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roadtripreader's Reviews (357)
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Let the record show that when I started reading this book, I was still in the deep space haze of an astrophysics mental "hangover" having just read about a rum smelling, raspberry tasting Milky Way. But, this book is WILD and just lassoed my brain and dragged me out into curated chaos of the Ironclad world.
From the get go, I was transported into the barracks of a couple of soldiers fighting in a really weird war where the countries at loggerheads sound eerily familiar but also....different. Nordland, Sweden...the Union ...which Union? Hooked in a couple of paragraphs. I try not to read the blurbs for most books I select and this was one of them. I had a vague notion that it had to do with some form of higher order AI and from the cover - machines, and that was enough for me.
We see the events of Ironclads through Ted's eyes (Poor Ted, not the Rich Ted because Rich Ted could never get his hands dirty, typical suit.) and it's like trying to surf a massive wave using an orca whale as the board - messy, dangerous, INSANE, epic and a behemoth task for the daring daredevils. Honestly, at some point, it seemed like they were literally stumbling about in the face of danger at every turn. It was thrilling.
1. We've got big machines that people can sit in and go wage war. Unfair advantage and only for the wealthy, kinda like the massive Pacific Rim's Jaeger's run and managed by corporations.
2. We've got a war backed by Multinational Corporations - it's basically a war between these companies really and the people are cannon fodder. (par for the course in reality as well)
3. Scandinavians are the last holdout pushing back the expanding Union (which sounds a lot like the US to the power of 5 more countries or so) and you know what - that is believable. shoutout to Finland and The Finns who are the all powerful hybridized bioweapons.
4. We've got humor, double crosses, questionable war strategies, drones, oh man some really epic drones mind-melted to an operator.
So really, how could I not fall in love with this book with off the cuff, witty writing like this:
"Cruising in at treetop height was probably the biggest gunship anyone had ever managed to get in the air. In Canada they’d had three of them across the whole front, and they were called something like Jodorowskys. Of course just being big didn’t actually count for a whole deal, but they were built with that modern Slavic approach to engineering, all redundancy and hard-wearing components and no regard whatsoever for looking pretty. They took a lot of pounding before gravity took offence and yanked them down to earth."
From the get go, I was transported into the barracks of a couple of soldiers fighting in a really weird war where the countries at loggerheads sound eerily familiar but also....different. Nordland, Sweden...the Union ...which Union? Hooked in a couple of paragraphs. I try not to read the blurbs for most books I select and this was one of them. I had a vague notion that it had to do with some form of higher order AI and from the cover - machines, and that was enough for me.
We see the events of Ironclads through Ted's eyes (Poor Ted, not the Rich Ted because Rich Ted could never get his hands dirty, typical suit.) and it's like trying to surf a massive wave using an orca whale as the board - messy, dangerous, INSANE, epic and a behemoth task for the daring daredevils. Honestly, at some point, it seemed like they were literally stumbling about in the face of danger at every turn. It was thrilling.
1. We've got big machines that people can sit in and go wage war. Unfair advantage and only for the wealthy, kinda like the massive Pacific Rim's Jaeger's run and managed by corporations.
2. We've got a war backed by Multinational Corporations - it's basically a war between these companies really and the people are cannon fodder. (par for the course in reality as well)
3. Scandinavians are the last holdout pushing back the expanding Union (which sounds a lot like the US to the power of 5 more countries or so) and you know what - that is believable. shoutout to Finland and The Finns who are the all powerful hybridized bioweapons.
4. We've got humor, double crosses, questionable war strategies, drones, oh man some really epic drones mind-melted to an operator.
So really, how could I not fall in love with this book with off the cuff, witty writing like this:
"Cruising in at treetop height was probably the biggest gunship anyone had ever managed to get in the air. In Canada they’d had three of them across the whole front, and they were called something like Jodorowskys. Of course just being big didn’t actually count for a whole deal, but they were built with that modern Slavic approach to engineering, all redundancy and hard-wearing components and no regard whatsoever for looking pretty. They took a lot of pounding before gravity took offence and yanked them down to earth."
