2018 books: Song and Signal, The Rule of Three, The Sidekick Initiative
I'm so tired of dishonest authors. Two out of these three books are self-published, but as is the trend in self-publishing, they do what they can to hide that fact. The author of one of the books, the Sidekick one, actually wrote: "In an attempt to ... look more professional, I created an entirely fictitious publishing imprint."
On to the reviews...
Song and Signal by M. E. Patterson
Traditional or self-published: Self-published
Rating: Okay (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)
I enjoyed the beginning of this book. An orphaned boy being raised by an alien in some mining colony. The human race on its way to extinction. Most humans left doing grunt work, like mining, basically slaves to the other races. But this boy was different -- having been raised by the alien, he knew a lot more about the "Internet" of the universe.
Then the story went all over the place. An Evil Evil McEvil company. Some kind of assassin with nanotech added into his DNA.
If the book had focused just on the kid, I might have stuck with it to the end, but the other parts (especially the black/white E-V-I-L company) were too much for me and I stopped reading at the 50% point.
The Rule of Three by Eric Walters
Traditional or self-published: Traditional
Rating: Disliked (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)
This book should have been a good match for me, but instead somehow was a complete miss.
Set in current times, something happens to make all computers stop working. Every computer. Computers in cars, phones, everything. A teenage boy, the former spy who lives next door, and his somehow completely useless police chief mother have to cope.
My biggest issues with this book were the mother character and the ex-spy character. The mother, the city's police chief, somehow was completely useless and ineffective. The former spy, a man, continually stepped in to tell her what to do, correct her when she was wrong, etc. He was kind about it, they were friends in the story, but she's a chief of police, she should be able to handle these things without a man's guiding hand.
It might just be because I just finished marathoning both seasons of Handmaid's Tale, but I cannot cope with that kind of thing right now. Stopped reading at 15%.
The Sidekicks Initiative: A Comedy Superhero Adventure by Barry J. Hutchison
Traditional or self-published: Self-published
Rating: Hated (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)
When a book is subtitled "A Comedy Superhero Adventure", if it's humor doesn't work for you, there are problems. Nothing in this book was funny to me. Every "joke" in it annoyed me because it was the opposite of funny. The non-humor parts of the story worked for me no better than the jokes. Stopped reading at 8%.
Partial book credits:
Point reached in these books: 50% + 15% + 8%= 73%
Previous abandoned book total: 1,089%
New total: 1,162%
On to the reviews...
Song and Signal by M. E. Patterson
Traditional or self-published: Self-published
Rating: Okay (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)
I enjoyed the beginning of this book. An orphaned boy being raised by an alien in some mining colony. The human race on its way to extinction. Most humans left doing grunt work, like mining, basically slaves to the other races. But this boy was different -- having been raised by the alien, he knew a lot more about the "Internet" of the universe.
Then the story went all over the place. An Evil Evil McEvil company. Some kind of assassin with nanotech added into his DNA.
If the book had focused just on the kid, I might have stuck with it to the end, but the other parts (especially the black/white E-V-I-L company) were too much for me and I stopped reading at the 50% point.
The Rule of Three by Eric Walters
Traditional or self-published: Traditional
Rating: Disliked (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)
This book should have been a good match for me, but instead somehow was a complete miss.
Set in current times, something happens to make all computers stop working. Every computer. Computers in cars, phones, everything. A teenage boy, the former spy who lives next door, and his somehow completely useless police chief mother have to cope.
My biggest issues with this book were the mother character and the ex-spy character. The mother, the city's police chief, somehow was completely useless and ineffective. The former spy, a man, continually stepped in to tell her what to do, correct her when she was wrong, etc. He was kind about it, they were friends in the story, but she's a chief of police, she should be able to handle these things without a man's guiding hand.
It might just be because I just finished marathoning both seasons of Handmaid's Tale, but I cannot cope with that kind of thing right now. Stopped reading at 15%.
The Sidekicks Initiative: A Comedy Superhero Adventure by Barry J. Hutchison
Traditional or self-published: Self-published
Rating: Hated (Hated-Disliked-Okay-Liked-Loved)
When a book is subtitled "A Comedy Superhero Adventure", if it's humor doesn't work for you, there are problems. Nothing in this book was funny to me. Every "joke" in it annoyed me because it was the opposite of funny. The non-humor parts of the story worked for me no better than the jokes. Stopped reading at 8%.
Partial book credits:
Point reached in these books: 50% + 15% + 8%= 73%
Previous abandoned book total: 1,089%
New total: 1,162%