Bob

Hamilton has redefined the Space Opera genre, mainly by taking it beyond the limit of what was thought possible before. Sometimes in this, the second of a two part book, the strain shows. As an incredibly expanded number of plots come screaming to their end, one senses the seams showing. The ease of Ozzie's theft of the starship almost made me derail, but the momentum of the story carried me on. Still, audible could well improve Hamilton's work with some better transition points, given how many stories there were, just a chapter marker would help. Hamilton himself could use a little editing. I for one tired of the phrase enzyme bonded concrete, and the amount of fill on some characters (Mark for instance) was excessive. Still, this is a powerful conclusion to an incredible story, and I could barely wait for my download date to roll around to download it. That the ending at times seemed rushed despite its length testifies to the book's depth and quality.

For those who loved the Forever War, or Starship Troopers, or even Startide Rising, this is a must book. While the space opera setting is standard, almost to the point of distraction, and the military memes have all been seen before, Scalzi's core twist, of old people fighting a war, freshens them up just enough to keep things going, especially when confronted with child warriors. Good science fiction makes you think and relate to current times without rubbing your nose in it. Scalzi makes it fun and a great read.

Those that enjoy space opera, will both enjoy this book, as well as be bemused with the pretentions of a serious character drama. I was, as in the first book a little put off by the overly evil and stupid enemies. However, sitting now, as the country prepares to go off a fiscal cliff, I have to admit that powerful people really can be that stupid.
Still, I reserve the last star because some improbably plot twists and unlikely coincidences do shine through. Still recommended

As in Red Shirts, Scalzi can swing from farce to serious thought provoking ideas faster than any writer alive. The narration by Wil Wheaton has made me retroactively downrate many previous narrators. This book is highly recommended.

I enjoyed this book as much as any in years, but was prepared to give it 4 stars on the theory that you had to be a certain kind of reader to fully enjoy it. But then i realized, this is my review, so if you are a tech nerd, understand the music industry problems, a science fiction and Douglas Adams fan, then you are in for a custom made treat. (If you are old enough to remember music from the 70's in its first pass, bonus points.) If not, then read this as 4 stars, and weep for your loss.... Reid's humor is not as joke dense as Adams, but is much more wry and meta, which makes the choice of Hodgman as a narrator perfect. He does things with the reading that no other narrator I have heard could have pulled off. He delivers the many gems in this book so perfectly you would swear he wrote the book.
I will be looking at any book Reid writes, and any book Hodgman reads, but any more that they do together will definitely get my credits.

I rank Suarez's "Daemon" as one of the best books to come out in years, and was really looking forward to this book. However, instead of the creative, techno savy writing of Daemon, Kill Decision is a techo-military thriller modeling Clancy far too closely. Instead of Clancey's right wing politics, Saurez's left wing paradoxical techno-phobia is laid over the story like... well, a burdensome pheromone. The plot line contains multiple inconsistencies and blatantly artificial devices that distracted from what is certainly an action filled plot.
The overly humane and competent main characters are clever and well connected... except when they need not to be. Two highly improbable ravens serve as organic drone substitutes clearly designed to smooth over plot needs of the moment. There is even the stiffly written obligatory sex scene. Evil characters are the thinnest and least believable of the book. I also failed to really embrace Suarez's almost palpable fear of drone technology itself. I know too many fighter pilots and bomber pilots who did their jobs honorably, but with the unquestioning machine like precision of autonomous drones to really fear these things any more than the existing technology.
Still, even with all that, Suarez does piece together an action packed, albeit inconsistently plotted page turner that delivers some good scenes. The audio narration is excellently done. Here is hoping that in the future he steps away from trying to imitate Clancy, and lightens up a bit, to get back to the originality of books like Daemon.

I purchased this because of the recent deaths in my life of loved ones (both human and animal) thinking i needed a light hearted action comedy along the lines of Douglas Adams. The first 3/4's of the book did not disappoint... then, in the the mode of the highest aspirations of Science Fiction, the novel moved to a higher plane, meta on top of meta, and my amusement and escapist fantasy turned into serious self reflection that was as deep as it was unexpected.
Well played Mr. Scalzi.

This is the classic multi plot, multi character novel that builds to its climax with no lack of action or suspense. Stephenson is able to refract many interesting ideas through this, which is only part of what is wonderful about this novel. However, as with all such novels, some of the twists required to keep the balls juggling or keep key characters alive come to stretch credibility to the point where even some of the characters wonder about it. However, since this is not really a Science Fiction novel, though technology plays a big role, Science Fiction readers will have some willing suspension of disbelief to spend, and will be more than willing to spend it.

I am not sure how much you need to be into the 80's, vintage video games and early computers to enjoy this (i was not much on arcade video games, but did enjoy other games such as Zork, mentioned in the book) The action moves fast enough to distract you from loose ends the multiple realities hold your interest. Recommended.
The narrator is perfect, especially since he gets mentioned in the book!

The story of Kevin Mitnik is a gripping story, with intrigue on several levels. It would would rate five stars in just about any telling, but in this instance, the most interesting aspect of Mr. Mitnik's story works against him. His story is that he never profited from any of his exploits, claiming that everything he did was just a response to the mental challenge. To those of us of a certain age, there is a ring of truth to this claim, albeit stretched by the extreme nature of Mr. Mitnik's hacks. Younger readers, raised on credit card and identity theft, will no doubt find this unbelievable. But wether it is true, or whether his lack of use of anything he ever stole in his criminal career was simply a face saving omission or legal editing around the statute of limitations, it creates a strange sterility in parts of this book as he recounts tale after repetitive tale of social engineering or technical wizardry… all to just getting files he never used. Mitnik cites at times his addiction to hacking, but the story has none of the verisimilitude of an addict's confession. Still, the reason it gets 4 stars is that most of the time his hacks were aimed at a tangible, exciting target: evading his pursuers. Whether you end up believing Mitnik was lying about parts of this book, or are simply mystified by the nature of his addiction, the incredible tale of someone in the right spot to observe the foundation of the information economy, with all its flaws is a very interesting tale indeed. Recommended.

I work in a Cancer Center, and am helping a parent through chemo right now, and thus I hesitated to get this book, but am glad I did. Some parts, such as the first use of chemo on leukemia are incredible, and are a perfect image of how research works. The part where the first researcher to actually cure patients with chemo gets fired by the NCI is a perfect image of how research administrators work. Some of the later chapters on genetics get a bit dense, but the authors approach holds it together. Recommended for anyone dealing with cancer in their family, or anyone trying to understand why we have not conquered this diseases as we have others.