A minor milestone reached! This is my first complete series of the year and of my 100bookchallenge. It was utterly thrilling. The whole notion of basically cheating death by actual murder was such a different take on a variation of immortality or rejuvenation or regeneration like Wolverine et al.
The characters haven't really changed since book two (trust issues and some light subterfuge) but I did enjoy the way the pandemic was addressed in this book and how it almost decimated certain industries i.e. Construction. I also found it interesting that certain laws were put in place during the pandemic and were now harder to repeal post-pandemic. This really rooted the book in this reality and the "What if" this was real feeling remained throughout. Also, the Windy City is so well illustrated that I felt like I could look out my window and be transported right to The Bean amidst throngs of tourists and local tiktokers taking selfies.
Tony and Langdon are still the unlikely cop-dispatcher team and the Big Bad is still, Brennan Tunney but the other players presented in the Chicagoan-Overlord Landscape and in the fringes of gangster-boadroomers were also well done. Still, Brennan Tunney is the White Knight you're glad to have rescue you in a pinch but also pretty much terrified of in general.
*I have some thoughts on a real finale book: What if this Murder-Dispatching just abruptly ended one day. Instead of 1 in 9ooo dispatches result in a possible death, what if on one day - every single murder and dispatch really took. What now...yeah that would be a really good ending to the series.*
This was a page turner.
The characters haven't really changed since book two (trust issues and some light subterfuge) but I did enjoy the way the pandemic was addressed in this book and how it almost decimated certain industries i.e. Construction. I also found it interesting that certain laws were put in place during the pandemic and were now harder to repeal post-pandemic. This really rooted the book in this reality and the "What if" this was real feeling remained throughout. Also, the Windy City is so well illustrated that I felt like I could look out my window and be transported right to The Bean amidst throngs of tourists and local tiktokers taking selfies.
Tony and Langdon are still the unlikely cop-dispatcher team and the Big Bad is still, Brennan Tunney but the other players presented in the Chicagoan-Overlord Landscape and in the fringes of gangster-boadroomers were also well done. Still, Brennan Tunney is the White Knight you're glad to have rescue you in a pinch but also pretty much terrified of in general.
*I have some thoughts on a real finale book: What if this Murder-Dispatching just abruptly ended one day. Instead of 1 in 9ooo dispatches result in a possible death, what if on one day - every single murder and dispatch really took. What now...yeah that would be a really good ending to the series.*
This was a page turner.
The Patsy, The Thief, The Gangster and The "Smartest Man In The World": Playing 4D Chess with God The Invincible Sun
This book is a glorious Rubik's cube, maybe even a pentamix. Let's get down to brass tacks. We are presented with a main character who technically did something wrong under coersion however in the grand scheme of celestial law - he did "nothing" wrong and yet; he is not innocent because he has inherited sin. Essentially, he is guilty without cause - well and truly screwed as the situation unfolds. His moral conundrum and the ensuing chaos are basically like an escape room with tons of egress options to choose from but every time he comes up with a key to get out of eternal damnation - he enters into the next room and is right back in the same place he started. And worse, he's chained to the wall. He just can't seem to get out of it, a deal with the devil would have been easier to break..
What would you do in his unfairly damned shoes? I'd have probably arrived at the exact same conclusion and subsequent last-stand action.
The gist of it?
1. A study of the Godmaker: the nature of God through the eyes of a clerical student who literally does not believe in God. So, what makes God? Is it the quantity of worshippers or the quality of worshippers - are the numbers all that count? In this book God was secure in the fact that people believed...without question - but not all were steadfast worshippers.
2. A study in the God-Complex or in laymens terms, the Audacity...the bloody Arrogance: Florio vs God, and again Saloninus "The Smartest Man in The World" vs God.
