Great science, horrible writing
587216
This guy fell out of the bad cliche tree and hit every branch on the way down. Normally I wouldn't finish this, but the writing was so awful I had to find out how it ended. There's some actual science buried underneath all that, which is why it got two stars instead of one.
285233
Cool idea, not so well written. It sounded more like a brainstorm with too much stretched science. I couldn't take it seriously.
653192
Ok, let me get this of my chest first, otherwise I will keep on harping back to it. If an author is going to write science fiction, then they really should do the reader the courtesy of getting the science facts right. This book is littered with science that is just plain wrong. I found myself involuntary slapping my forehead as I read some of the ridicules mistakes. I am not going to list them here as they are numerous and just get worse as you read. The only part that is accurate is the description of wave-particle duality, obviously lifted from someone who has done their research.

So to the novel; without any reference to the nonsensical and lazy science. Going back over the characters in the book, every single one is an absolute clich, I mean without exception, at all.

Policeman : Hard drinking, smoking, talking.
Asylum Manager: Creepy, and should be a patient himself.
Company owner: World domineering.
Scientist: Beautiful and brilliant, with a nod to `The girl who' books (in present day).
And on and on......

I sampled the first chapter and thought the book had promise, but I was seriously mistaken. What a waste of my time, I finished it just to see if there were any redeeming plot twists.... NOT.

This is the only problem with kindle books. When you buy a lemon, you don't even get the pleasure of putting in though the shredder as you can with a physical book. Make it useful for something, right? I Wish I could go back in time and not purchase this book.

I just read that this is the first of a trilogy - see bad things do come in threes. Nope that's not time travel - just prediction.
1639583
Way too much technical gobblegook scientific talk for page after page after page after page with very little suspense makes this book an awful chore and bore to read. Why did the author think we wanted to read endless paragraphs of scientific discussions of the difficulties of space orbits, partial pressures, velocities and so on? If this would have been his first novel and he had not had success before, then this book would never have seen daylight. Just skip right on through all the needless gabble to the end chapter. Do not buy this waste of paper!!!
4269835
There are a few interesting scientific findings hidden amid the florid language that reminds me of the fundraisers on public television. I personally find this style of writing unreadable, which is a pity because I suspect that underneath the effusive rah, rah, rah the professor may have something worthwhile to say.
248917
I really wanted to like this one.  It's a great topic, and the author certainly has done her research.  Unfortunately, the writing is really poor.  I'm talking about middle school kind of stuff - no flow, no transitions between paragraphs, details that add nothing, lots of jumping around, very poor organization.  I'm really surprised this quality of writing could make it into a book.
419262
This book is informative and good if you just want to breeze through some of the more important scientific discoveries in not much detail. There are some intriguing thoughts as to the workings of the mind that leave the reader somewhat ponderously. However, this book has not even been proof-read let alone edited. It has an unbelievable amount of errors. It is repetitious and at times treats the reader as child while at other times,  professor. It annoys me the amount I paid for a book that has been put carelessly on the market. I ask, would the author like me to edit it for him?
305587
I was thrilled to read this book.  Great idea for a story and I have been a science/space guy my whole life.  All I need to say about the main character is that he says thing like "I fixed it, yay. Hooray for me."  I'm not sure if the writer overstepped his attempt at making the character geeky, or if the writer himself is just too geeky and not funny enough of a person to try humor in his book. But either way, it didn't work.  He did a great job at the technical and science related material. Obviously did his homework and that aspect should be commended.  However, their was no depth to his personality which made the whole thing very unbelievable.  After being left on a planet millions of miles away and finally making contact with his home planet, he barely even mentioned to say hi to his family.  It was a side note many communications down the line.  There was zero attempt to understand his psychosis of being alone on a planet with little chance of survival. I learned nothing of this characters personal life or past.  Building characters builds stories and makes them believable.  I felt like I was reading what someone else was writing. Not once did I get lost in the book and feel like it was a real story.  Not once did I actually cheer for him to survive. It actually crossed my mind that I hoped he didn't make it back and the last 50 pages would be a prelude to another book, so I could be done with it.

This might be the worst book I've ever read.
3377737
Good concept. Really interesting universe. Absolutely dreadful writing. Really, really, really, really, really, really, really bad. Raymond Weil
needs to slow down and actually edit his writing. It's as if absolutely no thought at all goes into prose. He needs to buy a copy of The Elements of Style, first and foremost, and spend a year reading and re-reading that. Then, maybe, just maybe, he should think about writing again.

