Adrian

S King said it best - prophetic and terrifying

Revisado: 01-30-23

4.35 stars
I sometimes get scared off by books over 40 hours in length and I don’t often take heed on the quote on the cover from another author/newspaper/etc. But this book was different. Stephen King’s quote on the book cover was very spot on:
This book is, simply put, a modern classic. If you read it, you'll never forget it. Prophetic, terrifying, uplifting.

I would partially agree on the uplifting part of it and fully agree on the prophetic and terrifying aspects to go a little further of downright disturbing. This book is so realistic that I feel like it’s happening, and these people are real people. And I keep thinking about it… unfortunately…

To put it simply, this author built a backstory of a collection of characters that started 10 years ago from current day. He then took all the current nature-based crises and all the predicted crises and amplified those by tenfold or so and then told the story as if we were all living it in real time. Global warming is out of control (planes can’t even operate in Phoenix because it’s too hot), forest fires happen so quick and burn so hot that they melt everything in their path like lava, hurricanes are so huge that they span from island country to island country, wiping out and displacing millions of people, and American politics is out of control (not a far cry from today).

There are some very interesting ideas brought up in this book to where I wonder where we blur the lines of science fiction to going-to-become-reality. Just wait until you get to the actual Deluge. That was an intense sequence of events that raised my heartrate significantly.

One of my complaints about the book is that when we go from chapter to chapter, changing points-of-view, it is not always clear on who the next POV is. I think this was the intention but for reading comprehension, it would have been better if this was announced at the beginning of the chapter (or at least early on). This book does great at staying linear (for the most part) in the timeline and makes sure the reader knows where we are in time. There are a ton of characters but there is enough ‘review’ to know who is who (and some characters can be forgotten – I think).

Audiobook narrator [Full Cast] rating: 4.3 stars
I thought the narration was great and it was fun having a mostly full cast audio production. I am not sure what the complaint was from other reviews on Audible about this (saying it sounded like it was recorded on a headset). The speaking was clear to me. The Audible phone app still really sucks. I wish they would improve it to make it useful, or at least somewhat compatible with other audiobook apps. It’s too bad we can’t listen to these Audible books on a different app that works appropriately.

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A good finish to a great trilogy!

Revisado: 07-22-19 El oyente recibió este título gratis

3.5 stars
I enjoy Rob Dircks’s books. They are not for everyone but they’re fun, light-hearted, a bit of science-geekiness, and usually give you a warm, fuzzy feeling at various times. I think I would have benefited from reading all three of these books back-to-back-to-back since I didn’t remember everything that happened in previous books. Rob did a great job of providing a very fast review of what happened. There is a bit of language in his book, just like other books, so, fair warning.

There are some hard-to-deal-with concepts regarding physics, but that’s part of the science fiction fun. However, I hate to say this, but this was not my favorite book from Rob. I enjoyed it for the most part, but I think it got a little too silly for me and a little too far-fetched. I liked the historical aspects (1945, 1182, and 65 mya); all those segments were fun. But I guess I am happy the series has ended. I greatly look forward to more books from Rob (I loved You're Going to Mars!)

I liked the dedication at the end. It made the book, and series, more meaningful. Giving more respect to NikOla Tesla (pronounced correctly) is a good deed. What’s funny is that in early July, there was a Jeopardy! question about Tesla that I totally knew because of this book! (plus, Alex Trebek pronounced the name wrong too). This was the question: “Quite the loner, Nikola Tesla made close friends only with these urban creatures & often fed & nursed them”.

Audiobook narrator Rob Dircks| rating: 5 stars
He does a wonderful job of reading his own books. He’s even good at many different accents.

Thanks, Rob, for the free audiobook!

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I need more Rob Dircks short stories!

Revisado: 04-15-19

This was a great collection of 16 short stories that are reminiscent of The Twilight Zone or Black Mirror. There is little commentary for each one which really helps set up each segment. I like Rob’s advice on reading these in between other books or in between whatever tasks you were doing.