3. A study of the Godkiller: What can kill a god? Is it a tangible weapon that you can feel and touch like that room God cannot see into with his Angel locked in? Or is it some intangible essence? This book took me back to the crisis of "The Old Gods" in Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" so the answer began to take shape as we got closer to the crescendo of this conflict. Still, there is something melancholy about what transpired in this book - but also...suck it big G, loophole!
4. Faith vs Sheer determination: Did he truly believe he could get out of this binding afterlife sentence or was he just driven to get out of it and thus found a way. Even when he had literally given up - there lay the answer.
5. A Study in the bloody violent nature of the Homo Sapien: Just look at our main character, pulling wings of an angel, I mean we can even trace back everything that led to that moment. Small transgressions leading up to that major, irreversible one.
Suffice it to say - my first K.J. Parker novel has been intense and enjoyable.
This book is a glorious Rubik's cube, maybe even a pentamix. Let's get down to brass tacks. We are presented with a main character who technically did something wrong under coersion however in the grand scheme of celestial law - he did "nothing" wrong and yet; he is not innocent because he has inherited sin. Essentially, he is guilty without cause - well and truly screwed as the situation unfolds. His moral conundrum and the ensuing chaos are basically like an escape room with tons of egress options to choose from but every time he comes up with a key to get out of eternal damnation - he enters into the next room and is right back in the same place he started. And worse, he's chained to the wall. He just can't seem to get out of it, a deal with the devil would have been easier to break..
What would you do in his unfairly damned shoes? I'd have probably arrived at the exact same conclusion and subsequent last-stand action.
The gist of it?
1. A study of the Godmaker: the nature of God through the eyes of a clerical student who literally does not believe in God. So, what makes God? Is it the quantity of worshippers or the quality of worshippers - are the numbers all that count? In this book God was secure in the fact that people believed...without question - but not all were steadfast worshippers.
2. A study in the God-Complex or in laymens terms, the Audacity...the bloody Arrogance: Florio vs God, and again Saloninus "The Smartest Man in The World" vs God.
3. A study of the Godkiller: What can kill a god? Is it a tangible weapon that you can feel and touch like that room God cannot see into with his Angel locked in? Or is it some intangible essence? This book took me back to the crisis of "The Old Gods" in Neil Gaiman's "American Gods" so the answer began to take shape as we got closer to the crescendo of this conflict. Still, there is something melancholy about what transpired in this book - but also...suck it big G, loophole!
4. Faith vs Sheer determination: Did he truly believe he could get out of this binding afterlife sentence or was he just driven to get out of it and thus found a way. Even when he had literally given up - there lay the answer.
5. A Study in the bloody violent nature of the Homo Sapien: Just look at our main character, pulling wings of an angel, I mean we can even trace back everything that led to that moment. Small transgressions leading up to that major, irreversible one.
Suffice it to say - my first K.J. Parker novel has been intense and enjoyable.
When I started reading this, I expected something... different, something more and initially, I found myself utterly disliking all the characters from Thanh, to Eldris, Pharanea, Mother-Empress and so forth. I couldn't say why I disliked them as I didn't know why...I just did - and I first noticed it during the introductory war negotiations that I found myself somewhat irritated with this book.
And then, about halfway, it dawned on me when I looked at the lay of the world presented in this book and it struck a chord - A Matriarchal world were Matriarchy ruled as opposed to Patriarchy. And why would I hate that? It is beautiful, like a herd of elephants with the powerful Matriarch ahead and leading them along a path to the watering hole.
Picture this:
⦁ There are Princesses leading war negotiations (which seem to be failing.)
⦁ There are Princesses off fighting battles with neighboring regions.
⦁ There are even Woman-Generals blackmailing princesses to sway negotiations to the favor of
another Matriarchal Kingdom.
⦁ In this world; becoming QUEEN is the power that the young character craves - and there is no
mention of Kings and Emperors. And Yet, a very steadfast rule of humanity regardless of
gender - power corrupts, and this world is not without the same predatory pillars of
power-hungry opportunists; women who have way more agency than others in this world.
