sdmftn's reviews
179 reviews

A wonderful assortment of short stories that should appeal to most any audience. Mostly in the realm of sci-fi or fantasy but enough realism to make it work in any genre. I thoroughly enjoyed this collection and look forward to more of this author’s work.

What begins as an adventure to rediscover himself during a time of personal turmoil turns into an exercise of discovery during a time of world turmoil. Although the story becomes a bit far reaching at times and assumes a bit of a preachy narrative, it does provoke thoughts of the potential humanity has in both positive and negative attributes. May we all pray we never have to face the reality that was the basis of this story.

This book began with an outstanding premise with time coming to a crawl and our intrepid hero with his sense of fairness and justice and giving the world its just due. The first 2 parts of the book were filled with fun and humor and kept me wanting more. However, the last 2 parts seemed to be an acid trip gone horribly wrong. I felt like Alice going through the rabbit hole into the heart of a madhouse. Had the story stayed on its initial trajectory it would have been a most fun ride recalling memories of Douglas Adams. All told, the first half of the book was 5 stars with the last 2 parts being only 2 at most. I have to give it 3 stars overall. Perhaps if I had read the first 2 books in the trilogy, it might have helped but Gregory Hill definitely held my attention through the first half.

This was a fascinating read for me as I had never heard of this conspiracy in any of the historical books or documents I had ever read previously and for good reason. The intricacies of the plot were well laid out and dissected with very few unanswered questions by the end. Despite there being not a lot of official documentation to work with, Mr. Meltzer once again did a fantastic job of researching his subject and brought this story to life in a refreshing, engaging way, just as he does with his fiction. I've been a fan of Brad Meltzer for some time, and have read several of his fictional works, and this book further solidified my fandom and did not in any way disappoint.

A continuation of the story started long ago, this book filled in some of the emptiness that took place between book 1 and Foundation which started the whole thing. Nothing really earth-shattering in this one to me so I don’t highly recommend it unless you are simply a Foundation fan and are wanting the full experience.

I picked this up on a recommendation from a very good friend who believed I would thoroughly enjoy this. He couldn’t have been more correct. There are few opportunities to see the inner workings of an organization like the FBI and even fewer from someone with the level of experience and high ranking as Mr. McCabe. I was engrossed in the first 80% of the book and although I completely understand the reasoning and the sentiment, the last part made Mr. McCabe seem bitter and resentful, (which I’m sure he at least partly is, and for good reason). I know it would be virtually impossible for me not to feel the same in his shoes but it did make the ending difficult to separate the truth (which every word of it very well may be) from what is anger and spite. Overall, this was highly enjoyed and very highly recommended.

An outstanding and remarkable work defining one of the most famed leaders of our nation, both on the battlefield and in the political arena. This was a truly a beginning to end biography touching on almost every aspect of Grant’s life and pulled no punches on outlining the shortcomings as well as the strong points of this man. Very well researched and written and extremely well read by Mark Bramhall, this was very well worth the immense time endeavor to explore the history of U.S. Grant.

Although this is widely considered as being a classic science fiction tale, it was one of the most dry pieces of literature I have ever read. As the majority of the story is based on conversations between 2 or more characters, it feels like there is no real character development or movement of plot. It's mainly endless conversations that one has to devolve the story from. This was the second time I've read this novel and I was hopeful I would appreciate it more this time around, but alas, I did not. I have committed to read all the books in the series though and enjoyed the first 2, although this was the original story. Hard be it for me to believe this dry tale started a movement but it just didn't appeal to me personally.

Jacob Appel is rapidly becoming one of my favorite authors anywhere. I have had the pleasure now of reading a few collections of his short stories and he continually astounds me with his ability to convey human emotions and feelings in such a way that the characters and the stories hold fast with you long after you have finished reading them. He has the ability to create a world you are sucked into and aren't fully willing to leave, even in the short span of 15-20 pages. A brilliant craftsman with stunningly rich characters weaved into tapestries of what could easily be the life of your next door neighbor, I anxiously await any forthcoming work from this outstanding writer.

This was one of the most enjoyable pieces of fiction I have read in quite some time. It was just like viewing an insiders documentary of the momentous rise and precipitous decline of a much loved rock and roll band while getting a front row ticket to it all. The love, the distaste, the joy, the anger, all the emotions all wrapped up in the many different perspectives of the ones who lived it all. Reading this as an audiobook added even more to the delight with the full cast emoting the characters in just the right nuanced way to bring out the sighs and laughs that evoke a reminiscent thought that just doesn't translate the same when reading the written word. This is the very book I have dreamed of writing for over 20 years and Taylor Jenkins Reid did it. Bravo.