I guess I’ll write little comments on each story to help me remember them all and help me try and figure out which one I like best.
1. Dakō – was interesting and had a fun twist at the end. Was nice and sensual (Japanese)
2. Today I Invented Time Travel – this one was fun. I watched his video of this
3. End Game – This story was a lot of fun. I got so looped into the story, mentally, that I kind of forgot what I was doing. I was sad that it ended the way it ended… I wanted more!
4. November 8, 2016 – This one was great. I felt like it could have been a partially true story and I wished it was a partially true story. But it was also sad and felt very realistic. I didn’t want this one to end either!
5. Quick Fix – I did not like this one as much as the previous ones. It was a little weird and just wasn’t as ‘catchy’ and fun as the other short stories.
6. Horatio Breathes His Last –Books-about-books is always kind of a fun topic, in my opinion. I imagine many authors like this as well (I am not an author, btw). This short story is also something I imagine from many authors – having their characters come to life and then having a really hard time ending their story. #booksaboutbooks
7. Purgatory – this was a nice and conclusive story. It was short and fun and had a bit of a feel-good touch at the end! (which should probably be in a spoiler tag… oh well).
8. Out of the Blue – this was good. The watcher becomes the watchee… Or is it the other way around…
9. Tick Tick Tick – Gross. Disturbing. Creepy. Awesome. Those are my thoughts on that short story.
10. Rose – this was like a Benjamin Button love story, but much better than the movie (and, of course, hours shorter). I liked it. (I suppose that could be a bit of a spoiler…. Oh well).
11. Red Parka – this one was cool. It was a nice story and just kind of fun to where I can see this one expanding to a larger story.
12. Bloop – fun sound effects, and fun playing off sci-fi conspiracies. This is another one that could go much further. Though, I didn’t like the ending. I needed more!
13. Their DNA Was No Longer the Same – this was a fun take on the Kelly astronaut twins. It went a little fast, but it could definitely have been turned into a novella with some dark deep mystery thrown in there.
14. The Last One – I did not like this one as much as the others. I like the ‘epilogue’ section at the back as it gave a good/short backstory on to why the story was written.
15. Mister Personality – when we reach singularity (a new word I learned today), I want Rob Dircks to be appointed as Mr. Personality. This was a fun story and I can see it being realistic (maybe in 50 years).
16. Christmas in Silver Peak – I felt like this one had huge potential, but it didn’t play out for me. Either I may have been a little confused or just didn’t fully enjoy it.

It’s hard to pick favorites. I guess I liked:
End Game
November 8, 2016
Tick Tick Tick
Red Parka
Mister Personality

Audiobook narrator Rob Dircks rating: 4.5 stars
The sound effects are nice, and I like the intro/outro music. Rob is great at reading his own stuff. The only thing that would make me move my rating from a 4.5 to a 5 would be just a little more variation between the voices (when voicing multiple characters).

I received this book in exchange for an honest review. Thanks Rob! And keep up the great work! I look forward to more and more stories.

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Get ready for a fun adventure to Mars (maybe....)!

Revisado: 12-05-18

4.5 stars
I really like how Rob Dircks has progressed with is novels. They just keep getting better. I feel like he’s matured into a seasoned author and knows how to produce an interesting novel and keep the reader interested the entire way through. The character development was nice and the future world he created feels somewhat realistic.

Initially, when I read a few brief reviews and saw some of the characters were named Paper, Rock, and Scissors, I thought this was going to be another silly, slapstick type of book. It definitely was not. It was more than that, in a good way.

Overall, I really enjoyed this book. It wasn’t too long, it was interesting, it was fun, the characters were great, and had just the right amount of humor.

Some stray thoughts/suggestions for the author: in some of Rob Dircks’s prior novels, some of the reviews complain about too much unnecessary swearing. While that does not bother me, I did notice this book had much reduced swearing. I understand that this is not a young adult book, but it seems like it could possibly reach a wider audience if potentially branded as “New Adult” (or maybe even “Young Adult”) if the swearing was toned down even more. Mainly since there are minimal adult relations and other such topics that don’t fit in young adult type novels. Anyways, I like it how it is but those are just my thoughts.

