It is said that sometimes sequels or the second in a series is not as good as the first
591964
I just finished reading Old Crimes and Nursery Rhymes (White Mountains Romantic Mysteries Book 2) by Jane Firebaugh. It is said that sometimes sequels or the second in a series is not as good as the first. This is certainly not the case with this book. It had all the warmth, fun, mystery and thrills of the first in the series. It can also be read as a stand-alone because Jane has a way of letting you into the lives of her characters in such a realistic way, you feel you know them instantly. You are brought into Olivias house along with her beloved pets, Molly and Sheyna. You feel like you're sitting at her kitchen table along with Josh, eating veggie lasagna.

I respect Janes writing from both the male and female perspective. I guess because her style is similar to my own in this way, yet she has her own uniqueness. Her books are extremely realistic. Josh can be strong yet, sensitive to Olivias needs. While she is not afraid to lean on him for support while having her own strengths. To me thats how the genders are, different, yet equal.

I love the district dialect. Phrases such as Oh my stars and Bone tired are used, bringing even further realism to the book.

If you haven't read this book yet, purchase it for the holidaysand have a very happy Chrisnukkah!
4189916
I bought the first of this series and fell in love with the plot and concept of it.  This second one wasn't as well put together, maybe worth reading once, but it's probably not again.
2591649
It was an enjoyable movie but not as good as the first one.
4165390
As can be expected the second book is somewhat more of the same but with other bad guys.
There are some expected twists in the plot, but on the whole it's a nice book - maybe since the charm and freshness of the idea is gone since it's the second book - it drops a mark for me...
4747885
It's the second in a series. If you've read the first one you know what you're getting, if you haven't you should probably go find the first one. This could probably be read as a stand alone but there are some plot points that make more sense if you know what happened earlier.
2910245
Of course, it's not as good as the first movie.........seems they lose "something", with the second, etc - after the first is really good!
986636
This second volume of The Goon does not live up to the standards of the first.  It is a compilation set where you do not have one continuous running adventure, and that is not all bad.  However, the stories just weren't as good to me.  There were bright points, but for the most part I feel the series took a step back in these issues.  Don't get me wrong I will still continue to purchase the series, but this was not my favorite, and I can't give it any more than an average review.
4706346
As everyone knows by now, this isn't Dune.  The first prequel wasn't nor will this one be.  The problem isn't that this book doesn't match up well against Dune, it's that it doesn't match up well against its predecessor, the Butlerian Jihad, which itself was mostly solid rather than excellent.  The Machine Crusade is a bit of a step backward for this series.
As in Butlerian Jihad, characterization continues to be pretty shallow, with several characters once again making transitions of behavior that really haven't been earned by the story.  And some characters are simply skimped on.
The prequel problem of predictability due to simply filling in the design you're aiming at is more on display here than in book one, and while I can understand the need at some point for that last line (no spoilers here), making it the last line emphasizes the dangers in writing prequels--the sense your reader  has that the story is being uncovered rather than growing.
The plot remains the strong point, but here too it is weaker than the first book.  Some of it is too contrived while some of it takes turns more for the plot's sake than for any natural development.  And the structure, which remains cutting back and forth between multiple characters and plotlines, in this  book does a disservice to several characters and storylines while in the first book it served to create tension and suspense.  We leave one story and when we come back to it too much has happened in the meantime that would be better shown than told or simply assumed.  And I have to confess that some of the plot I just didn't get the necessity of.  Some sections reinforced ideas that were pretty clear already.  Some were simply repetitive, both from this book and the previous one. And some simply dwelled on characters because it seemed the authors felt it was time to get back there for a while.  I thought this book needed much more editing than the first.  Not necessarily to cut the length so much as to redistribute it.  There was a lot that could have been freely excised which in turn could have freed  up some space to do some better characterization or more sophisticated plot development.
Because of the weak characterization and the overweight plot, many of the set "emotional" scenes are anti-climatic and fall pretty lightly on the heart.  Rather than bring a tear (ok, they probably weren't aiming at tears but at least some sadness) they mostly elicit a shrug of the shoulders or a "yeah, that had to happen" sort of feeling, as opposed to any sense of loss.
Overall, this work suffers from a common middle book syndrome--it serves its purpose as a bridge to book three and that's about it. There is little spark here, just a lot of concrete.  You'll have to read it to get to Book three I'm sure, but don't feel bad if you decide to skim a bit here and there.
2209507
Now most of you know the sequels to movies are not as good as the first one with a few exceptions, IE Home Alone and Home Alone 2.  This one isn't as good as the first one which was expected, but it does have some good fighting scenes for sure.  I think maybe too much fighting scenes and the first one didn't have enough fighting scenes.  Either way it is a good movie with a surprise at every other corner.  I would say rent it first and if you like it buy it.
1436842
I thought the first book was better. This second book was OK, but I liked the way the first book was written better.
348378
Not quite as good as the first book but if you did like the first book you will definitely like this one.
2762853
This is the second book in what is supposed to be a 3 book arc. And it suffers somewhat from that. I really enjoyed the first book where the protagonist fights through her personal demons after suffering unjustly by her own military (actually a dishonest part of it.)
In the second volume she enters the greater struggle as her nation is drawn into a real fight with an enemy, that probably has help from some faction on the home planet. The battle scenes are not as detailed as I remember from the first book, and while the ability to be a Devil Dog is gender insensitive, some of the gender assignments seemed more forced this time. (I don't think it is my male cis-normal bias getting in the way.)
And while it is obvious that there is a fifth column back home that was the proximate cause for her unjust imprisonment at the start of the story arc, and is working against the government and the loyal marines in the second book, we have to wait for the next story to get more of a picture of who and why they are doing their nasty.
4638790
I enjoyed reading this book. It was a nice diversion, although I didn't love it quite as much as the first. To be fair, the first book introduced us to an all-new universe, and the second one had to do a lot to avoid just being a follow-on. Scott Meyer came up with some interesting plot twists to throw into this one (Atlantis, the Brits), but at the end of the day, it didn't feel all-new so much as a slight rehash of Book 1. It almost felt like Meyer didn't have enough material for another book.

With that said, I enjoyed reading about the continued adventures of Martin, Phillip, and Gwen. I just hoped that there would be slightly more meat to them than the relatively straightforward assassin plot. I mean, what's the point in repeatedly trying to kill people who can't be killed?

The one thing that didn't really make sense to me was the side plot woven in through the whole story. I assumed that either it would integrate into the main plot or else the book would end on a cliffhanger, making way for a sequel, but instead the author wrapped up that plot quite neatly in just a few pages.

Overall, fans of the first book will probably enjoy this one, but I've definitely read better.
1869420
Not as good as the first, but I did like it. It lost a star as it needed another proof reader.
1600281
The first one was okay kinda stupid if you ask me. The second one was nice kinda little far fetched you know? But I loved the second one more than the first. They both where good tho I'll give them both that!
4399723
It's a good book... But I think that the first one was better and I think it would be perfectly okay to not have a not-so happy ending.
3670617
Sequels are not always up to what you had in the first movie,, not the case here.  This movie picks up where the other leaves off and best of all , sets the stage for the next one...