John d

OH HOW I HOPE THIS Science Fiction comes true.

Reviewed: 08-07-21

Reading KSR for me is alwayse a marathon and not a sprinting page turner. Amazing world detail and optimism about how we might actually not wipe out civilization. In a sense, this is an incredibly important book, as it posses a future where humanity does figure out how to work together and how NOT to cook the planet.

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Fantastic Listen, read by Lavalle himself

Reviewed: 02-03-19

What a great listen. Strange meandering story. Is it horror, or just a stretch of horrible life? Great ballance of those two.

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What a story. Smart. Dragons but not really.

Reviewed: 10-10-18

I usually avoid stories that have dragons in them. And Magic. and this has dragons and some sort of paranormal Magic? When it really might just be a function of genetic engineering or something. this is not a story about magic and Dragons. it's a story about attempting to be something more in a world that is descending rapidly into something much less. it's about New York City essentially devastated in abandoned but for a few people, old money trying to stay ontop, and then a second town inside it, filled with incredibly resilient survivors scrapping by, who are really outcasts or criminals. it's filled with a number of really good characters. really good characters. Since it had dragons in it, I wasn't sure I was going to finish it, but I sure did. It kept me going the whole way through. great read. Or listen.

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Fun story

Reviewed: 07-26-18

Some of the characters are just awesome. The universe imagined is expansive and the mechanism of FTL wonderfully reminiscent of travel in a pre-airflight world, producing the similar problems of empire re delayed and spotty news and communication. The main plot, a collapsing empire due to unavoidable changes is clear by the end of this first book. Characters of immense wealth and privilege grasping at power in the Court of the Empero, heros seemingly cut from normal middleclass cloth, even if they are a lord or the Empero.
With the grand plot lines and engaging characters, it's a very good, but not outstanding, space opera. Not sure the story has any other meanings or grand ambitions, but that's OK, because it's a fun read. Unfortunately, being July 2018, I've no idea how long I have to wait for the next book...

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Umpteenth and final book a home run

Reviewed: 07-09-18

I imagine M S Fuchs is somewhere at a recuperation spay where they are restoring his fingers after the marathon that was this amazing series. Heck, I am wiped out just reading them. I was never a zombie lit fan. These were excellent reads. I look forward to whatever Fuchs writes next. Thanks for the wild unrelenting ride.

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Pretty good romp

Reviewed: 03-25-18

I don't know when this was written, but it reminds me of all that Great Science Fiction from when I read it as a kid. Before I knew what l post-modernism was, before it's alienation entered the field. But from this perspective, of 2018, part of me wants a bit more than this.Glad we are past Buck Roger's, and past Doc Savage. Past a few more, skipping the super heros, and then through Ben Bova's sensitive world of Morally Certain Characters and bad guys more complex than Evil. Which is my world view too. But it's not quite enough anymore, I think. I don't know where it will go next, what our time needs next, needs most. But this book was a wonderful respite. Thanks Mr. Bova.

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4 people found this helpful

Great listen

Reviewed: 03-14-18

Great story, great read, science handled excellently. Written by a well informed and intelligent writter.

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Three books? Three books?

Reviewed: 01-29-18

Look, as fiction about ideas and science and our government, it's great. Outstanding really, as a view on how our country might respond. Really well written, and the characters are very engaging, most of them, but it's almost a travel log of, I am guessing, his raising his own kid(s) , with fictional people woven in. There is this one tiny, Ok maybe three morsels of action, that when they come I am almost ready to get on my knees and cry out in gratitude. But some how I read all three books, start to end. Go figure. So there was something really good, just not action. He obviously has a great mind and is a great story teller, but three books and only a few morsels?

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Concept awesome, but slow like ice melting.

Reviewed: 12-11-17

I suspect upu could save yourself the time and go to be second book. This one is a lot of, lot lot lot of character development and back story. It's a very good portrait of life inside a quasi governmental organization.

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Fascinating listen. Didn't blow my mind as much

Reviewed: 11-21-16

so far every one of his books has completely blown my mind, and been an incredible narrative experience. The logic and the intricate complexity of his single books and three book series are epic stories, fiction, conceptual literature. Reading his books is like being in the mind of a genius. this book seems like a foray into traditional Science Fiction, with some large Concepts, and some intricate intricate intricate technology, but it didn't quite blow my mind like his others have. Still head and shoulders above his pears though. Performance is top notch.

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