Critiques et Commentaires

Good. Read on a trip, so no review.

based on reading "Iron widow". This looks a bit lighter toned?

I guess Connelly (e.g. with the Bosch novels) always mixes courtroom / legal drama with cop / detective adventure. That is true here as well, although the main character is probably more ethically gray than Bosch at his grayest.

I did like the theme most of Haller's clients were not actually evil. They might be thugs, but Haller makes a distinction between trying to get by and making some bad choices, and actual evil.

Long suffering ex wives seem to be a theme with Connelly. Possible author life spoiler there?

I did zip right through it, so it might be a perfect read for sitting on the front porch in the summer.

If you enjoyed the first book of the series, you will probably enjoy the second.

Interesting characters neither strictly hero nor anti-hero.

Some of the characters are further developed, but some minor issues like the survival of the human race are left unresolved.

I wasn't sure I wanted to read (listen to) a book with the premise "What if COVID19, but much much worse",. but I'm glad I did.

The best speculative fiction is often a vehicle for commentary on contemporary life, and this book definitely is that, both on big themes, and perhaps more interestingly on the quirks and foibles of life in the 21st century.

The characters are nicely drawn and interesting. In a strange feat, I am now a fan of a fictional comic book series that I have only heard someone describe.

There was enough suspense and plot to keep me interested, without indulging in an excess of action. There some slightly implausible coincidences, but they don't drive the plot, but serve more like decoration.

Good. Maybe not great, but definitely good.

octodon.social/@kensanata/108497482613937689

This book is supposed to be hugely influential on later fantasy literature [citation needed]. For me I think it would have worked better if the characters belonged to some completely fictional species like elves, dwarves, etc... instead of animals that I know a little about. I kept being jarred out of my suspension of disbelief by the characters behaving like small Englishmen (yes, definitely men) in fursuits.

On the plus side the main characters are quite charming, and the portrait of the various friendships between them is touching and even illuminating at points.

If you really like near future scifi written by people who have a day job in physics or astronomy, and you especially like the pages of description of how some hypothetical space weapon works, this might be your favourite book ever. Especially if you don't miss characters or plot.

For the rest of us., it's a bit hit and miss. A lot of the chapters end up being about death and destruction, for whatever reason.

Disclaimer: I did listen to the chapters in random order, because apparently MP3 metadata is hard. I honestly don't think this matters that much.

Actually I started this a few weeks ago...

well, if The Actual Star is like this, I'm intrigued.

We should all be so lucky as to have a friend like Mr. Rat