Rating: minus 10 on scale of minus 5 to plus 5.
I visit this site to rewrite two years+ old opinions of Kindle Unlimited drivel, which sub I ended more than a year ago. This is another which no one will read. It is tedious but needs be done in repayment for the several years of Kindle/Goodreads harassment.
Before I begin I need to step away to the YouTube for a bit. This was made possible by Doctor Who/Never Cruel or Cowardly -Ozar, NCMI, Garron, The New Enlightenment, Red Glasgow, Mia Mulder, LuckyBlackCat, Leeja Miller, ThePrimeChronus, Reese Waters, Bitchuation Room, Raw News and Politics, Supertanskiii, Keffals, Yarmak, Trae Crowder, Brittany Page, Tank Encyclopedia, The Untold Past, NanyaCim. FAFO, The Kavernacle, Yoyomi, It's History, Stephen Woodford, Eugenia from Ukraine, Professor Gerdes Explains, Jess Owens, Jen The Librarian, Britta Bohler, Hej Sokoly, May, Evie Lupine, Blooms & Greens by Chloe, The Library of a Viking, Ministry of Miniatures, Dungeons and Discourse, No Justice, Viva La Dirt League, ScaredKetchup, It ain't half hot mum, Context History, The Miracle Aligner, Sailing Melody, Read Domain, Jay Exci, RevolutionarythOt, lIttle Wars TV, IMY2, Stephen Dolges, Legendary Tactics, Jean's Thoughts, Mom on the Spectrum, Tabithaspeakspolitics, Hardy's Books, Think that Through, Roomies Digest, Bardcore, Mynameismarines, Reads with Rachel, Weird Book Club, Just in Time Worldbuilding, Lena Down Under, Dark Brandon, Leena Norms, Eileen, Parkrose Permaculture, Living Anachronism, Tod Maffin, The League of STEAM, AllShorts, Kyiv Post, Welcome to Ukraine, I've Had It, Chris Norlund, BaldBookGeek, Political Custard, DUST, Mandy, Maggie Mae Fish, The Juice Media, Puddles Pity Party, DW News, ElectroSwing, Thrifty Green Life, Words Unravelled, A Day of Small Things, UNTV, Scotland History Tours, Dropkick Murphys, Anark, Julie Nolke, Oceanliner Designs, Historian's Delamer music, The Narrowboat that James Built, Road To Communism, Omeleto, Slaggy Book Club, Squire, Captured in Words, Upon Reflection, The Tale Tinkerer, Jesse Dollemore, Guard the Leaf, Tom Nicholas.
I recently saw that a member of the Village Idiot Party who whilst insulting an essayist I mention often, complain to her that I list other trans creators. The arrogant self-importance of the outraged US man-child is truly a sight to behold.
A trigger warning then. To that idiot and fellows be aware that my reviews and the channels which I list will likely introduce the visitor to the broader world. The channels which I list include mathematician, bi, Irish, science educator, married, tall, cis, blond, socialist, queer, Ukrainian, culture critic, archaeologist, WOC, political historian. trans, astrophysicist, Swedish, book reviewer, communist and other female creators referred to by the healthily socialised as Women.
Almost as threatening will be the anthropologist, other BIPOC, Canadian, linguist, fashion historian, autist, other LGBTQ+, ginger, modeller, British, philosopher, anarchist, writer, other Neurodivergent, short, biologist, Australian, hobbyist, filmmaker and other channel creators referred by the less mentally challenged as Human Brings.
Should the voices persist, seek nearest Mahayana Buddhist temple, emergency pastoral counselling and/or repeat to self daily "Do not be a bellend today". These revisions are a chore but then I remember the early days interview with the middle aged teacher who organised and lead her civilian anti-tank team hunting Russian armour north of Kyiv. With that example I can not but continue. Glory to Ukraine! Glory to the Heroes!
The worldbuilding is as usual for low end Amazon US fare non-existent. Character work if attempted, failed. The plot consists of one pointless action sequence after another in a disjointed, loosely connected chain of events.
Characters worth caring about, can not survive in this environment. That assumes such a character were even envisaged. With this writer, that obviously was not the case. I am not impressed by the dialogue. A Trish (more like a Karen) wrote a number of comments on my last review of the series, which praised the dialogue and told me that my opinion was wrong. Not how or on what she based her opinion.
