Long Earth 4: Long Utopia

I am disappointed in this one and shall not pursue the series.  Nothing about the universe was engaging and I didn't care enough to enjoy the good story, meh,  2/5 stars.

The Memory of Blood

I really enjoyed this tight thrilling murder mystery.  The characters and dialog are fantastic. The social commentary was great and the dialog was awesome. The characters leapt out of the story. 4/5 stars.

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mfw@wyle.org | 1.425.249.3936

Warrior King

The climactic space battle is fun but the new characters are a little thin.  Shorter than the earlier books.  Still worth a read. 3/5 stars.

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mfw@wyle.org | 1.425.249.3936

Cibola Burn

The ending was a little disappointing but the story was as awesome as the rest of the books in the series.  I cannot wait to read the next one.  4/5 stars.

Abandon's Gate

I could not put this one down.  Fantastic story, 5/5 stars.
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Out of Oz

This book is a fantastic conclusion to Maguire's series.  It ties up all of the loose ends of the plots from all three of the earlier books and brings all of the characters to dramatic, and unexpected endings.  I enjoyed it much more than any of the other stories in the series.  4/5 stars, very thrilling.

The Israel Solution

I was disappointed by the book, mostly because of the editing, but also because of the shrill tone and superlative adjectives.  The scholarship is fantastic and the reasoning is sound.  It is important for anyone who cares about the politics in Israel to read and understand the information.  However I have higher expectations for a book than Caroline's journalist writing style and I was hoping her editors would tone down her fire a little to emphasize the awesome analysis and the straight facts.

When I read Paul Johnson's A history of the Jews, I cried frequently at how horribly unconscionable the genocides, pogroms, torture, tyranny, deprivations, and systematic, evil societal malevolent practices were throughout the centuries.  I had a vague understanding of some of the history but Johnson illuminated the facts dispassionately, which made the story more horrific.  Caroline's style is not as literary or cogent.  She retreats to bromides and insults.  It pushed me out of the book a little.

The information and analysis is extremely important and a fantastic illumination of facts that few people have realized.  3/5 Stars.  If you care about politics in Israel, you really owe it to yourself to read the book and follow the footnotes to read the source articles.

The Medusa Chronicles

Fantastic book by great authors worthy of continuing Arthur C. Clark's award-winning novella and story collection. 5/5 stars

The Oz Principle

People at work recommended this one when I asked about good audiobooks.  It is old but still relevant.  There are much deeper concepts behind accountability than the simple bromides and quick-fix slogans.  The book is long, deep, and detailed and worth reading all the way through. 

4/5 stars.

Out of the Black

Book four was just as exciting as the first three and the space opera keeps the space combat thrills flying fast and thick.  I am really enjoying the series now and appreciate the mysterious awe, wonder of the vague background mysteries.  4/5 stars, can't wait for book five.