly formatted and irrelevant as they are used for examples you either understand at the time or didn't. I couldn't have been more wrong. You can download it right out of your audible library, it has timestamps both for time remaining and elapsed, it is a standalone document, and it is extremely well designed graphically. It perfectly answers the question, do I have to relisten to the book in a couple years to remember the process? Nope it is all in the PDF summarized perfectly.

I know many people might care more about the content or other factors but the level of professionalism here is just typical of the book. Listening to non-fiction can be challenging compared to reading it but having a good reference makes all the difference.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

Plucked From My Brain

Reviewed: 09-18-20

Writing a book of mental models for myself or others had been bouncing around in my head for the last two years in different forms. I read and learn so much it is hard to keep track of it all and there are so many of those things that have interdisciplinary applications. That is how I found this book, research.

Super Thinking did not disappoint. I knew in the first third of the book that it was a winner. Even if you have heard some of these models before it is nice to put them in context. Super Thinking does an excellent job of not belaboring mental models while also contextualizing them. The perfect balance for me was exemplified by the section summaries which concisely repeated and connected each model in that section.

Now the book is a product of the authors of course so it includes a hefty section on how to run a business and manage people and teams. That was not my thing but I could understand and appreciate its utility.

If I had to add models I would talk more about results oriented thinking, building relationships, and attachment as a lever to manage emotions but again that would be my perspective. The content of this book is crunchy as heck, full of brain food. I am usually a binge listener but I had to listen to this one in parts to fully digest all the great ideas before shoving more into my brain.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Novelty and Vision

Reviewed: 09-16-20

One Billion Americans makes an affirmative and expansive case for radically expanding the remit of America. Frankly it was refreshing to read a book that actually has something to say rather than another book just explaining how dumb and broken our current system is. That said, I don't agree with every point in the book but that is as it should be. There a bunch of BS feel-good books out there that can repeat orthodoxy or explain the current system if that is what you want. What I want is a book with some guts and ideas.

While I was waiting for my audio preorder which was released after the physical book I saw a lot of bashing of this book and harsh reviews. After reading it myself I understand the criticism though I mostly find it overblown. The bottom line is this is a book that presented interesting new ideas and perspective. You can disagree with it but at least it is not a milquetoast political memoir, insider story, or explainer of our current system focused on the past.

Matt is right about this, it is better to think big than wallow in the myriad failing of our current system. If you are stuck thinking about the world as it is, how can you ever expect to create the world as it should be?

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

12 people found this helpful

Doormat MC and Absurd Power Dynamics

Reviewed: 08-02-20

It takes an a special type of book to earn a one star review from me. A book has to be good enough that I listen to it and hope it will get better. Yet it has to also fail so spectacularly that I not only want to return it but feel an obligation to warn off others. This book did it.

How do you ruin a cool premise, interesting world, and classic motif? By creating unbearable characters and having a plot that makes no sense.

The biggest problem with this story is that the main character is an absolute doormat while at the same time being an unkillable elite supersoldier. It is bearable at first because the supporting cast isn't all bad but it keeps gets worse and worse as the book goes on until I finally broke in the first 30 minutes of book 2. It ruins all the interactions which have the main character assuming the child role in the lost child motif.

There are a bunch of smaller issues, soapiness, little logical inconsistencies, naivety of all the characters, that might be bearable. Don't be fooled.

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

7 people found this helpful

Holy Pandemic Batman! What A Timely Story.

Reviewed: 07-19-20

Let me put this upfront, this is a fantastic book and especially timely/worth the credit. Buy it. Now on to the review.

Bio Dungeon: Symbiote while descriptive is a title that could leave uninitiated wondering what is going on here. Heck even if you love dungeon core stories and know the genre you might think like I did initially "Ok this is little much". Wow was I wrong.

Imagine the Magic School Bus shrinking and moving through the body, the episode of Futurama where Fry gets parasites that make him smarter, or Pirate of the Pancreas from Rick and Morty. The dungeon in this story is similar to that. The execution is often on the cellular level but most of the fighting the dungeon does is alongside and in place of the immune system. In one word, brilliant. Sorry to get caught up on this but what a freaking cool idea. Our bodies are being constantly invaded by foreign bacteria and viruses and fighting them off just like a dungeon. Conceptually it is ingenious.

On to the execution, it is technically saavy and fast-paced. One of the best parts of the book was that the authors didn't go halfway on their incorporation/descriptions of the human body (speaking as a biologist). Don't get me wrong the book isn't overly technical, they make a specific effort to use nicknames over terminology, but the level of detail is impressive. A typical dungeon core story there are two parallel perspectives. Bio Dungeon however is an inversion of the trope 'adventurer exploring the dungeon'. It is more the dungeon trying to keep the adventurer alive.

Bio Dungeon suffers from the occasional pronunciation issue, is abrupt in parts of the plot, and has some character identity discordance but overall it is an interesting piece of writing. It doesn't directly relate to the pandemic so even if you are burned out I think this would be an worthwhile listen.

Very cool!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

1 person found this helpful

Excellent Compilation: Publisher's Pack Done Right

Reviewed: 07-12-20

Normally I don't tend to like publisher's pack audiobooks because they are indicative of a story that couldn't stand by itself, a disorganized collection of stories or short stories I might find unsatisfying. That is why I was so pleasantly surprised when I listened to this publisher's pack. It artfully takes two short stories and two books and combines them into a relatively streamlined product. The combination is perfect because otherwise I would have never encountered a quality story.

A large part of what makes the story entertaining is the parental/humorous tone, off beat world, and interesting characterization. It has a slice of life feel which I found to be a good change of pace from similar stories. Also there is a decent amount of meat on the bone as book 3 is ~15 hours and is quality as well.

The main gripes I had with the book are that the dialogue and character behavior can be repetitive. For instance, there seems to be a reference to how awful Timmy's old master was about every hour. Also the voice of Katie by Fred Berman I found grating. Despite these criticisms, I highly recommend this book. A publisher's pack done right!

You voted on this review!

You reported this review!

20 people found this helpful