Doesn't quite measure up...
584471
Ever since Age of Empires II came out, those of us who fell in love with the game wished for a worthy sequel. Instead of producing one, Ensemble Studios wasted years trying to shove bizarre mythological monsters and fantasy down our throat. None of these attempts have sold well, and Ensemble finally decided to give us what we want, but the long awaited AEIII doesn't quite measure up to expectations.

Yes, the graphic engine has been upgraded and is now second to none and yes, the game play has been vastly improved. You will need a new $300 video card to play at the fanciest settings, and selection, repairs and technology upgrades are now a snap. No longer do you have fishing ships charging into a land battle because you tried to select a group of soldiers on the coast line. The game also returned to the historical plot that made AEII so educational and entertaining. Still, there are problems.

Good things were taken away from the old model. You can no longer garrison archers in towers to increase their power. The Captain Morgan story is historically inaccurate and insignificant. The American war of independence, the Civil War and Latin American wars are not even touched and the French and Russian conflicts are barely even mentioned. Instead the game wastes time on the Ottoman involvement in the New World (???). The game is also very short and will be exhausted in a few weeks even if played only occasionally.

An expansion pack is badly needed. I want the play the Civil War, the French-English conflict and other important upheavals in the New World. I want total historical accuracy so I can learn instead of wasting time on legends such as that of the Lake of the Moon. This could become a great game with the right expansion pack, but I fear Ensemble will give us more monsters and mythology.
1987281
It is advertised well but it doesn't measure up. It won't focus. I sent it back.
3961285
... not as fitted as product picture implies.
1455120
I was expecting to like this book a lot more than I did. That cover is gorgeous, and I was so excited for a retelling of One Thousand and One Nights, but sadly I felt that it did not live up. (Most people have this issue because they've also read The Wrath and the Dawn, and either felt that it was too similar, or not as good. I haven't yet, if that means anything).

There are no names mentioned in this story, except for Lo-Melkhiin's. While I can understand the point and what the author was trying to do with that, it was a little confusing. However, it did not detract much from the story telling. It is time for Lo-Melkhiin to take a wife from their village, and everyone is sure he is going to take the narrator's sister. So, she takes her place. Our narrator is not as beautiful or graceful or talented as her sister, but she can do one thing: weave stories.

I'm not exactly sure what my problem was with this story. There was nothing specifically big, but just little things that added up. The characters fell flat. If they don't have names, they need to be very distinguished, and I did not feel that. The magical aspect of this story was confusing. I realize our narrator herself doesn't understand what's going on for most of it, but I felt lost and wasn't able to fully enjoy the story.

I did enjoy the parts from our other narrator. Won't say who because spoilers, but I felt that added an interesting dimension to the story. However, for the rest of the story, I felt that it was just flat and anticlimactic. While I did read to know what happened to Lo-Melkhiin, I wasn't excited about any of the other characters. I'm also not sure how I feel about the ending.

A lot of stuff happens in this novel, and although it did keep my attention, and the writing was vivid, I couldn't fully immerse myself in this novel. I think it had a lot of potential, but I don't think it fully lived up to it.
2445464
can't complain with this price, but not quite up to the expectation... doesn't look luxurious. but than again can't complain with this price
4311738
It's nice enough, but this Noteworthy group doesn't seem as polished as the current group -  I was hoping it would be on par with their version of "Amazing Grace" (video on youtube and only available for purchase on iTunes, not on any CDs).  It's also a little short at 23 minutes;  the price does reflect that though.
2493195
Let me start by saying that I really enjoy the premise of this book.  I like the idea of the story, the characters, I like all of the pieces.  Unfortunately, I just don't think that L.J. really did the story and characters justice.  I would have liked to see more depth to everything - situations, characters.  I feel as though I still don't really KNOW the characters.  It leaves me feeling that the books are just kind of thin - not fleshed out as well as they should have been.  And, without really knowing the characters and a lack of generalized detail, it is difficult for the reader to really FEEL the story and situations.

Overall this book was off to a great start, but just didn't quite make it to the finish line.
2559776
This doesn't "suck it in" as good as I hoped, but still was ok.
412542
It'll do. Nothing sticks out saying it's great....just so-so
2570197
Does what it's supposed to do, but doesn't reach the outside edges. It's too small! Is it that hard to measure?
1867570
I really wanted to love this, but it left me feeling a little flat. I mean, I liked the theme of the book, and Kimanzi seems like a great guy, but I didn't find the magic everyone's talking about. Definitely worth a read, maybe I'll try some of his other stuff.
4921243
This book posits an interesting idea--that a wealthy eccentric (you stop being weird when you have money I guess) might use his latest invention (the Timescoop of the title) to gather together his ancestors for a huge "family gathering" of sorts.

