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Was not looking forward to reading this massive, repetitious sutra, but I’m getting much more out of it than I thought I would. At least in this translation, the first parable—about the man who coaxes his children from a burning house using skillful means—rings true of our current burning world, literally and figuratively, and an approach to communicate the need for skillful action.

More of the same, but different enough to hold my attention and entertain me while I self-quarantine with COVID. What is it about me and the month of August and COVID wrecking my vacation plans?!

Well now this is odd. Prior to this every chapter of the entire series was named after the character whose perspective we were sharing, or it was named “Interlude.” Now I’m on a chapter called “The Lighthouse and the Keeper” and the authors just switched perspective from one character to another. 🤷‍♂️😆

Oops! Got my progress percent wrong. I thought I had listened to 13 hours. No, I have 13 left! 🥳

“We’re scientists, we only know things until someone shows us we’re wrong.“ — Elvi, Leviathan Falls by James S. A. Corey

This book is everything the previous installment of the Expanse series wasn’t. Good hard science fiction, fascinating ideas, clever battle strategies without relying on tedious horrific detail, amazing heroism, intellectual dialog.

I’m 3/4ths of the way through and I almost don’t want it to end. (Unlike the previous book, where I kept hoping it was almost over.)

Okay it’s more entertaining as I get through it. But I have the feeling very little will get resolved in the last 10% of the book. I’m not much for novels that don’t have at least some conclusion.

Just curious, but when does it become science fiction? I’m more than halfway through and I could’ve read the same story over and over again in the news: Israel versus Gaza, Russia versus Ukraine, the US versus Iran, every day under Donald Trump‘s ham-handed administration…

I get it: war bad, humans stupid. Let’s move on!

The bad guys in this novel so far remind me of the relentless and seemingly pleasant bad guys in Vernor Vinge’s Deepness in the Sky.

Hopefully the story will unfold with equal creativity, but I doubt it. Expanse is good, but these writers are not nearly as creative as old Vinge was in his heyday.

“The Universe was getting a little thick with his [Holden’s] personal history.”

😂

Brilliant so far. Concise language and insightful analysis make this a joy to read.

I disagree with the author’s assessment of scientific thought as being rigid and absolutist—and I’m not sure why he even included that paragraph since it’s rather off-topic—but I can forgive the occasional digression.

Saw the series, which seems to have stuck closely to the book, but the writing is so compelling, & so entertaining, that I’m greatly enjoying the “rerun in my head.”

Chapter 17 on Anxiety is great! The author has decades of experience dealing with political insanity.

Way too long.

I set this book aside, thinking it would probably fall into the “unfinished” bucket.

But recently I’ve been listening again. For about an hour.

Not sure why I’m still only 58% of the way through a 13 hour book. Must have made a maths error.

Anyway, there are parts that are worth getting through. But this book is overlong and repetitive.