I think that despite her argumentative fuzziness, she meant that she was a big fan of the Queen Bitch character and label. I can only guess but I assume that she found the main character empowering. I can understand a woman taking that position, just as I can understand why people of colour join police forces. Self-loathing encourages strange reactions and decision making.
My thought is that perhaps guilty pleasures are best kept private, rather than broadcast in comments across the site. I am from a very poor, working class background. Despite university, I may be too parochial or backward to interpret these phenomena correctly and my personal reaction is unacceptable, unfashionable or in some other way violates common social convention. In that case forgive my Ill-advised honesty.
Dominance struggles do not replace a story of people with real emotions processing reality. The characters continue their slow decline into anime stills. There are moments when some characters are almost alive before plunging into the next bravado filled mini-crisis.
The main character loves the title "Queen Bitch" which is a term of endearment according to no woman (not totally broken) ever. Misogyny runs rampant in the book and no female character development attempted. The characters encounter no non-americans.
This was the first of three writers over five years which were this bad but tried to read regardless. This series was to discover what made it popular and learn how not to write science fiction.
Consider treating this as a potentially hostile site. 🤔
Goodreads do not encourage discourse. The last book review to receive comments was Powers of the Earth, a poorly written, juvenile salute to the psychotic January 6, 2021 hero. The book is a tale of a twat having recently inherited wealth attempting to enlist the military to overthrow the US government in order not to pay taxes. I found the story line while common in Kindle Unlimited to be dangerous and unhealthy.
The writer Travis Corcoran, self-described as libertarian (now anarcho capitalist without portfolio?) and advocate for the return of chattel slavery (increasingly popular US stance), veteran, employee of an unnamed US agency and admirer of Putin (another popular US stance among MAGA and White House).
A bill has been proposed in a southern state to legalise slavery again, only four years after slavery was removed from the last state list of legal punishments. The current reality is one in which Trump's government have defied numerous court orders and decreed executive decisions to be law. Russia have been made an ally of the US. The poverty of Russia outside of Moscow and St Petersburg is being replicated across the US.
Only white males are now recognised as full citizens and BIPOC can now be victims of extra-judicial murder with no consequences. These promises were made by the Republican Party and their candidate. The "Enemy Aliens Act" currently used for deportations, was last used to force the entire Japanese American population to desert concentration camps at the US entry into World War 2.
Travis is quite the visionary. The Corcoran and six fellow patriots took issue with my judgement of the plot. They proceeded to spend close to a year in repeated demands for a response to their unhinged opinions. As a communist, the levels of irony were painful.
The final comment was delivered by Claes Rees Jr aka cgr710 now ka Clayton R Jesse Jr. After referencing the contents of my last message to a friend on the side, he declared that They had "won" (?). I discovered that They had launched a year long (which continues still) flood of vile misogynistic, racist, anti-working class and anti-LGBTQ+ comments against apparently every female creator of channels which I mentioned.
The lovely UK English couple restoring a historic wooden boat, the family of a US lumber yard owner, the Scottish pensioner, the Polish fashion historian and other female creators were little impressed. The planet's overabundance of unpleasantness was certainly increased and They did disseminate a most accurate self-portrait of the Snowflake (vicious, self-important, poorly educated US man-child ) to a multinational audience. It seems that was a Victory. Goodreads discourse is a wonder ??
After finding nothing of value in Goodreads, I turned to YouTube for science fiction channels. I found the science fiction commentary channels eventually and I was then fortunate in finding the book channels. 😍 They are a wonderful variety of channels covering all aspects of the world of books. The reader communities are curious, cosmopolitan and excited by all things bookish. The experience is completely opposite to that of Goodreads.
While on YouTube, I saw advertisements for a number of dedicated educational video sites. While YouTube host essayists and documentary channels, these sites carry many more of each as well as lecture series and more.
