Lee

I struggled to get through the first 1/3 of the story and almost quit. I found the heroine, Marina, dull and uninteresting. The story becomes much more engaging when her foil, Dr. Swenson, enters into the narrative. I also thought the premise that a pharmaceutical research company would send a research team into the jungle without any oversight or accountability, for years on end, was totally absurd. The novel is saved by the addition of Dr. Swenson and other characters that have personality, and the depiction of the research station amid a primitive tribe in the amazon. My wife enjoyed it more than I did, and I suspect women may enjoy the novel more than men. The narration is quite good.

My wife and I have listened to this series, and mostly like it. This book is clearly setting the stage for the last book and grand finale. For God's sake don't get this audiobook if you are not into the series, it is not very good. Michael Scott has really under-performed, producing just enough of the lightweight, cheesy action - fantasy we like. After this series is ended I won't start another by him.

This book is well written, and well narrated, but I found it depressing. The bad guy brakes the mind and soul of his female companion through systematic abuse. I was expecting something lighter.

Your most boring professor writes a book. After listening for two hours, I learned that innovative thinkers apply past knowledge to new situations, and it is easier to stop a bad habit by replacing it with another behavior. Another book that would be better as a five minute TED video.

This book is really quite entertaining - although the non-stop action can get to manic levels. However, the description of the book doesn't convey how violent it is. While the worst stuff (like systematic torture) happens "off-screen," there are some thoughts and images I dont care to have in my mind. If the violence was toned down, I would be referring this book to more friends.

I like sci-fi and fantasy, and can accept the initial premise that a town in modern day West Virginia has been mysteriously sent back to 1632 Germany. That is the cool part of the story. The problem is with the characters - they are mostly caricatures. And while that is fine for many entertaining novels with heavy action, this book, after the opening sequences, spends a lot of time on character "development." If you can call following the thoughts and dialogue of stock characters "development." Chunks of the book read like a romance novel, with breathless, love-at-first-site encounters and courtship. The Americans, almost without exception, are an amazingly virtuous lot, that embody the best American principals - hard work, self reliance, inclusion, democracy, tolerance, practicality, fairness, ingenuity - without fail. This is in stark contrast to the bad guys - who are truly vile. The narrator, George Guidall, is so good, that he can make this pulp seem to have substance. Yet Guidall can only cover for the author for so long. Eventually, you notice that your velveeta topped cheeseburger is missing the meat, and you only have a mouthful of cheese.

If you liked The Name of the Wind (Book 1), you should like this one also. The style, characters, and themes are very similar. For me, the book drags at times with Kvolth's obsession with Dena, and his generally high level of suffering. The whole story could move faster. Sometimes Rothfuss spends to much ink being clever - something which frequently gets Kvolth in trouble. Yet the characters are enjoyable enough to bring me back; and I wonder, what trouble will he get in next? Also, I have really grown to like the narrator. Although some minor characters are voiced in a silly, cartoonish way, the main characters are all well done.

I enjoyed reading Neuromancer as a twenty year old when it first came out. I didn't know if I would still enjoy it twenty years down the road. Well, it's still love! It's obvious to me now that this is noir. it has more in common with The Maltese Falcon than with most sci-fi. It is just the right blend of melodrama, action, mystery, and campiness. I also really like the setting. Having grown up in the 80s, it makes sense to me. I dont know what it would seem like to a current twenty year old.

I really enjoyed the Pandora's Star trilogy. Sadly, The Dreaming Void reads like fan fiction. The characters refer reverentially to characters and events from the Pandora's Star trilogy. This is nauseating and lazy. I found the new advanced culture and the characters that inhabit it difficult to relate with. What does it mean that you give up your body and get uploaded into a computer? Why do people who live for centuries act every bit as petty as people today? Do they not have any personal growth, or anything that looks like wisdom (or even maturity)? The gratuitous sex also is sillier and more distracting than in the first trilogy.

I recently listened to Neuromancer by William Gibson, and it was just as good as I remembered having read it as a young adult. Looking for something similar, I tried Snow Crash. I found the humor lame, the characters flimsy, and the writing generally immature. Its like Stephenson constantly wants to show how clever he is. I stopped listening after the first download.