⦁ The weak and feeble nations might be ruled by kings but there aren't enough pages in this
book to be definitive about this possibility.
So, turns out I, subconsciously rejected this idea of all powerful Matriarchal Kingdoms, not just the structure but that the conquering kingdoms and encroaching invaders were for all intents and purposes, a bunch of women - you know; girl power and all that.
For shame! Suffice it to say after that realization and being aware of it on an acute level, I started seeing the story and the characters the way I would if it were me as Mother-Empress or even just the Fire Elemental Giang in a world where women ruled.
An interesting read.
And then, about halfway, it dawned on me when I looked at the lay of the world presented in this book and it struck a chord - A Matriarchal world were Matriarchy ruled as opposed to Patriarchy. And why would I hate that? It is beautiful, like a herd of elephants with the powerful Matriarch ahead and leading them along a path to the watering hole.
Picture this:
⦁ There are Princesses leading war negotiations (which seem to be failing.)
⦁ There are Princesses off fighting battles with neighboring regions.
⦁ There are even Woman-Generals blackmailing princesses to sway negotiations to the favor of
another Matriarchal Kingdom.
⦁ In this world; becoming QUEEN is the power that the young character craves - and there is no
mention of Kings and Emperors. And Yet, a very steadfast rule of humanity regardless of
gender - power corrupts, and this world is not without the same predatory pillars of
power-hungry opportunists; women who have way more agency than others in this world.
⦁ The weak and feeble nations might be ruled by kings but there aren't enough pages in this
book to be definitive about this possibility.
So, turns out I, subconsciously rejected this idea of all powerful Matriarchal Kingdoms, not just the structure but that the conquering kingdoms and encroaching invaders were for all intents and purposes, a bunch of women - you know; girl power and all that.
For shame! Suffice it to say after that realization and being aware of it on an acute level, I started seeing the story and the characters the way I would if it were me as Mother-Empress or even just the Fire Elemental Giang in a world where women ruled.
An interesting read.
A resounding Yes to a book that successfully subverts the "Neo-chosen-One" trope.
I mean can we get a round of applause for a BAG Mage who took down sooo many...I mean I bow down to that level of determination and sheer will.
Yui Shaw is resourceful, resilient and her thought process is literally problem-solving. From the moment she tried to get her first class to the moment she led them into the Demon King's castle .... nothing but utter ingenuity even with the mistakes and miscalculations.
The reluctant adventurers in Ken Sei the Sword Sain, Vex the sassy Faerie and even the BIG REVEAL character - all of them were just a marvel to read and basically adventure with.
Nameless Kage...what a laugh-out-loud moment like so many other parts to this book.
Loved this from beginning to end.
Excuse me sir, Can I have some more?
I mean can we get a round of applause for a BAG Mage who took down sooo many...I mean I bow down to that level of determination and sheer will.
Yui Shaw is resourceful, resilient and her thought process is literally problem-solving. From the moment she tried to get her first class to the moment she led them into the Demon King's castle .... nothing but utter ingenuity even with the mistakes and miscalculations.
The reluctant adventurers in Ken Sei the Sword Sain, Vex the sassy Faerie and even the BIG REVEAL character - all of them were just a marvel to read and basically adventure with.
Nameless Kage...what a laugh-out-loud moment like so many other parts to this book.
Loved this from beginning to end.
Excuse me sir, Can I have some more?
This was a rivetting short story. Judge Dee is somewhat unforgiving and rigid but he has an eye for the Pax Lamia laws and "watching" his mid work via his discussions with Johnathan (his familiar) was very entertaining.
So, what to do with a case of vampire murder that doesn't seem so cut and dry and easy to prove?
AllI can say is this, Lady Isabella of the Shroud you resourceful woman!
So, what to do with a case of vampire murder that doesn't seem so cut and dry and easy to prove?
