Gary Peterson > Recent Status Updates

The John Galt Line is a success! Rearden seduces Dagny.

Matthew and Mark behind me, Luke n' John before me. No turning back. This is a fun "devotional" paraphrase that I've been supplementing with the weightier KJV and RSV.

Almost DNF'd... Ugh, what a bad Harry Potter homage this book has been. I loathe Tiese and Ronie. But I skipped ahead to Reki's afterword and he assures readers the schooldays of Kirito are over, so I'm hoping--against hope?--that things will get better in vol 12. I'm fearing SAO is going the way of DanMachi in straying so far from original premise and introducing so many new characters as to be unrecognizable.

"Shuffling off to Bethlehem" a dud chapter. Postman, a secular Jew, just doesn't understand evangelical and charismatic Christianity. There is no need for "sacralizing the space" in these traditions. A TV studio could be just as appropriate a place to preach as a strip mall church.

Excellent chapter with the aged nun instructing the young Fr. Spyridon. Less demons and more our own carelessness and irreverence. She was right!

Harry Potter vibes! The Swordcraft Academy is Hogwarts, Kirito is Harry and Eugeo is Ron and Alice the elusive Hermione. Humbert and Raios are Draco and his stooges reduced to two characters. Lots of schoolday routine in this opening chapter. I already loathe the two pages (Tease and Ronie), who appear poised to play larger roles.

First half of book was the data dump set in 2026; second half is Kirito and Eugeo's adventures in Zakkaria. Grimaced at the year-and-a-half timeskip that passed over the boys' time in the Zakkaria garrison, but with this being a 10-book series I can appreciate Reki trimming what fat he could.

Even more exposition! And then a switch to Kirito and Eugeo's five months after they set out for Zakkaria. New characters include a tiny AI "observer" who hides in Kirito's hair and watches the boys' journey for The Master. There is also a pair of twins who ply the boys with mulberry pies before their high-stakes swordsmanship contest. Earlier, Rinko shared with Asuna background on Kayaba and her complicity in SAO.

Wow, a 50-page exposition dump that proved compelling reading. Kawahara knows how to weave exposition with character moments and to create drama while informing his readers. I'm standing on firm ground after reading Kiku and Higa's detailed description of Project Alicization. (PS pages 27-54 read in the car yesterday Oct 1 while Asher enjoyed his last XC pasta feed of the season.)

Yeesh, 25 pages of Asuna, Leafa, Sinon, and Yui talking their way to a likely solution of Kirito's whereabouts. Interesting but obviously padding. I hope jet-puffing the books won't become SOP for Reki...

The adventure begins!

PS: Did Reki hint in Afterword that Eugeo is really Asuna? How can that be? But Eugeo certainly demonstrates the former Flash's sword skills.

Gets better and better and harder and harder to put down. Hope to finish the book today.

Fascinating stuff, though he held odd ideas about Adam & Eve and their intended role to take dominion of the entire earth. Is Heiser an open theist? He writes God changed his plans after the Fall and again after the Flood. An omniscient and sovereign God would have decreed such shortcomings among his creation.

Too much wheelspinning and technobabble...

Back to 2026--when this novel's main action unfolds. Sinon sadly bears no resemblance to her GGO character, despite frequent references back to the Phantom Bullet arc. Long and drawn-out stage setting scene in the Dicey Cafe. Where was ramblin' Reki's editor to trim the fat off this bloated Boston-baked-beans chapter?

Prologue ends with Alice taken by the Integrity Knight of the Axiom Church. Still trying to figure out whether this is an MMORPG or some alternate universe. The Kirito of the story bears no resemblance to our Kirito. Compelling reading.

What's going on? Kirito is a 10-year-old kid sawing down a tree with another kid (Eugeo ie Yu-Gi-Oh). An eleven-year-old girl named Alice leads them to the ice cave of the End Mountains where they find a dragon's frosty skeleton... Getting good, but definitely NOT what I was expecting. Is this an VRMMORPG? Where's Asuna and Yui?

Love the flashmob allowing Mikado to escape the evil Namie. Wait, what, Mikado is the leader of the Dollars gang?? Onto the final chapter. Very good and compelling book thus far. The book proved to be the welcome change from fantasy isekai I didn't know I needed.