2023-08-16 Finished listening to this last Sat. Very cool book. I Found out about it via a book club I just joined. We had a wonderful discussion of t2023-08-16 Finished listening to this last Sat. Very cool book. I Found out about it via a book club I just joined. We had a wonderful discussion of the book, its author and the book/author's milieu.
First, the audible edition I listened to was first rate - really good narrator who made all the characters come alive, especially with their various accents, from Milton/Manchester area (which to my ear sounded quite like Scottish) to proper London to rural south England, during this 1840s/50s time period. However, because the Milton/Manchester dialect was so thick, it caused me to miss some content, unless I had time/energy to go rewind and listen again, or yet again sometimes. The realism of the narrator got in the way of my comprehension and speed of enjoying the novel, in other words. But I don't begrudge this edition, but rather only my bad hearing and comprehension abilities. If you listen to this edition, I hope you have a little easier time than I did with certain tough parts... and enjoy it all at least as much as I did!
The characterizations were excellent too - very vivid and believable. Some of the main characters were quite heroic, some were frivolous/ditzy as hell, some dour and mirthless, some scholarly and wonderfully witty, some dull and sad, etc. They ran the gamut.
The themes/ideas in this novel were super worthy of great discussions and presentation: - honesty - honor - wealth and poverty - culture and ethics - worker conditions, pollution & workplace safety - unions, strikes, productivity, market conditions, finances, etc. etc. - communications - the difficulties and importance of same - love and standards for appropriate affections - so much more
The author was a contemporary of the (now) much better known Charles Dickens and he acted as her editor, getting her to modify her title for the book and probably much more, which was first published as a serialized story in a magazine where he held that position/power. Much in this book is supposed to deal with similar themes in Dickens' "Hard Times" which I have not yet read, but may because of this book.
I really liked how Gaskell portrayed the two main characters as being originally quite prejudicial to their own background/area/point of view, but that upon being exposed to new & different facts and perspectives, they changed their views to fit objective reality. That is a very positive thing, which I admire and loved reading about.
Gaskell's style of writing was superb.
Highly recommended.
And I watched the 2004 BBC TV adaptation series (4 episodes) and loved it. Some differences with the book (of course) but most were inconsequential, and the actors, script, set, etc. were all very well done....more
2022-02-02 I am writing this on and as a mini-tribute to the 117th anniversary of Ayn Rand's birth. (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum). I have not read2022-02-02 I am writing this on and as a mini-tribute to the 117th anniversary of Ayn Rand's birth. (born Alisa Zinovyevna Rosenbaum). I have not read this book, but I have listened to the audio version (not listed in Goodreads... yet, but available in audio or just txt here: www.libertarianism.org/books/ayn-rand...) at least once and most of it 2-3x.
This book is superb!
From the choice of narrator, who has a wonderful manner, though a bit peculiar - to Americans - Englishisms pronunciations, but who does a fantastic job of making the text come alive.
To the very balanced and thorough treatment of Rand's life, influence, ideas, etc. etc.
The book is the shortest, yet most complete basic and reasonable treatment of her ideas that I have come across... and I have come across many, over the 45+ years I have been reading and been interested in Rand's ideas, critics, haters, Randroids (this book actually uses that very descriptive and appropriate word), etc.
If you want to know the basics about Ayn Rand, her ideas and influence, this is the book I recommend to start with. Reading her own writing is great too of course... but there is quite a bit of it, so this book condenses it down to the basics, in a totally even-handed/smart manner.
2021-12-19 I listened to this (Librivoxorg) audio book in June and really enjoyed it. Great to finally get to it after hearing about it many times in 2021-12-19 I listened to this (Librivoxorg) audio book in June and really enjoyed it. Great to finally get to it after hearing about it many times in school, college and other places, over many, many years (>50).
I love the morals of Ragged Dick, the main character - No stealing, good humor, perseverance and to always treat others reasonably. The story wove in lots of good humor - He was quite a wit.
The history/sociology of the book, set in New York City in the mid-1800s, is fascinating - and how the boys/orphans in the book survived in NY City on their own. HUGE difference with today's situation... and perhaps showing some advantages of the structure and possibilities of the 150+ years ago situation vs. today, at least in some respects.
Good morals, hard work, persistence, positive outlook, creativity, courage and good humor, combined with some good luck can do amazing things. These qualities are too often scoffed at these days, and for quite some time.
