Adron Buske > Recent Status Updates

Listening to this is a chore. Narrator has a lovely voice and accent, but reads like a D&D bard entertaining a half-interested tavern audience. It’s all a bit much. The author has a nice turn of phrase, but they head-hop constantly, and the characters feel hollow. Seems like 3 novel or play ideas mashed into a single, uneven, ponderous narrative. Will probably DNF.

Trying out thrillers, and always hear about Ruth Ware. Struggling with this so far, though. Nora is the limpest of protagonists, and she never makes a single choice I find reasonable (other than going for the occasional run). Maybe I’m in my “too old for this shit” phase, but at 26 I was already over the kind of bratty nonsense that drives this plot. The first 100 pages should’ve been edited to 30, tops.

Really getting the urge-to-DNF feeling here. Everything seems so passive—the story is happening *to* the characters, nobody feels like they have any agency. The Pastor Bird subplot is subtle as a chainsaw, and feels entirely superfluous. It feels padded, unjustifiably long, and so, SO bleak. It's compulsive, but in no way enjoyable.

Reading on kindle. Intriguing premise, with some very familiar genre beats. Big 'The Stand' vibes, also elements that remind me of Claire Holroyde's 'The Effort' and Peng Shepherd's 'The Book of M'. Some of the dialogue devolves into that very recognizable Chuck Wendig voice that I enjoy on Twitter but have never connected well to in his fiction.

I'm very early into listening to the audio version of this, but it's already frustrating. Scenes feel VERY repetitive, with circular character beats and dialogue that feel like filler. The sense of setting is... mostly non-existent? My brain keeps placing it in other fictional worlds (Night Circus, Six of Crows.) I didn't realize it was a first person POV, and I think it might suffer for that.

Listening on Audible. When I first discovered The Thief of Always in high school, I read the paperback 3 times in a weekend. Read it again in college. It's my first time experiencing it in audio format, and it loses something this way. The narrator is very good, but it feels far more mundane and basic than I remember it. (Or perhaps it's just less impressive to me as an adult reader.)

Chris Fox's writing books are short and to-the-point, which I've definitely appreciated. This particular volume has not felt as effective, so far, though. Usually I highlight the hell of these books, but I've found fewer nuggets of useful insight in this one. The gardening metaphor stretches a bit thin at just 1/3 into the book. Hopefully this improves as it goes deeper.

Very good narrator (not the author) helps this memoir/self-help book flow pretty easy. It's way heavier on memoir than expected, which I don't find helpful. The title is pretty misleading, too. The author's view of "weird" is highly questionable, as is some of the advice. Some gems here and there, but sections on why to wear a bra to work and whether or not to sleep with married co-workers are...not so great.

Listening again after taking a week off from this one. Long stretches of minutiae and fidgeting I could do without. Steady stream of small things happening obviously leading up to big things, but it feels like an endurance race to sustain to the end. Might have been a better read than listen since I can't easily skim. Hmmm.

The first chapter of Velocity Weapon is exactly the kind of lead-off I like – sharp prose, immediate mystery, engaging character, cool sci-fi premise. Then, we quickly learn there's WAY more happening here, in a few ostensibly different timelines. Very intrigued and excited for this one.

Wow, the first chapter of Joe's "secret origin" is a head spinning trip through mega-dysfunctional family insanity. I thought my family history was nutty, but it's got NOTHING on Straczynski's. Joe's narrative powers already sing in this introductory chapter and promise a wild ride.

DNF at page 55. Solid prose and recognizable voice, but not for me. This feels like a novel very much written for the author's own benefit, but it's just not very interesting from the outside. Thought the proposed humor would carry it, but nothing struck me as funny or particularly insightful. YMMV but this is a pass for me.

Jarring realization about 30 pages in that the POV character *is* the author (by name anyway). I’m not at all a fan of that kind of meta storytelling, but trying to repress that initial eye roll and push on.

Really loved the first 40% but the story has lost momentum & feels ponderous. Kowal is a talented narrator but her performance for the POV character Elma has started to grate on me. There’s too much sugar-and-spice southern charm with snarky bless-your-hearts than I may be able to sustain.

Oh god there are going to be *water levels*.

As a gamer from the NES era, I am *terrified* of water levels.

Oh god....