Control Point: Shadow Ops

Got tired of the plot dragging and the characters contstant whining. It was a struggle just to get through it. If it wasn't on audio, I would have never finished it.

No

No

Good concept. Plenty of potential

Poorly executed by author

I don't think it could have been, the premise while at first interesting soon became trite and boring. The idea's been done better elsewhere.

Not based on this book, definately left a bad taste in my mouth.

It was as strong as the story could allow it to be.

It tried.

Out of the 15 and change hours of material, I honestly gave it till there was only about 3 and a half hours left before I gave up on it. If I had to go through one more "I hate it here, but its my family now and I'm doing good but wait I'm a slave and I need out" teeter totter ride over the course of a single chapter I would have screamed. The main character is whiny, the supporting cast is one dimensional, and the single redeeming character, Marty, is never allowed to develop to anything worthwhile... or if he is, I didn't have the patience to get there. Glad I only spent 4 dollars on this book, even happier I'm on to something better.

Not likely another book by the author, can't fault the narrator for the material.

Story premise had potential maybe a more capable author could do something with the universe.

This is painful to listen to, the protagonist is whiny and immature more akin to an adolescent than some one that is supposed to lead people. It's a battle of wills to listen to this audio book to completion.

a better author who actual understood the military.

I like the basis idea, magic being used as a weapon and controlled by the military, a shadow group using magic that is considered illegal in this world... the ideas were good, but the execution was terrible.

It was obvious from the first chapter that this author had no clue about the military structure, or how/why it functions. At first I was willing to overlook some of that due to the basic story idea, but listening to the main character constantly whine about everything really wore on me. I kept hoping that it would get better, the main character would put on his big boy pants and stop whining. I eventually stopped listening with 2 hours 14 minutes left. Just where you can tell the big battle is about to start, I couldn't take the self pity and whining any longer.

I haven't finished the book. But, I want to speak against many of the negative reviews.

This is satire. So, when people liken the book to Haldeman's Forever War, they are really talking about the second half of that book.

The book really thinks about social equality and inequality, the use of contractors and indigenous people in American military expeditions, and the bureaucratic messes involved in that.

Further, the narrator is very expressive. However, he is African American and the viewpoint character is also African American. If you don't know that version of American English, then you might not appreciate his skill.

This is good science fiction in its political, fabulous, best.

I submitted this book to my book club and it won the election. I'm sorry! I'm so sorry! We all hated it. I'll give a short summary as to why, but I could go on for pages:

The narrator did a fine job; the author did a terrible job. The main character (Oscar) always takes the stupidest reactionary course of action. Throughout the book he gets tons of people killed by running around like a crazy person, ignoring orders, and using his powers with minimal creativity.

The powers that people can have are fairly interesting, but the execution was rather slap-dash. We see hydromancers using their powers to create torrents of water and freeze things/people solid, but when they go to fight Oscar they just dehydrate him - which is very uncomfortable! Elementalists at the beginning of the book can create powerful elementals from available fire, water, air, or earth, but after the first encounter the elementalist will wait for fire or water to appear on the battlefield before making one of those two kinds of elementals. Why not use earth or air? You know.. the elements that are always available?

Throughout the whole story I was thinking: "What is wrong with all these characters? Why are they all so stupid?"

I will say that the moral quandary of how a government would deal with a percentage of the population manifesting super powers like raising the dead was interesting. The ethical questions generally got pushed onto the backburner while Oscar makes friends with other-dimensional creatures. He then goes on to say things like "these creatures are nicer to me than any people here!" after several people are very nice to him (Truelove, Downer, that other guy).

I have plenty of other complaints, but I'll end with the one about the author seeming to be fairly ignorant of military stuff. Oscar starts out the book as the leader of an army detachment that tries to capture renegade magic users. He is also the helicopter pilot for his team. What? Really? So he's gonna be the leader by dropping them off and flying away? Don't give me any lip about him viewing the battlefield from above or using the helicopters' weapons to support his team. There's a word for the guy in the chopper and it's pilot.

The list goes on and on - but do yourself a favor and read Codex Alera by Jim Butcher instead.

I don't think I would. I don't like main characters that are incapable acting on their own, and when he finally does act, after tons of provocation, he acts like a moron.And the way the author tries to create moral dilemmas, when there isn't any, by mixing unrelated subjects, left me feeling irritated.

Cilla, she is the only character in the book with a clear idea of how wrong the hole setup is.She might be portrayed as over the top, but it's hard to say since we don't know more of her background story, but in the end, I would have preferred her as the main character.

Most of Britton's whining in the last half of the book.

I liked the story setup and and background, but the story it self was annoying.

The concept of a government-regulated magical department showed such great promise, but sadly fizzled. The main character is an officer that is at once perceptive and idiotic, making the worst possible decisions throughout the story. The story never explains the reasoning of the government enough to justify the main character's or other side character's actions. The most infuriating part is, unfortunately, the main character's insistance on making such bad decisions that you'd think he was a teenager instead of an educated individual with a bachelor's degree and classes on decesion-making and leadership.

Protagonist and narration. There was so much potential with this story, but I simply did not like the main character. Not only did he seem selfish and ignorant, some of his actions did not make sense.

The narrator, especially compared to other Fantasy narrators (James Marsters on the Dresden Files, Roy Dotrice on Song of Ice and Fire) was not good. He could emote, but there was very little distinction between most characters.

Probably not.

No. I give better performances to my kids reading them bedtime stories.

Protagonist.

I really wanted to like this story and stuck it out to the end, hoping the resolution would redeem it in some way. But even the conclusion left me wanting.

What a letdown, too contrived, too much detail when not needed, and a sloppy storyline. Myke, you can do better. In fact, I'm hoping you do. See, this has potential. A LOT of potential. But somehow, this didn't hit the mark. I expected a different take on this genre', and somehow, you moved smoothly into the typical, mundane, and the predictable.

Myke, do us all a favor and do a rewrite. Do YOURSELF a favor, and write something else, ANYTHING else, as this should NOT be what you're known for in the audiobook industry. That would be a tragic shame.