Audiobook narrator Khristine Hvam rating: 4 stars
The narrator is great. She changes her voice well for most characters, has actual sound effects, and sings. I wish she had just a bit more variation for the other characters, maybe mostly the female ones.

*I received this audiobook in exchange for my honest and unbiased review.*

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I wish I went into the baseball business

Revisado: 08-06-18

I kind of wish I went into the baseball business. Not playing (well, that would be cool too) but the “money ball’ side of things.

This book takes the money ball concept and goes much further. The main ‘players’ in this story attempt to quantify everything about a baseball player and use that algorithm to find the best for their building team. It takes a lot of patience and understanding as well as a huge dose of stinginess. However, not everything goes according to plan. So, we get to hear about many of the failures as well. We also learn that not everything can be quantified, thus making it harder to come up with a fully winning equation. I suppose as time goes on, we’ll figure out more and more ways to make qualitative data into quantitative data (like the influence of a veteran, all-star, bilingual, team leader and how their impact can completely re-shape a team and win a world series). I’m guessing another team will come up with another formula that will win-it-all and another money-ball-astro-ball-type book will come out again.

Baseball is a different sport than what it was 20 years ago! I enjoyed this book but being an Astros fan, I really liked it!

We get to hear good backstories on these baseball players that I enjoyed:
Carlos Correa
Jose Altuve
George Springer
Dallas Keuchel
Alex Bregman
Carlos Beltran
Justin Verlander
We also get to learn about Judge Roy Hofheinz (former Mayor of Houston and state rep of Texas) on how he created the Astros (originally the Colt .45s), the Astrodome, and all things related to that – which was fun and interesting. I learned that Houston is the most diverse city in America – but this is not really surprising. There are 145 different languages spoken there.

Some reviews mentioned that you don’t have to know baseball to enjoy this book, but I disagree. If I didn’t know many of the names that are constantly thrown out, I don’t think I would have enjoyed it as much. There are also tons of baseball terms (like stats) that are used many times that you must have some understanding of in order to gauge the flow of that particular story.

Towards the end of the book, the narrator pointed out a few charts and/or graphics, but the audiobook (from Audible) did not come with these.

Audiobook narrator Ben Reiter rating: 3 stars
Narrator was decent. I mean, there wasn’t much opportunity for dialogue or other emotional speeches. I liked that the author narrated his own work. It made it feel more real.

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A great middle-grades tale involving dragons!

Revisado: 06-01-18

I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

This was a great “middle grades” book that is fun for adults and children. It isn’t too long (about 5.5 hours on audio) and continues to be interesting throughout the book. Unlike some kids’ books, the ending is not as predictable as you would think!

Since part of the description of this book mentions that it is for ages 9 to 11, I put it to the ultimate test and had my nine-year-old son, Olsen, listen to it. He absolutely loved and gobbled it up! He kept on telling me how it was the best book and he did not want to stop listening to it. His review will follow this one.

Audiobook narrator Nick Podehl rating: 5 stars
As usual, Nick Podehl was terrific in reading this book. I am kind of surprised at the ability of Dennis Canfield to find such huge narrators for his books! (I have only read this one and Back to Christmas, which is narrated by Simon Vance).

Olsen’s rating: 5 stars
Olsen’s review:

I liked it. It was a fun and good book. It was cool how he just stepped through the light and he went to that new world. I liked the dragon. I like how the dragon and the horse raced. There was nothing I did not like about the book. I recommend this book to people who like action. I would like to know if there will be a sequel since it was such a good book.

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A new recording of a classic tale

Revisado: 06-01-18

I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

I had been wanting to read a Louis L'Amour western for some time now and thought this would be a good opportunity. I did not enjoy it as much as I would have liked, unfortunately. There were a lot of characters and maybe a bit predictable at times. Throughout the story there were segments of fun and intrigue, but these were few and far in between.

One thing is for sure – it wasn’t easy living in the wild west! People got killed all the time with little remorse, apparently.