AllI can say is this, Lady Isabella of the Shroud you resourceful woman!
Don't listen to the "Old Man" Joey Harker - you and your team are just the kind of heroes I can get behind:
**Reluctant Hero filled with fear and confusion- but resolute eventually
**A new team Walking right into well-laid traps
**Problematic interpersonal communication (especially considering that everyone is a variation of Joey Harker).
**...and Hue! Gotta love that Mudluff. What are you Hue? I think I know but I'm not sure.
NOTE: The BIG Trap could have been expanded upon (say, someone at Altiverse was actually a HEX operative...that's what I initially thought - which could have created glorious inner-conflict because a variation of a Joey would have been a Betrayer of all the other Joeys.) but I guess it would have been to obvious
The Interworld is the interdimensional/multidimensional/parallel universes through the eyes of a teenager thrust into the boots of "Hero" and blundering all the way to the end. I am a fan of Joey Harker because if I think about it, at age 15, I'd have probably made the same mistakes on a mission or worse regardless of all the Altiverse training.
It's a psychedelic and enjoyable theory of multiworlds which could easily become a cult favorite for the new generation in the same way Back To The Future was such a hit for my mom and dad's generation (and I love BTTF). Also, after reading the note at the end - those TV Executives who couldn't grasp this concept were a bunch of **#$% because honestly>/i>, this would be an easy sell at any of the Streaming services today.
One of the best scenes is at the beginning with all the variations hating Joey for something that happened to another variation of Joey. And he says, simply: "I can't hate myself forever".
**Reluctant Hero filled with fear and confusion- but resolute eventually
**A new team Walking right into well-laid traps
**Problematic interpersonal communication (especially considering that everyone is a variation of Joey Harker).
**...and Hue! Gotta love that Mudluff. What are you Hue? I think I know but I'm not sure.
NOTE: The BIG Trap could have been expanded upon (say, someone at Altiverse was actually a HEX operative...that's what I initially thought - which could have created glorious inner-conflict because a variation of a Joey would have been a Betrayer of all the other Joeys.) but I guess it would have been to obvious
The Interworld is the interdimensional/multidimensional/parallel universes through the eyes of a teenager thrust into the boots of "Hero" and blundering all the way to the end. I am a fan of Joey Harker because if I think about it, at age 15, I'd have probably made the same mistakes on a mission or worse regardless of all the Altiverse training.
It's a psychedelic and enjoyable theory of multiworlds which could easily become a cult favorite for the new generation in the same way Back To The Future was such a hit for my mom and dad's generation (and I love BTTF). Also, after reading the note at the end - those TV Executives who couldn't grasp this concept were a bunch of **#$% because honestly>/i>, this would be an easy sell at any of the Streaming services today.
One of the best scenes is at the beginning with all the variations hating Joey for something that happened to another variation of Joey. And he says, simply: "I can't hate myself forever".
This is fast becoming one of my favorite series. I could see it becoming a limited series on Amazon or some other streaming service (no Netflix, perpetual cancelers of everything worthwhile) but I digress.
Tony Valdez is the dispatcher everyone wants - well everyone in the black market - and all he wants to do is avoid that at all costs. The current economic situation in the book mirrors our world right down to the people taking out extra jobs just to be able to get groceries for the week. So Tony takes a job. An illicit job that seems somewhat on the side of "almost" legal and dispatches some tycoon. What ensues next is so gripping and entertaining I read everything in one sitting. Yes, yes, before you point out it's only 100 or so pages - it was a Monday evening and I was exhausted, even reading 20 pages after doing puppy-potty time for three puppies and 1 dog, then dinner for humans, then grading papers and so forth leaves me exhausted that 30 pages is all I can do. But, this one, I got through it so fast I couldn't believe it.
Great character development of everyone but especially Brennan Tunney - suave and just terrifying enough to be feared but savvy enough to feel like a real suit.