I like the universe, a lot. And I've bought a lot of his books. But the writing hasn't gotten better. It's possible that it's gotten worse. I won't be buying another book. The writing is that bad.
4889481
The hard science part is great. The author obviously put a lot of effort in figuring out the exact details of physics and astronomy one should expect from a future moon base, from gravitational effects to phases of the earth, from chemical reactions in vacuum to airlock designs. The plot is mostly plausible and exciting at times, except the part that uses female Muslim dress for disguise, which I think is a bit stretch. However the writing is bland. Not very colorful or sophisticated. Seems the vocabulary and writing style is targeted for middle schoolers. Yet some of the foul language and subject matters are completely inappropriate for that age group.
2319284
Ridiculously bad. It starts with a submerged submarine having anomalies with GPS navigation.. Anyone who knows a little science knows GPS doesn't work underwater.  Instead, submarines use various inertial guidance systems underwater. He could have googled it. OK, so the author is feeble on science. A few pages later I came across a sentence about a guy climbing out of the water on a ladder and this author writes " . . . allowing his legs to find the rungs" instead a just saying " he climbed the ladder" Terrible, turgid writing. .But I stuck with it until the beginning of Chapter 8 when he writes "The Antarctic was unforgiving in November." Even a school kid knows November is SUMMER in the Southern Hemisphere. Not only is this author inept on science and a poor writer, he is a total MORON.  No editing, no fact-checking, terrible. Stay far away from this book and this author.
4213529
I am really interested in the subject, but I *hate* this book.  The man cannot write.  The book needs an editor.

Some passages are so unclear that I have to read them 3 times and still can't understand what he's talking about.  He frequently does not specify his referents.

He uses terms specific to the field with no definition.  The book seriously needs a glossary.

He explains terms and concepts by referring to his earlier book, "PLLT".  For example, on page 309 he writes:  "Such activity requires *field independence* (see PLLT, Chapter 5)" And that's his definition and explanation of "field independence".

His writing changes voice inappropriately.  Most of it is written in a fairly academic style, but then he throws in some little colloquial phrase, apparently meant to be folksy or humorous.  It is annoying and distracting.

The content is interesting and valuable, but his poor writing is inexcusable for an academic, particularly for a book on communication.
3903523
This book was a very disappointing gift.

I found Vacca's explanations of science's current puzzles to be tedious and frustrating.  Most of the topics are explained in tedious detail, yet not enough detail to permit real understanding.  As an example, it is perhaps impossible to explain the first few milliseconds after the Big Bang without heavy use of mathematics - yet Vacca tries, using extensive, vague and (to me) uninteresting prose.  He repeats this performance, attempting to deal with issues ranging from quantum gravity to protein folding to free will.

The frustration is made worse by the inclusion of many grammatical and technical errors.  There were more of these errors than I've seen in any comparable volume. He also makes excessive use of boldly-highlighted mid-page "Notes" boxes - which really should be relegated to footnotes.

Finally, Vacca's self-conferred mantle of scientific objectivity is destroyed in the chapter on "Free Energy."  He seems to believe it's possible to suck all the energy the earth needs from the cosmic ether.  So much for the laws of thermodynamics!  His "Notes" in this chapter consist of jabs at the "naysayers and skeptics" with little clue that these "naysayers" comprise over 99% of the world's scientists.

If a layman wants a technical, yet non-mathematical explanation of cosmology and quantum physics, Hawking is much, much better.  If a layman wants a well written and wide-ranging overview of science, Bill Bryson's _A Short History of Nearly Everything_ is much more engaging.
41272
The info is overall pretty good, if somewhat basic stuff.  The writing itself is about at the level of a junior high language arts paper.  Seriously.  It's horrible writing.  The author lets in a little bit of the "Fiscally Conservative Christian" BS opinionated prattle as well, but that's at least more tolerable than the writing.

Buy the book as a sort of checklist of preparedness situations and gear... but don't necessarily expect anything to blow you away by being info you probably haven't heard somewhere before, if you're into survival and preparedness.
503468
I like the concept. I like the topic and the suspense, but the writing is atrocious. So many errors that getting through the book was almost impossible. An editor would greatly improve things. It's just so glaringly horrible that it's like the author never learned to proofread his own work. Lots of confusing of words that completely changes the meaning of what I think the author intended. Confusing characters when different ones are talking and interacting is another big problem for me in not giving the book (and series) a higher star rating. I've since read others in the series and some of the bad writing improves but not much. Self publishing is a great idea, but giving the book to friends or family who could review would do a great service to the author and future endeavors.
2392980
I really wanted to like this story. The concept seems creative. I was even willing to suspend disbelief enough to accept that genetic modification could result in the ability to control the elements. However, I've made it to about 8% and I think I'm gonna give up. The problem is the writing. Certain phrases are just awkward, while others are missing words. For example:

"There were memories and feelings that Nein brought back when struck me down. It was always a fight myself in order to drift off at night, but with the current events..." (Loc 300, 8%)

It really takes a reader out of the story when they have to stop and figure out what the author is trying to say. I suggest the author enlist the help of a proofreader... or several. I suspect the author has a good imagination but to turn these into stories for the public more polish is needed in the writing. It possible some die hard sci-fi fans (who love the concept of element controlling superpowers) may be able to look past the writing and find something to enjoy. As it stands, I personally cannot recommend this book.
2009415
The story is potentially interesting, but the writing is so bad that it's painful. The author tries to use so many inappropriate analogies, metaphors, similes, adjectives, etc. She strives so hard to be poetic that is she disregards the science - which is what the book is supposed to be about. Also, she includes so many irrelevant details that it hampers the storytelling and drags things out. And she tries to make the event and the discoveries more momentous than it really is. Painful to read, but a story I wanted to know.