This book and others with similar themes and stories by Horatio Alger are far too often put down as unrealistic. But I beg to differ and believe they are far better aids to human thriving than coercive government welfare, and the mentality that feeds it, which has had so many deleterious effects. The increase in wealth of society overall, since the time of the book, should make the lessons in this book even MORE important, and easier to understand how they work in real life, rather than less.
I highly recommend this book and especially this Librivox org recording that I listened to, not just once, but 3-4x, it was so good.
---- I liked this so much that I recommended it for a book group I am in and everyone in it loved it too. Upon rereading, I started reading the sequels and hence bought an e-book edition with 9 additional stories about Ragged Dick and other Horatio Alger characters. See my GR review of that for more on each of those stories. https://www.goodreads.com/review/show......more
2021-12-19 Just finished listening to this (LibriVox recording, not this print edition) for the 2nd time this morning. Loved it. Nice sequel to "Ragge2021-12-19 Just finished listening to this (LibriVox recording, not this print edition) for the 2nd time this morning. Loved it. Nice sequel to "Ragged Dick."
The attention to good morals, positive outlook, hard work, persistence, and good humor benefits greatly the main character and those he deals with who are not trying to hurt him. Good lessons for anyone to learn early. The author make no bones about good luck having a very positive effect too, but people can squander good luck. It takes the above qualities to capitalize on good luck to help an even better future along.
This book was totally pooh-pooed by my sociology and other professors in college, so it went on my list "to read" for sure. Took me about 45 years to get to it, but I am very glad I did, to see exactly what bothered those statist/nihilist minded professors.
I highly recommend the book and the Librivox recording was a very good audio edition....more
2021-09-10 I read/listened to the 2nd book in the series that this began first - Anne of Avonlea. It was GREAT. I loved it. Despite it's being associa2021-09-10 I read/listened to the 2nd book in the series that this began first - Anne of Avonlea. It was GREAT. I loved it. Despite it's being associated with young girls, I found the story captivating and the values and excitements of the story very valuable. I was willing to try the book because of the Goodreads review by my friend Brian Surkan, which I highly recommend, since I was so richly rewarded by it.
It also got me to see the Netflix series "Anne with an E" which is based on this book, but which takes significant liberties with the story, inventing many different events and not covering some. I loved the series at first, since it seemed to hew to the wonderful, uplifting and heartwarming spirit of the book. It was perfect for viewing during the covid mess last year. However, after viewing the series (2-3 seasons) a 2nd time and thinking about it more, I did not like: - some of the directions it went, - some of the incidents it invented - some of the values it introduced that were not in the book at all - its NOT using some of the perfectly fine parts of the book that it should have dealt with
I also watched one of the older TV series based on the book too and liked it better, even though it lost some of the "freshness" and "spunk" of the main character actor in the Netflix series. Sorry, I can't remember which exact version/date/actors to identify it....more
2021-07-29 I listened to the audio book (edition not listed in GR), and have not read this paperback. This third book in the series is excellent. Wond2021-07-29 I listened to the audio book (edition not listed in GR), and have not read this paperback. This third book in the series is excellent. Wonderful dramatization of the history (briefly) of the Federal Reserve Board, how it controls the money supply and how that affects everyday people.
Very enjoyable. Very recommended to kids 8-14 and their parents especially.
See my other Tuttle Twins books reviews for more info on the whole marvelous series....more
2021-07-29 I listened to this just after listening to Tuttle Twins #1 - The Law (see my review of that too for reference) and liked it almost as much.2021-07-29 I listened to this just after listening to Tuttle Twins #1 - The Law (see my review of that too for reference) and liked it almost as much. I listened to it again a little over a month later, again right after listening to the #1 book in the series too.
This book is based on a popular essay "I, Pencil" by Leonard Read, the founder of the Foundation for Economic Education. The point of the essay and this story is to acquaint the reader with the concept of the marvelous coordination ability of the voluntary market and that no one individual (or government agent or plan) could possible accomplish what this voluntary market coordination can and does.
It is a great lesson. Milton Friedman used it in his first episode of his classic TV series and book, Free to Choose.
But the way it is done does not really appeal to me and stretches credulity with the statement "no one knows how to make a pencil" when it really means, "no one knows how to make all the parts of the pencil and all the machines that make those parts, and all the parts to make all those machines (etc. etc.) as the pencil is commonly made and sold now."