Another YouTube stepaway have been earned. This next is courtesy of channels Doctor Who/Be Kind - Reality Genre Studios, NCMI, Russian Media Monitor, The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age, Ukraine Calling, Reese Waters, Admiral Sea Bass, Supertanskiii, Vasya in the Hay, Postmodern Jukebox, Depressed Russian, Sarah C M Paine, Cunk, Octopus Lady, FAFO, NFKRZ, Central Crossing, Brittany Page, Tibees, Queen Penguin, Some More News, Haropones, Roisin's Reading, Nerdy Kathi, Strange Aeons, Battle Order, No Justice, AllShorts, Broken Peach, Malling Film, Chloe Daniels, Tank Museum, Songs Sped Up - MSI, Dr Fatima -physicist, Cruising the Cut, Hoots, Geo Girl, Gutsick Gibbon, Anark, History with Kayleigh, Amazing Lucas, Queer Kiwi, Yanis Varoufakis, Riverboat Jack, Red Glasgow, Lily Simpson, Jessica Kellgren-Fozard, Ember Green, Aid Thompsin, Raw News and Politics, Fiona Hill, Then & Now, Tallgirl6234, Nicole Chilaka-Ukpo, Planarwalker, Miniminuteman, Cruising Crafts, Military Show, Winging it on a Budget, Cindy's Villa, Perun, Tom Powell, Hello Future Me, Motif React, Parkrose Permaculture, Candycourn, Chris Norlund, Verilybitchie, Paul Warburg, Philosophy Tube, Romaboo Rambling, Girls Rock Asia, Randy Rainbow, Yankee Farm Wife, Crecganford, FAFO, Bardcore, Radio Retrofuture, Tank Encyclopedia, ConeOfArc, Acollierastro, Dark Side of Russia, Adriftdrifkooniftdriloon, Hildegard von Blingin, Stanzi, Subha Reads Books, The Cosy Creative, Hayley Alexis, Steve Shives, OxfordUnion, Emilie's LIbrary Corner, aidan knight, RevolutionaryThOt, Kady.2.0, Elisabeth Wheatley, Amadeus Quartet, The Great War, Kings and Generals, Veritas et Caritas, Anka Daily News, Think That Through, Andrewism, Answer in Progress, Kat Blacque, bibliosophie, Mom on the Spectrum, Owen Jones, Perun, Amie's literary Empire.
Ominous music begins. 🙂 Goodreads Romance/Romantasy fans have been been documented doxxing, stalking and threatening one and two star readers sometimes led by writers and certainly supported by employees. The phenomenon also occurs in science fiction as my experience demonstrates.
These nutcases were given my limited message history by Kindle/Goodreads. This allowed a request to Pine Gap Centre that Australian Security services interrogate the one friend whom I occasionally messaged. The attempt at my personal information failed, though two customers were left outraged.
Amazon had no response until we shared our experience with others. Suddenly Australia scrubbed records and Amazon returned my pages to normal layout. All lurkers whom I had not been Allowed to remove previously suddenly disappeared, .!even the unreachable Dr Susan Hamilton - University of Tennessee, all comments (no longer member names alone) were then masked and other irregularities changed.
Recently I saw that a seventh ex-employee of EBay was sentenced for harassment of a couple whose small ecommerce channel had been deemed unkind to EBay. The couple were awarded several millions and the ex-employee had been the EBay Chief of Global Security or some such. With the Trump ascension to the US crown, I imagine that all corporations, hedge funds and other vultures will certainly behave more badly.
I recommend precautions if you have made the mistake of purchasing the Kindle and using Goodreads. Remove all personal information from profile and avoid messaging. Remove the lurker while still Allowed. Those friends who never post are neither admirers nor harmless but are instead monitors. Given the cavalier Goodreads approach to customer pages and data, the screenshot of the odd, the ugly and threatening ?are literally invaluable.
If you are exposed only to Goodreads, possess a strong stomach, harbour low expectations and employ critical thinking, these should suffice. There are many BookTubers from whom you can request a list of alternatives.
You have purchased or contemplated owning a Kindle. Do Not "purchase" Kindle ebooks, since your ownership of titles is a lease only, which can be terminated by Amazon at their whim. Do Not use Kindle Files, Calendar, Contact or Email if you value your work or the safety of friends or family. Searches on Kindle Silk should be innocuous and non-critical.
