I usually like John's books, but for some reason this one didn't vibe with me. Maybe because the whole things feels… too easy? You know how it will end, there is no real danger for the clueless protagonist. Every character seems either too smug or too dumb. Human lives are extremely cheap, and there are no real consequences for their deaths. It's not a bad book, but maybe I need more "grounded" stories at the moment (which is a bit weird as the previous book I read was Stross' "Empire Games", a book about a multi-dimensional cold war escalation, but still it felt more "real").
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Too little time; sleeping when I should be reading and reading when I should sleep. Mostly English language SF/F, but I occasionally read other fare.
What it means when I rate something: ★★★★★ - This moved me in a way that changed my life. ★★★★☆ - I loved it. ★★★☆☆ - It was OK ★★☆☆☆ - Meh, it was entertaining at least ★☆☆☆☆ - Complete trash (if I dislike something, but it is well written I'd rather not give it any rating. The single star is reserved for the real trash). Addendum: I will not rate badly written stories by obvious first time writers. If you have managed to self publish your first story and people actually read it, I'm not going to piss on your parade. I'll reserve that single star for your next book (or the fifteenth one for that matter).
Note: I have heaps of books imported from another database where the rating used was 1-6 (dice), so some books are rated higher than I would normally. I'll be adjusting stuff as I work my way thru the list of books (once I have fixed the 300 or so books that didn't import automatically :P)
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📚torstein📚's books
2025 Reading Goal
16% complete! 📚torstein📚 has read 8 of 50 books.
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📚torstein📚 set a goal to read 50 books in 2025
📚torstein📚 started reading Days of Shattered Faith by Adrian Tchaikovsky
📚torstein📚 finished reading Lamentation by C. J. Sansom (The Shardlake series)
Lamentation by C. J. Sansom (The Shardlake series)
Summer, 1546. King Henry VIII is slowly, painfully dying. His Protestant and Catholic councillors are engaged in a final and …
📚torstein📚 started reading Lamentation by C. J. Sansom (The Shardlake series)
Lamentation by C. J. Sansom (The Shardlake series)
Summer, 1546. King Henry VIII is slowly, painfully dying. His Protestant and Catholic councillors are engaged in a final and …
📚torstein📚 rated Heartstone: 3 stars
Heartstone by C. J. Sansom (The Shardlake series -- v. 5)
Summer, 1545. England is at war. Henry VIII's invasion of France has gone badly wrong, and a massive French fleet …
📚torstein📚 finished reading Heartstone by C. J. Sansom (The Shardlake series -- v. 5)
Heartstone by C. J. Sansom (The Shardlake series -- v. 5)
Summer, 1545. England is at war. Henry VIII's invasion of France has gone badly wrong, and a massive French fleet …
📚torstein📚 started reading Heartstone by C. J. Sansom (The Shardlake series -- v. 5)
Heartstone by C. J. Sansom (The Shardlake series -- v. 5)
Summer, 1545. England is at war. Henry VIII's invasion of France has gone badly wrong, and a massive French fleet …
📚torstein📚 rated Invisible Sun: 4 stars
Invisible Sun by Charles Stross (Empire Games, #3)
Two twinned worlds are waiting for war …
America is caught in a deadly arms race with the USA, its …
📚torstein📚 finished reading Invisible Sun by Charles Stross (Empire Games, #3)
Invisible Sun by Charles Stross (Empire Games, #3)
Two twinned worlds are waiting for war …
America is caught in a deadly arms race with the USA, its …
📚torstein📚 finished reading Dark state by Charles Stross (Empire Games, #2)
Dark state by Charles Stross (Empire Games, #2)
Hugo Award-winning author Charlie Stross dives deep into the underbelly of paratime espionage, nuclear warfare, and state surveillance in this …
📚torstein📚 started reading Dark state by Charles Stross (Empire Games, #2)
Dark state by Charles Stross (Empire Games, #2)
Hugo Award-winning author Charlie Stross dives deep into the underbelly of paratime espionage, nuclear warfare, and state surveillance in this …
📚torstein📚 replied to 📚torstein📚's status
📚torstein📚 rated Starter Villain: 3 stars
Starter Villain by John Scalzi
Inheriting your mysterious uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might imagine.
Sure, there are the things you'd expect. …
📚torstein📚 finished reading Starter Villain by John Scalzi
Starter Villain by John Scalzi
Inheriting your mysterious uncle's supervillain business is more complicated than you might imagine.
Sure, there are the things you'd expect. …