The best part is the invisible part - no unnecessary detectivey love triangles
Tony Valdez is the dispatcher everyone wants - well everyone in the black market - and all he wants to do is avoid that at all costs. The current economic situation in the book mirrors our world right down to the people taking out extra jobs just to be able to get groceries for the week. So Tony takes a job. An illicit job that seems somewhat on the side of "almost" legal and dispatches some tycoon. What ensues next is so gripping and entertaining I read everything in one sitting. Yes, yes, before you point out it's only 100 or so pages - it was a Monday evening and I was exhausted, even reading 20 pages after doing puppy-potty time for three puppies and 1 dog, then dinner for humans, then grading papers and so forth leaves me exhausted that 30 pages is all I can do. But, this one, I got through it so fast I couldn't believe it.
Great character development of everyone but especially Brennan Tunney - suave and just terrifying enough to be feared but savvy enough to feel like a real suit.
The best part is the invisible part - no unnecessary detectivey love triangles
A look at the death of some part of ourselves as we move into marriage, having children - being adults and being stable. But, seen through the sharpened eyes of Vlad the vampire who may or may not be the ORIGINAL Vlad, the count - he of the impaler tendencies.
Everything Vlad is, he needs to hide for fear his son will not be able to assimilate as a half vampire in a world of plebbs. it is draining living in a half-life and not being who you have always been. His son sees a mirage of the father and the father wants to be what the son needs which he and his wife (a vampire hunter?) Think is the opposite of vampire.
Enter the teacher who also represents the sheer banality of life sometimes. She presents this amazing front in class and to her peers and the students and their parents but the moment she is out the door, something in her is in despair and utter solitude. If this isn't a commentary on our world today, on why this feels familiar even to me, then I don't know what is.
The ending, with father and son and their shared realization that they are more a like than different and that flicker of joy and flying baseball - this ending is actually wholesome.
Everything Vlad is, he needs to hide for fear his son will not be able to assimilate as a half vampire in a world of plebbs. it is draining living in a half-life and not being who you have always been. His son sees a mirage of the father and the father wants to be what the son needs which he and his wife (a vampire hunter?) Think is the opposite of vampire.
Enter the teacher who also represents the sheer banality of life sometimes. She presents this amazing front in class and to her peers and the students and their parents but the moment she is out the door, something in her is in despair and utter solitude. If this isn't a commentary on our world today, on why this feels familiar even to me, then I don't know what is.
The ending, with father and son and their shared realization that they are more a like than different and that flicker of joy and flying baseball - this ending is actually wholesome.
Gods of Hype! Hype Gods - Hear me now.
When your annoying echo of Hype told me to read Twilight - I told you to shove it.
When your annoying whistle across the globe told me to LOVE Avatar - I told you I don't have time to watch Blue People. Besides, I love ATLA and I'm a Firebender.
When you howled from across oceans saying I should fall all over myself to read SJMaas - I said...hhhmmm, Maybe and put it on my TBR
When you scratched on the windows with that high pitched marketing telling me to Bow Down to Shadow and Bone - I said...meh, Okay why not (it was a solid 3.5/5)
But now, finally your hype-siren-banshee-echo yelling on the rooftops about how great Brandon Sanderson is has finally ensnared me.
Here I am, after all the hype, and you know what - I dig it.
When your annoying echo of Hype told me to read Twilight - I told you to shove it.
When your annoying whistle across the globe told me to LOVE Avatar - I told you I don't have time to watch Blue People. Besides, I love ATLA and I'm a Firebender.
When you howled from across oceans saying I should fall all over myself to read SJMaas - I said...hhhmmm, Maybe and put it on my TBR
When you scratched on the windows with that high pitched marketing telling me to Bow Down to Shadow and Bone - I said...meh, Okay why not (it was a solid 3.5/5)
But now, finally your hype-siren-banshee-echo yelling on the rooftops about how great Brandon Sanderson is has finally ensnared me.
Here I am, after all the hype, and you know what - I dig it.