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Jan 15 2019
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The End of All Things audiobook cover

The End of All Things by John Scalzi

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Solid finish to a solid series. John Scalzi does two things very well: 1) truly alien aliens 2) humor in the midst of otherwise serious books. I like the finish here because the story is told from multiple perspectives, starting first with a “brain in a box.” As each character adds to the story, moving it forward, the drama and tension builds. I was a touch disappointed in the final chapter, otherwise this would be five stars. I do recommend the series because its enjoyable, different, and filled with great, quick reads. 

Genre: Sci-Fi
Series: Old Man’s War |
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Jan 01 2019
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Artemis audiobook cover

Artemis by Andy Weir

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Andy Weir is best known for The Martian—which was also a decent movie—and seemingly writing hard sci-fi, a sub-genre that tries to adhere to the laws of physics as closely as possible. As I started Artemis, I thought I was in for another Martian, but it turned out to be completely different, and I’m glad of that. It’s a hard sci-fi caper—a term the protagonist uses in the book, and is quite fitting for the whole thing—that stands on its own as an excellent book. If you haven’t read either, ask yourself, would you rather be stranded on Mars “science-ing the shit out of [things]” or would you rather partake in a caper on the Moon settlement, Artemis. I’d choose Artemis.

Genre: Hard Sci-Fi, Sci-Fi
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Sep 13 2018
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Barking up the Wrong Tree audiobook cover

Barking up the Wrong Tree by Eric Barker

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What’s great about this book is that the author examines both sides of common perceptions (often misconceptions) about success. He takes them to their logical extreme, digs in and finds research to most refute both sides of the extreme, and often ends up recommending something right in the middle. However, there were a few good take-aways from the book, including one piece that I’m continuing to work on in my daily life: self-compassion. It’s a good book and is worth a read, even if it’s not totally mind-blowing. 

Genre: Non-Fiction, Self Improvement
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May 30 2015
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Series: Old Man’s War by John Scalzi

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The first review I wrote for this series was after finishing The Last Colony, and thinking the series was done. I didn’t think much of it, partly due to the short book length, and party due to not really appreciating John Scalzi’s writing style as much as I do now. I digress. I enjoy this series. I love how the aliens are all so very, very alien. And I like that each book follows different characters—making the true main characters the Colonial Defense Force and Earth (and aliens as a whole). 

I can’t honestly give this my strongest recommendation as I love the longer, deeper, space-opera style books. However, the writing is solid, there’s a lot of humor throughout—laugh out loud humor—and it takes place in a vast universe. It is a very good series. And I haven’t even finished it, yet.

Genre: Sci-Fi
Series: Old Man’s War | Subjects: Series Review
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Aug 26 2014
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Lock In audiobook cover

Lock In by John Scalzi

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Hats off to John Scalzi and Audible for this great near-future sci-fi. As with all good sci-fi, there’s an implicit social commentary built into the way the future world is shaped, and Lock In is no different. What if millions of people are suddenly unable to respond to external stimuli but are fully conscious? What sort of a world do we create or do they create? What are the prejudices we bring with us into that world? 

All well and good. And also a great detective novel. 

Another interesting thing, there are two narrations available (I think you get both when you buy either) one by a male narrator and one by a female. What does it say about me that I listened to the male version first? Maybe that I have a mancrush on Wil Wheaton? IDK.

Genre: Near Future, Sci-Fi
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