The facts detailed in this review need not concern the estimated 75% of white males and 53%+ of white women (I think those numbers are understated by 5 to 10% and 10 to 25% respectively) who voted for the televised, publicly stated and repeated platform espoused by the newly installed King and Republican Party. I should also include the 60% plus Latino males and 40% females (each probably understated by 15 to 35%) who also voted for same, assuming that the repeatedly promised harm would only fall on black American communities. I was stunned by the depth of anti-black racism espoused in interviews and video by Latino commentators. White, Asian, Latino, Muslim and Black creators have commented on the racism driven decision making to be found in all the voting blocs.
It may sicken you to watch to the FAFO channels but it is the only way to understand the casual violence of Goodreads members and the strange silence of the supposed majority. I leave to the reader whether this site may be dangerous to any who find the current US fare in fiction disturbing. The nutters are not quite human but are US patriots. Ominous music ends. 🙂
Be safe and may we all discover Good Reading. 😊
Some favourite channels.
Bobbing Along, Ben and Emily, Jean's Thoughts, Brittany Page, Natasha's Adventures. Some More News, Owen Jones, Michael Siegel, Dr Becky, Mandy, Mia Mulder, Harbo Wholmes, Mythic Concepts, Malinda, Honest Government Ads, Sciencephile The AI, Physics Girl, Between the Wars, Tiny Wee Boat, The Leftist Cooks, Eleanor Morton, The Mindful Narrowboat, Novara Media, Tara Mooknee, The Juice Media, Munecat, Mandy, Tom Nicholas, More Perfect Union, Philosophy Tube, Engineering with Rosie, Kathy's Flog in France, Mythic Concepts, The Templin Institute, Chloe Stafler, Artur Rehi, Sabine Hossenfelder, Austin McConnell, Science Fiction Club, Sarah Z, Zoe Bee, Don't F@ck with Ukraine, Books and Lala, Caspian Report, Pessimists Archive, Lady of the Library, Renegade Cut, Narrowboat Pirate, Boat Time, Vlad Vexler, What Vivi did next, Naughty Nana DUZ, Spacedock, Practical Engineering, Joe Blogs, No Justice, Pentatonix, WokeGardener, Squire, Clever Dick Films, Chris and Shell, Double Down News, Alice Cappelle, Alize, Adult Wednesday Addams - 2 seasons, France 24, Books with Chloe, Engineering with Rosie, Dr Ben Miller, Michael Siegel, Vampire Lore, AllShorts, Patrick(H)Willem, Mythology and Fiction Explained, Jack Wolf, Dr. Richard Wolff, The Ritual Kitchen with Laura May, Sort of Interesting, Yanis Varoufakis, Dark Brandon, Prime of Midlife, Cruising Alba, Roomies Digest, Violet Orlandi, Natasha's Adventures, Eileen, Library Ladder, Lady knight the Brave, The Who Addicts, The Kavernacle, Brittany the Bibliophile, Autumn's Boutique, Linguoer Mechanic, Camper Vibe, Travelling K, Mandy, Book Furnace, Supertanskiii, Hailey in Bookland, Amie's Literary Empire, PPR Global, Raw News and Politics, Valthefantesapist, The Book Thing, Read with Susmitha, Operator Starsky, Brandon Fisichella, Rebecca Watson, ScaredKetchup, Yankee Farm Wife, Capital Lumber Log Yard, Scallydandling about the books, ThatDaneshGuy, Samantha Lux, The Historian's Craft, Sarah Millican, Larry & Paul, Think Ukraine, Poland Daily Live, Offizier Admira, Naughty Gaming, Anna Cramling, Marianne Williamson, Linus Napoleonic Shipyard, Priscilla Boye, JimmyTheGiant, WhiteSpotPirates, SciFi Scavenger, Queen City Minis, Jen's Reading Life, Table Top Time, Artur Rehi, Kaelyn Grace Apple, Oh Joe, Times Radio, The Irish Pagan Scool, The Dungeon Dive, Autistic AF, TheUntoldHistory, Dark Docs, Dark Seas. Book & Hearth, Psychology with Dr Ana, Princess Weekes, KernowDamo.
I wish you a sunny morning, a bright afternoon, a relaxed evening, a pleasant night and may we all continue learning.
The measure of a person's Humanity, is level of Empathy.
Genghis Khan