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Perfect for pagans

Overall
4 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 11-06-23

As a Norse Pagan, this book was fantastic. It was a fun and informative venture into the wonderful holy holidays of the ancient religion, and it’s so nice that it’s so neatly presented in one volume.

Emma Karlsson is very passionate about Paganism and making it more accessible, and it shows in her writing. The prose are bursting with lyrical alliteration and the tone has an air of wonder and awe for the ancient culture. There are also precious few resources that bring gathered research on Old Norse holidays together like this, so it’s nice that Karlsson made this readable and accessible book for the modern-day Pagan.

Speaking of the research, I really appreciated that she included all the resources that she used at the end of the book. Most of them are articles or websites, but there seem to be multiple sources for each topic, which gives me the impression that this book is a more reliable than looking all this information up on the internet, even if only a bit in some cases. Because of this, it might not be a bad idea to take all the information here with a pinch of salt — doing your own research is never a bad idea, but the research presented here is very thorough regardless.

I wish there was a little more information about the author. Upon coming across Karlsson’s books, I was skeptical that it was an AI hoax, like some bulk books about mythology are (the Charles River books, for example). The author description and picture made it seem more legitimate, and actually reading the book dispelled those fears (mostly). If this was written by AI, or plagiarized from open-source websites, it would have needed a ton of human intervention and editing. So much so that I’m pretty sure it would be easier to just write it. There were a few weird editorial mistakes (the long and drawn-out title, interchanging “Freyr” and “Frey”, and the jumbled out-of-order summary in the afterward, for example) that keeps me just a bit skeptical, but those are likely just honest mistakes. But still, the author has no website or social media presence, and I would like to keep up with their work.

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Perfect sequel

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 01-21-23

Catching Fire is a near perfect middle trilogy book. The pacing slows down in the first half and we get to see our main cast of characters interact, how they have fared since the games, and how they plan to move forward. There’s a lot of essential character development, plot threads, and foreshadowing that goes on in the first half, and it’s very welcome. Although the pacing slowed, it was never boring; I enjoyed all the character moments.

The whole book sets up the last one incredibly well — throughout the entire novel, talk of rebellion against he capitol is a common theme. Many districts begin to rebel, Katniss finds out that District 13 might be active, and the capitol sends reinforcements to District 12. This culminates in the announcement of the quarter quell, which is the capitol’s response to the rebellion.

Rarely does a sequel that recycles the plot of the first book do it well, but Suzanne Collins does it perfectly — probably because the plot isn’t the same, and it makes sense. Katniss does have to fight in another hunger games, but only because President Snow wants her dead for inciting a rebellion. The time dedicated to the games in this book are much less compared to the first, which is a very welcome change. Although I do love the story, we don’t need to see the same type of thing rehashed again. Luckily, the third part of the book (which takes place in the games) focuses less on the games themselves and more on character moments between Katniss and Peeta, as well as the new victors introduced in this book.

This series continues to amaze me, and I am beyond excited to read the final book!

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Pretty freaking good

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
4 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 10-28-22

It’s not the best book in the series, but it does a lot right; where the first two books focused heavily on plot and comedic scene setup, this installment focuses on character development. Various characters that otherwise wouldn’t interact with each other are paired up and put in precarious positions, making for a wacky and well-rounded story. Very good. The performance by Luke Daniels is absolutely wonderful as always, of course.

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Fantastic addition to the series

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 09-13-21

The Magic 2.0 series is one that has its ups and downs — but this book harkens back to the original and puts an interesting twist on the master-apprentice story of Off to be the Wizard. The characters are phenomenal, the humor is amazing, and the story is a lot of fun! Any fan of Magic 2.0 or Scott Meyer needs to read this.

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2 people found this helpful

Very Helpful and fun!

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 07-13-21

If you are interested in norse paganism or Ásatrú, this book is a great starting point. It goes through all of the basics, including the history of the religion, descriptions of the gods and goddesses, magic, prayer, etc. If you are wanting to learn more about norse paganism, this is the book for you.

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3 people found this helpful

One of the Best Modern Science Fiction Novels

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 12-06-20

I could not put this book down. The story is compelling, the characters are relatable and engaging, and the performance is, usually, fantastic. There are some gratuitous sections that just list references, but those are few and far between. If you want a fun, amusing, and fast-paced science fiction story about virtual reality, this book is for you.

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Read it instead...

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
3 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 12-10-19

I made it through, and it was OK. The problem is that there are too many tables and lists of words for an audiobook experience.

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5 people found this helpful

Different but Every Bit as Good

Overall
5 out of 5 stars
Performance
5 out of 5 stars
Story
5 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 04-08-16

Don't expect a sequel to American God's - It is set in the same 'universe' but that's about where the similarly ends. It follows the life of an adult son of the African trickster god Anansi just after Anansi's death. His boring life is turned upside down by the appearance of a brother he didn't know he had.

It is quite British in tone and style. Though the story is much more than a comedy, the lead frequently reminded me of Arthur Dent from Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy - a rather boring but happy man thrown into rediculous circumstances that he's not pleased with. The only thing missing was a longing for good tea... ;)

Wonderful book that is filled with the fanciful and the real blended in perfect proportions!

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Worst "Professional" Narration Ever

Overall
3 out of 5 stars
Performance
1 out of 5 stars
Story
3 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 06-29-15

I can tolerate mediocre narration for a good story. And I wanted to listen to this one. Seemed as though there were at least some interesting ideas going on. (And I'm a huge PKD fan.) But I couldn't finish it. The narration was among the worst I've ever heard. It sounded like what a good narrator might use for a robotic voice. Not that it was entirely monotone, but even the vocal flares seemed to be programmed-in and not always at the most appropriate time. It's as if the narrator was voicing the story without actually paying any attention to the content.

Apparently some had a different view of the narration. Just be sure and listen to the sample before you buy, as I should have. It gives a representative sample.

Ignore my rating for the story. I couldn't get far enough into it (without going mad!) to make an evaluation there.

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Did Heinlein Really Write This Tripe?

Overall
1 out of 5 stars
Performance
4 out of 5 stars
Story
1 out of 5 stars

Reviewed: 05-03-13

I truly love Heinlein - which is why I was floored by this meandering stringing-together of male adolescent fantasies. I'm no prude and I've read racier scenes than these in much better novels. It's just that these were awkward, uncomfortable and unapologetically misogynistic.

Yes, Heinlein was a product of his times and I've forgiven him on numerous occasions for (mostly) mild misogynistic behavior in his characters. And I could even put up with a little of his sermonizing on the evils of Victorian ethics and the beauty of free love. (The book was originally published in 1970.) But in this novel, it never ends...

The biggest shame here is that the plot had all kinds of potential: brain transplant, being suddenly young and "doing it all over again" and especially the different ways men and women think about sex. Although I think Heinlein thought he was doing the latter, he simply projected his male fantasies into the mind of a woman and made her the two dimensional mirror image - a sex object that lives only to make men hot and happy.

It's truly staggering to me that the same mind that produced Stranger in a Strange Land (one his best) and dozens of other sophisticated, thoughtful novels wrote this. As others have said, if you're new to Heinlein please don't start here. In fact, fan or not, just skip this one entirely. Let's all just pretend he never wrote it!

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14 people found this helpful