So, the lesson is valuable, very valuable, but the specific statement of it is a bit misleading.
The narrator is the same for the whole series of Tuttle Twins books and she is excellent - very professional and engaging. I believe kids (and their parents) should like the book very much. It has sold very well, a good sign. But there are always kids who have not had the opportunity to benefit - hint, hint!...more
2021-07-29 I listened to the Audiovox.org NOT this Audible edition of the book - so take that into account in my review.
This book (volume 1 only) has 2021-07-29 I listened to the Audiovox.org NOT this Audible edition of the book - so take that into account in my review.
This book (volume 1 only) has been on my "To Read" list for almost as long as I have known about it - possibly my High School World History class, freshman year, since it had a very significant section on Rome. I am very glad it stayed on my To Read list and that I finally got around to it.
Fascinating book, for sure. And I believe there are some excellent "lessons" to be learned from this book about Rome, but which may also apply to United States of America, especially the America of recent times. Even though it is about 250 years old, it is still quite "readable" - the style being quite pleasurable to listen to and not archaic. This first volume is another of the great works published in 1776, along with the magnificent "Wealth of Nations" by Adam Smith and of course the brilliant "Declaration of Independence." How many people have any idea that all three of these greats came from that auspicious year?
The number one lesson from this first volume of the full volume set - not sure when I will get to the other five, but doing long road trips sure makes it easy and pleasurable - is that having a powerful military accountable to an emperor (president?) and NOT to the civilian Senate/Congress, can literally be a killer. And by "killer" I mean literally of emperors, Senators, empires, civility/civilizations, etc.
There are other lessons and great parts to the book, but I need to find my brief notes taken from the long car ride that made listening possible.
A note on the Librivox edition (NOT Audible) I listened to: The book was narrated by a funky tag-team of volunteers, each reading 2-4 chapters or so, before yielding to the next. Most were not too hot, but there was one truly outstanding British fella who read about 10 chapters or so, just before the ending chapter, read by I believe, an American, who was not bad, but too halting and pedestrian for my taste. A few of the readers tried really hard to do well, but their accents just made it too tough for this listener to follow, understand and enjoy. The various Indian, British and Finnish accents kept me wondering about the spelling of certain emperor's/generals/wives/Senators/etc. names and some other key parts of the book too often. But the Librivox.org price of the audiobook was hard to resist - FREE.
Hopefully I will append this review in the not-too-distant future, when I find my notes, or think of additional comments worthy of adding.
Sampling this classic is highly recommended for any history buff, interested person in Rome, or someone concerned about the stunning loss of liberties in the US these days and threats to their own freedoms....more
2021-04-21 I listened to most of this fine recording of this book complete once and then many sections again over the course of a long couple drives I2021-04-21 I listened to most of this fine recording of this book complete once and then many sections again over the course of a long couple drives I made over the last week. Excellent. It made the miles fly by and was so timely in so many parts, that I was actually fairly surprised.
I originally read this book sometime in the early 1980s, I believe. I liked it, but did not love it. It was a bit more than I could handle in some respects then, and now, but much more then than now. Age, experience and being more conversant with the ideas the book discusses has indeed made a difference.
Just some of the things the book covers well that are highly relevant these days: - how anti-capitalists use the term/idea "justice" (or "social justice") for their own nefarious purposes, NOT really trying to communicate a sincere belief or understanding.
- how pernicious the philosophy of the "equality of wealth &/or income" has been over the years, with even Thomas Jefferson succumbing to the chimera
- The difference between and the need for the dual methodologies of science - for the physical world of "rocks and atoms" vs. the science of praxeology (Human Action). This was covered in his great book "Human Action," but this book does add significant ideas and examples to help clarify it, as well as showing the absurdities of the economics profession's thinking it can use the positivist methodology on human action.
This edition of the book has a glowing preface by Murray Rothbard who claims that this book is Mises' 4th great work, after, "Theory of Money and Credit", "Socialism" and "Human Action". Possibly. But Rothbard says it is his great statement on "methodological dualism" for economics. However, Mises covered that subject very well in Human Action too. Rothbard said it was great because it contained Mises' critique of positivism and scientism. Well, Mises handled those in "Epistemological Problems in Economics", "Human Action" and "The Ultimate Foundation of Economic Science". So I am not sure why Rothbard thought this book was so great. But I did find it of value, and it did have plenty of new material.
