blairconrad's reviews
1124 reviews

The book isn't perfect. A lot of people complain about the number of words that Stephenson coins, I can't entirely disagree - they make the first few dozen pages rocky going. (Not [b:The Name of the Rose|119073|The Name of the Rose including Postscript to the Name of the Rose|Umberto Eco|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51x1bfe82DL._SL75_.jpg|3138328] difficult, but still a little work.) The thing that irked me most about the new words is that Stephenson makes a big deal about how he'll call a root vegetable that has a role like a carrot a "carrot" even though it's not really a carrot so as not to have to endlessly describe things, but then makes up a new word to mean "automobile".
That being said, most of the new words made sense, and some of them are clever, blending two existing words so we get a new one with the sense of both.
In any event, the new words are quickly assimilated into our vocabulary and soon one begins not to notice them, so the reading gets easier.

And it's good. Really good. Like I say, not perfect - the characters don't quite come alive in the way that I'd like, but the world feels real, and the science feels like it's working within a consistent framework. A few bits of the story drag a little, but the way that the world of Arbre is revealed to us, essentially peels back the layers of an onion from the inside, continually giving us a bigger and bigger picture to deal with. Stephenson's clearly a bright guy who's done his homework, and that really comes through in the work.

And ultimately, I enjoyed the story - mostly the pace was good, I liked the theoretical discussions and "calca", and I loved the overall concept of the book. More deserving of the Hugo than [b:The Graveyard Book|2213661|The Graveyard Book|Neil Gaiman|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51mo4YSDB-L._SL75_.jpg|2219449], in my opinon. Highly recommended.

This "review" isn't really about volume 4 - I'm writing it after reading volumes 1-4 in a row, and my impressions have blurred together so much that I couldn't distinguish one volume from the next if I wanted to.

A cute story. I'm not entirely sold on the character artwork (as usual for me, I have trouble distinguishing some of the characters, notably the minor ones - give me a panel with some of William's sisters and a subset of their friends, and I'm completely lost), but the backgrounds and props are exquisitely done.
The maid + gentleman love story is not new, as has been noted, and feels a little fanciful to me, but still I root for Emma and William, even if I'm not as engaged as I was (for example) when yearning for Godai and Kyoko.

Kaoru clearly has a love of the subject matter and it comes through, but I was slightly thrown by what felt like an anachronism early on - William with a model airplane in 1895.

So, light and cute and entertaining, but nothing ground-breaking.

A decent introduction to probability and statistics with a few human interest stories about the mathematicians involved, just to add colour. The book is written in a pleasant, conversational style, and I really enjoyed the Shall We Dansu? reference. Oh, and a physically attractive book, with a really nice cover image and good texture.
Ultimately, I thought the book was trying to be too much for the space it had, and ended up being too little for any of the target audiences - not enough math for those interested in the science, and I'd suspect not enough human interest and/or business application for the rest of the readers. I'd've liked to have seen this book expanded, with greater depth in one direction or the other.

A cute-ish beginning that introduces our heroine and a few of the major characters in her life. I like seeing Webcorps acgain, but am not entirely sure about Araña's team, nor their interactions with one another. I think the problem is that the comic is written for teens, and as I close in on 40, the appeal of teen lit is fading. Or maybe it's just teen comics.
The artwork is acceptable, although a tad exploitative. (Can you exploit a comics character?)
So, nothing earth-shattering, but there's potential.

A continuation of the first volume, with not a whole lot of development, except a little bit of exposition about the Webcorps/Wasps backstory, and the relationship between the Hunter and the Mage.
I was happy to have seen a few of my "but, but, that just can't continue on like this" points resolved (a little), but ultimately, I didn't think there was much in this volume. The characters continue to leave me a little flat, so I think I'm going to leave the series for a while.

A very nice comic. The artwork is fine, nothing particularly special, but JMS’s writing is top-notch here. He constructs an interesting premise and a wide array of characters who have special powers caused by a mysterious event a couple of decades ago. Then he mixes it all up with a murder mystery and conspiracy. It makes for compelling reading. I especially like the way that JMS handled the fates of certain of the lesser-powered characters – most comics only focus on the supers who have powers useful for combat – it’s nice to see that some people know that super strength != invulnerability != immobility.
Anyhow, the arc of the first 8 issues is excellent, and I’m left slavering for more.

Not as good as the first, but hey, it’s a middle. I found that we got into the characters a little less this time, and there was a fair amount of muddled fight scenes, which more served to distract me from the story than to engross me. Still, the premise remains interesting, and there were enough twists to keep it interesting. I’m keen to see how it turns out.

A high score based on the strength of the whole series. An interesting and uplifting story, not really providing tonnes of additional character insights, with one or two notable exceptions. The story proceeds quickly enough (maybe too quickly - a lot of time passes), with a number of tense and exciting moments.