Audiobook narrator Randal Schaffer rating: 3 stars
I always appreciate a new recording of an old tale. There’s nothing worse than trying to listen to a classic book with a “classic” recording of the audio. Randal does a decent job of changing his voice for different characters, which is helpful during dialogue portions. Though, there are times when the consistency is just a little bit off. If this were improved some, it would be perfect! I know it’s hard to keep up with this kind of consistency when there are so many different characters.

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Silly and fun sci-fi novel. Great sequel!

Revisado: 09-27-17

4.5 stars
Rob Dircks seems to always hit all the right things to make a great novel. Since this is a sequel to a novel that came out a couple of years ago, he perfectly addresses this by adding in a great little review. He doesn’t shy away from “breaking the fourth wall” and addresses the readers directly. I like this approach as it gives a nice personal touch to the book.

Just like the first book, Where the Hell is Tesla?, this was a fun and silly sci-fi novel that explores alternate dimensions with famous former scientists (Tesla and Einstein) that form a rag-tag team to solve/defeat a serious problem.
Warning: There is a fair amount of profanity in this book. While some may think it is unnecessary, it is partially what makes the character of Chip.

One thing I keep coming back to is how “personal” this book is. I am not sure how to best explain this. Chip starts to get really serious about his life and future life decisions and the book reflects this tone really well (especially the audio version). It’s not just that though. We really get a good idea of who these characters are with great character-building that makes this a complete novel and a fantastic sequel.

Audiobook narrator Rob Dircks rating: 4.5 stars
Rob is great at narrating books. I almost think he could quit his job as a writer and go full-time into the audio-narrator industry! You can tell he takes lots of time and care into making sure the audio production is very well done and the characters are living, breathing beings. His accents/voices for Tesla AND Einstein were terrific!

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Fun book for kids 10 and younger

Revisado: 06-29-17

This was a fun book that my eight-year-old and I read together. It was cute, short, and had a nice adventure in it. My eight-year-old’s review will follow this one.

I would recommend this book for kids aged 10 and younger. I think because it was for such young kids that I did not fully get into it as much as I wanted to (being an adult). But Olsen, my eight-year-old, really enjoyed it.

One interesting thought I had was – the 11-year-old boy in the story appeared to really strive to earn his father’s affection and it seemed that he feared he would fall short. But, the story did not indicate why the father would not feel this affection toward his son. I know this is more of an adult-tone but I just found it a little interesting.

I feel like the author must have had some sort of scout-like experience or training since that is what the 11-year-old boy was striving for – becoming an adventure scout!

I enjoyed this book and would recommend it (for the younger kids).

Audiobook narrator Vicky Ring rating: 4.5 stars
The narrator of this audiobook was fantastic! She did a great job of changing her voice, especially for the little kids. She showed good emotion as well.

Olsen’s rating: 5 stars
Olsen’s review:

I liked the book because they had to get the dragon’s egg back to the dragon. I liked that there was a portal and the boys had to go through to get to the other world. It’s funny that Zachary can’t keep track of his foxes.
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I received a free copy of this audiobook in exchange for an honest review.

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An interesting take on dystopian America

Revisado: 01-23-17

4.5 stars
I really enjoyed this book and would recommend it others. I understand that this book has similar tones to books like Brave New World and now I want to read some of these classic dystopian books. To me, it somewhat felt like The Giver, but a little more ‘adult’.

The world created in this book is quite fascinating. Unlike most dystopian worlds I have read about, this one is a blend of certain freedoms for the common people and certain absolutes with no apparent way around these things. Most dystopian novels do not display this much freedom for the common people – I kind of like it!

What I would like to know is, will there be a follow-up book to this? Or will there be a series? I’m not quite sure how much I liked the ending but I am very curious on what will happen next! Either way, there is a somewhat definitive ending and I appreciate that (but, lots of room for expansion).

Audiobook narrator Brandon Hearnsberger rating: 3.5 stars
I wish the narrator could change his voice more for different characters and display more emotion into his words, especially during the really tense parts of the book. Though, he was very clear and easy to understand and it was mostly obvious when he was speaking for a different character. He was great during the court-room-scene.

Thanks, Mike, for the free audiobook!

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