There seemed to be more in this book than any other place in Mises' works that I can remember on: - philosophies (theories, cycles, predictions, etc.) of History - Spengler, Marx, Toynbee, etc. - discussion of Marx and Engels on various aspects of their using ad hominem/"defamation" attacks on their opponents, not dealing with the arguments themselves, since they knew their own positions were too weak to defend - See how relevant that is today? - dialectical materialism, Hegel and Marx - the basics, the reasons Marx picked it up but modified Hegel's ideas and the huge contradictions within Marx's writings and how Marx got away with them - discussion of reason vs. faith in dealing with the world - evolution - neat stuff - social Darwinism & competition within a species - some excellent clarifications, but also some areas I am not sure about. - natural rights - what is correct and timeless about the concept and where the ideas/supporters go wrong. - equality - before the law vs. "of income and wealth," as well as the idea that all people are created equal at birth, and repercussions of holding that idea. This is a crucial subject for those who mindlessly spout adherence to the Declaration of Independence phrase. - equating "progressivism" with Marxism - unmasking and knowing what this is and how to deal with this is very important - his definition of justice - not sure it is anywhere else in his works - I remember not liking his definition the first time I read it, but now 30-40 years later, I am much happier with it, and see how much real value it provides. - several references to Hume, positive and negative - his idea that "all governments are essentially the few ruling the many" and how that understanding changed thinking about and discussion of the issues from then on, at least for some significant number of serious writers. - Mises' note that "public opinion is the key tyranny/despotism" per De Tocqueville and JS Mill - too few conservatives, let alone leftist statists/collectivists/"progressives" realize this today. - discussion of freedom vs. tyranny, especially with respect to: Hegel/Kant/Lenin who flipped the terms - with too few understanding the flip and too many aiding and abetting it. For a great application of this "flipping" issue today, think of AntiFa (AntiFascist) movement, and how they are actually PRO-Fascist in their methods and goals. - "truth" being what the majority/democratic power (no matter how corrupt) wants, as long as they can get away with it - as opposed to what actually exists in reality.
Unfortunately, there were some technical problems with the MP3 copy that I downloaded from Mises.com: 1. The end of track 3 was cut off mid-sentence, so I bet there is more (have not had time to be able to tell how much) that I missed.
2. Track 4 also ended abruptly, so I bet some of that was cut off and missed too.
3. Track 9 ends abruptly too :-(
But overall, this is a very worthwhile book to listen to, if you have any interest in or appreciation of the issues noted above. There is much more too that I did not have time/space to mention! This book was published in 1957, but as is so typical of Mises, just as relevant, or possibly even more relevant today than 64 years ago!
2021-07-29 I listened to the audio book version, I did not read the paperback. I really liked it. Did a neat job of bringing some of Ayn Rand's ideas 2021-07-29 I listened to the audio book version, I did not read the paperback. I really liked it. Did a neat job of bringing some of Ayn Rand's ideas from her amazing Atlas Shrugged to this delightful kids story.
The theme of who and what produces value for consumers is something that kids and adults really need to understand for a themselves and society to thrive, and not be as contentious as it too often is. Grokking reality vs. whims based on envy is crucial for peace and happiness.
Highly recommended. The book should be very relatable and enjoyable for kids and adults alike....more
2021-07-29 I listened to the audio version of the book, and did not read it. Another excellent story in the Tuttle Twins series. Highly recommended. V2021-07-29 I listened to the audio version of the book, and did not read it. Another excellent story in the Tuttle Twins series. Highly recommended. Very positive story of kids and adults learning about a real issue in life in America (business using government force to hamper competition) and doing something about it to make life better for all (except maybe short-term for the original business - but making him/her work harder/smarter to gain customers).
Injustice and laws that make us poorer are exposed and corrected.
So many people can learn important truths and gain appropriate methods and inspiration from this book.
HIGHLY recommended.
