Well, it's hard to judge a book by its sneak peek. The storytelling is fairly exciting and compelling, the setting in Africa is a welcome change from pretty much every other book I read, but some things are a bit much... like the strange creatures that are supposedly like giant cats and that can be used as mounts? Also, the escape was a bit heavy on the deus ex machina...
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I like fantasy, science fiction, dystopian fiction, speculative fiction, magical realism, post-apocalypse, and the occasional mystery. I'm also a (board|video|roleplaying) gamer, web 1.0 coder and linguist.
My main profile is still on goodreads: www.goodreads.com/user/show/2771493-adastra
Blog: chaosworks.org
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adastra rated Ring of Truth: 4 stars

Ring of Truth by Brian K. Vaughan
It's 2002, and a plague of unknown origin has killed all of the male mammals on Earth-all except an amateur …
adastra rated One Small Step: 4 stars

One Small Step by Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, Jr Marzan Jose, and 1 other

Unmanned by Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, Jr. Jose Marzan (Y: The Last Man (1))
adastra rated Cycles (Y: The Last Man, Vol. 2): 5 stars

Cycles (Y: The Last Man, Vol. 2) by Brian K. Vaughan, Pia Guerra, Jose Marzan (Y: The Last Man, #2)
It's 2002, and a plague of unknown origin has killed all of the male mammals on Earth-all except an amateur …
adastra rated Player's Handbook (Dungeons & Dragons): 4 stars

Player's Handbook (Dungeons & Dragons) by Wizards RPG Team
Create heroic characters for the world’s greatest roleplaying game.
The Player’s Handbook is the essential reference for every Dungeons …
adastra reviewed Children of Blood and Bone by Tomi Adeyemi (Legacy of Orïsha, #1)
Review of 'Children of Blood and Bone' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
Well, it's hard to judge a book by its sneak peek. The storytelling is fairly exciting and compelling, the setting in Africa is a welcome change from pretty much every other book I read, but some things are a bit much... like the strange creatures that are supposedly like giant cats and that can be used as mounts? Also, the escape was a bit heavy on the deus ex machina...
adastra reviewed Strange Dogs by James S.A. Corey
Review of 'Strange Dogs' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
Well that was very strange. I hope it doesn't take the series too much into a fantasy direction. I guess we won't find out what this means until book 9...
Well that was very strange. I hope it doesn't take the series too much into a fantasy direction. I guess we won't find out what this means until book 9...
adastra reviewed Persepolis Rising by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse, #7)
Review of 'Persepolis Rising (The Expanse, #7)' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Well, this was a game changer for the series. I'm glad that some long forgotten plot points seem to finally be coming back, albeit slowly. Can't wait for the conclusion to the series in book 8 and 9.
Well, this was a game changer for the series. I'm glad that some long forgotten plot points seem to finally be coming back, albeit slowly. Can't wait for the conclusion to the series in book 8 and 9.
adastra rated Julie of the wolves: 4 stars

Julie of the wolves by Jean Craighead George
While running away from home and an unwanted marriage, a thirteen-year-old Eskimo girl becomes lost on the North Slope of …
adastra reviewed The Vital Abyss by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse, #3.5)
Review of 'The Vital Abyss' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Nice backstory of one of the scientists who worked on the protomolecule. Actually one of the novellas I enjoyed most so far, in spite of the topic. It has a very nice style of storytelling which sets it apart from everything else in the series, I think.
adastra reviewed Babylon's Ashes by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse, #6)
Review of "Babylon's Ashes" on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
What is this book, even? It's hard to tell. So little happens. Similar to book 3, the entire story could have been told in about a third of the book. There are just too many characters here, many of which don't add any significant insight to the story (Clarissa... 🙄) and just drag out the end forever. Everything important literally happens in the last 3 chapters of the book. Way too many things remain unexplained, like the whole thing with the disappearing ships and why that's even happening. I still don't know the reasons for the great mystery behind the alien races and planets. And I miss Miller (seriously). Is that stuff ever gonna be explained? sigh. I hope eventually it will have been worth it reading these books, but I have the suspicion that I won't find out until 2019.
What is this book, even? It's hard to tell. So little happens. Similar to book 3, the entire story could have been told in about a third of the book. There are just too many characters here, many of which don't add any significant insight to the story (Clarissa... 🙄) and just drag out the end forever. Everything important literally happens in the last 3 chapters of the book. Way too many things remain unexplained, like the whole thing with the disappearing ships and why that's even happening. I still don't know the reasons for the great mystery behind the alien races and planets. And I miss Miller (seriously). Is that stuff ever gonna be explained? sigh. I hope eventually it will have been worth it reading these books, but I have the suspicion that I won't find out until 2019.
adastra reviewed Nemesis Games by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse, #5)
Review of 'Nemesis Games' on 'Goodreads'
5 stars
Wow, what a thrillride! This book is soo much better than the deeply flawed book 3 and the mediocre book 4 - though it's still not perfect. What I really don't understand are the motivations of some of the characters - why would Amos want to visit 'Peaches'?! It doesn't make sense at all, and also, that was one of the worst characters of the previous books and I was not happy for her to pop up again. Similarly, I cannot fathom Naomi's motivation to go back to an obviously dangerous, toxic, manipulative abuser. No woman in her right mind would ever do that. Pretty much all the reasons that these character had for leaving seemed like lame pretenses just to break up the crew and get everyone in position so we can experience all the stuff happening from their perspectives...
Wow, what a thrillride! This book is soo much better than the deeply flawed book 3 and the mediocre book 4 - though it's still not perfect. What I really don't understand are the motivations of some of the characters - why would Amos want to visit 'Peaches'?! It doesn't make sense at all, and also, that was one of the worst characters of the previous books and I was not happy for her to pop up again. Similarly, I cannot fathom Naomi's motivation to go back to an obviously dangerous, toxic, manipulative abuser. No woman in her right mind would ever do that. Pretty much all the reasons that these character had for leaving seemed like lame pretenses just to break up the crew and get everyone in position so we can experience all the stuff happening from their perspectives...
adastra reviewed Cibola Burn by James S.A. Corey (The Expanse, #4)
Review of 'Cibola Burn' on 'Goodreads'
4 stars
This was certainly a major improvement over the terrible book 3, but it's still by no means perfect (the slugs were a bit ridiculous). It feels like an interesting introduction of what's to come... can't wait to keep reading these books.
This was certainly a major improvement over the terrible book 3, but it's still by no means perfect (the slugs were a bit ridiculous). It feels like an interesting introduction of what's to come... can't wait to keep reading these books.
