The problem is that the book doesn't really work all that well.  There's the basic plot of and subplot of industrial espionage against a rival corporation but that isn't nearly as big a player as it might be.  While I liked the "modern" eccentric responsible for all of this (Harold Freitas) I couldn't really say that for his ancestors.  Most of the folks "scooped" from the past just aren't very interesting people--they seem pretty one-dimensional and it's hard to really like any of them much. I thought the ending was a bit flat, though it's probably more realistically handled that one might expect.

Overall I found the book a solid if unexceptional addition to my collection.  Recommended for fans of Brunner's works and for those who find the idea intriguing; just know what you're getting.
667070
I was really excited about reading this book-- which i didn't realize was a novella until i got it from the library. I was surprised at how slim it is, since i was expecting a novel.

I have mixed feelings on the book, and it's in part to my feeling that it might've been better as a novel. It feels that things in the book happen too quickly, and sometimes feel disjointed (especially when Binti is "treeing"-- which i still honestly don't understand). It felt often felt rushed. It didn't feel like there was a lot of time to really get to know Binti and the world in which she moved through-- admittedly, she was moving forward into an abstract "world" that was strange to her, but she has knowledge of this world. I would've liked to have spent more time learning about the various facets, even just what an astrolabe, in Binti's futuristic time, now is.

That was something else: often, it seemed there were concepts introduced, but not really explained. It felt like being thrown into a strange world that was in mid-story. Even Binti's pivotal role as a "master harmonizer" feels like it could have been explored further, if the format was a novel, as opposed to a novella.

Part of me likes the ending, and part of me agrees that it doesn't really make sense. It does come across as far too neat, too pat, too tied up with a bow. I'm sure it's meant to attest to Binti's ability to create harmony, but again, since that ability felt largely unexplored, it left the ending feeling flat. How can we feel the full gravity of the moment if we haven't been able to really grasp what it means for Binti to be able to create harmony? This also goes back to concepts/themes that felt unexplored: it's one thing to tell us that there has been a vicious war between humans and the Meduse aliens, but it doesn't feel shown as much, with the exception of [the murdering of nearly everyone on the Third Fish.

This also makes the ending fall flat. The Meduse murdered hundreds of people, including young adults who were heading to the university. At the very least, one would think their families would be told afterward, and that they would be more than a little upset. It feels false that they should "get away with" this, essentially, with no push back. Because of this, because the war doesn't feel fleshed out, because Binti's harmonizing doesn't feel fleshed out, the ending feels like nothing. It feels like a shrug.

There's just so much that doesn't feel explored or shown. We're told a lot of things, and it feels like we're expected to just accept it. But what is treeing? What's Binti's astrolabe like? What sort of views and feelings have been caused by the war against the Meduse? What's Binti's harmonizing; how is she so good at it and what does it mean for her and others? How is she able to go into such a trance state? What dimensions were in her friendships, past and present? Again, it's like being dropped into a story in the middle, and just trying to go with the flow while being rushed along. It feels disjointed and awkward.

The pros are that, despite how confusing it could be, the story held my attention. At times i kept thinking "wait, what's going on?" but i wanted to see how it would pan out. Nnedi Okorafor's writing style also draws you in, and Binti is a great character. I want to know more about her, to really spend time with her. I loved her remembrances of home, of the scents and feelings. I wanted more of that sort of insight-- which, since she was in a survival situation, i know sounds silly, but it could've helped prior to her situation. It would've helped to deepen the friendships on the ship that were only briefly mentioned, for example.

I did see that there is a book two to the story, which i may check out, to see if it expands on anything introduced in the first one. I would like to learn more about Binti, and get to know her better.
952568
Might be a good product, but the fact that it doesn't fit where it suppose to - creates a two-star rating.
4892493
Ah........ dang it man, I APPRECIATE the author's intent, I really do. I just think it doesn't go nearly into as much depth as it ought to. The idea is fabulous, don't get me wrong. The author does a great job presenting it, but it's too short. But get it anyway and read it. Don't get me wrong, it is a GOOD book!
1670324
I enjoyed reading this book, but I'm not quite sure that it lives up to all of the hype it keeps getting. The story is well written, and keeps readers guessing right up to the last few chapters, but I can't help but feel slightly underwhelmed with the ending. Is as though you wait to have this sense of "OMG I didn't see that coming! What a great plot twist!", but instead it was more of a "Oh that's where they decided to go with this.  . . Ok then". I still give this book 4 stars, because it was an enjoyable read, but don't expect it to rock your world.
4063390
A little disappointed. Bought this album after hearing the Puppini Sisters on my Pandora stream, and I was really looking forward to it. But as much as I love the concept, and as great as their best moments are, the album is hit or miss. Not all the arrangements are terribly interesting, and the intonation isn't *quite* as spot on as it needs to be for harmonies this tight. It's not terrible, and there are some gorgeous moments. Just not quite enough of them.