See my other Tuttle Twins book series for my other reviews if intrigued....more
2021-07-29 I listened to the audio version of this book, I did not read it. I liked it, as I like all the books in this series. See my other reviews of 2021-07-29 I listened to the audio version of this book, I did not read it. I liked it, as I like all the books in this series. See my other reviews of the other books for more info....more
2021-07-29 I listened to the audiobook, I did NOT read this paperback edition. Fascinating fictional story based on a significant theme in the book "T2021-07-29 I listened to the audiobook, I did NOT read this paperback edition. Fascinating fictional story based on a significant theme in the book "The Road to Serfdom" by FA Hayek. Hayek's book is meant for adults, and can be difficult for those not familiar with economics, history or government actions. This Tuttle Twins story is very well done for kids 10-14, their parents, or anyone who wants to get a perspective on negative "unintended consequences" of supposedly positive plans and projects.
It is a pretty realistic local/state government plan gone bad (for some existing businesses and customers), if overly ambitious, condensation and simplified example of some of what Hayek was trying to get across.
Love to hear any comments from others who read this, on how well the story, and ideas in it, come across....more
2021-07-29 - I listened to this marvelous little book, the first in the remarkable Tuttle Twins series, a month and a half ago, and then again last we2021-07-29 - I listened to this marvelous little book, the first in the remarkable Tuttle Twins series, a month and a half ago, and then again last week. Because I listened to the audiobook version, I missed the catchy graphics that the printed series contains. That seems to be about the only down-side.
The narrator was very good. The theme, dialog, characters were all excellent.
The book is based on the insights of the equally short, but even more powerful book for adults, "The Law" by the French classical liberal, Frederic Bastiat, acknowledged in the story of this book.
I believe the age range that this book is geared for is 8-12 or 13 years old. I am 65 and thoroughly enjoyed it and highly recommend it to anyone, but especially to parents and their age-appropriate kids. If more parents and their kids read/listened to and considered the lessons in their daily lives in this book (and indeed, the whole series) the world would be a far better and happier place. ...more
2020-11-24 Gosh, this book is soooooo good. I just finished it a few hours ago and wonder why I had not gotten back to it much earlier or heard more abo2020-11-24 Gosh, this book is soooooo good. I just finished it a few hours ago and wonder why I had not gotten back to it much earlier or heard more about it. You see, I bought this book (in hard cover, as opposed to this 1993 audio version) when it first came out, back in 1988. I promptly began to read it, but got bogged down. I was expecting it to be more of a biography than the book type it is. I was disappointed at the time, got distracted and gave up. But then I saw the audio book version available on-line a little while ago, downloaded it and then had plenty of time in a rental car recently to listen, and I am so glad I did.
Eamonn Butler is fantastic. He understands and explains Mises so very well. He puts Mises in context - historically and up to the present day (when the book was written 1988). A new edition to accommodate developments since then would be very nice, since there have actually been quite a few.
I love the way he brings in Mises's key predecessors in the Austrian school of economics tradition: Menger and Boehm-Bawerk, and successors: Hayek, Rothbard, Kirzner and some others, where helpful to the reader to understand how Mises fits in, or breaks new ground, with others picking up on his ideas. There is a continuous comparison throughout the book of the radical ideas ("to the root meaning" NOT crazy, destructive) of Mises to the mainstream and some other groups' fallacies on issue upon issue. Mises is shown to be brave, logical and totally in-touch with reality, vs. the fantasy-land of too many mainstream (let alone Marxist or other socialist) ideas.
This book could be perfect for: - the person who likes the ideas of Mises and/or the Austrian School of economics, but who has difficulty with Mises' tougher writings; - anyone who is interested in knowing how the ideas of Mises compare to most major mainstream economics ideas and of other Austrians; - anyone who has an inkling that there is something "rotten in Denmark" about the math and unreal assumptions of mainstream economics, let alone the lack of dealing seriously with the crucial issues of time, entrepreneurship, and change in the world; - anyone who wants to know just how amazing Mises was in solving and explaining so many tough issues in economics and why he is gaining more and more support worldwide among those who are searching for better explanations.
Note on the Narrator: Jeff Riggenbach - he is simply outstanding. He narrated the audio version of the monumental Human Action by Mises also, where his skill was even more on display. His German pronunciation is perfect for the German words that are a somewhat common occurrence in both books (but usually clearly defined/translated too). He knows the meaning of the economics, philosophy, history, etc. so is able to enunciate and use the appropriate syllable and word stresses. Such a pleasure to listen to books he narrates.
Highly recommended!
2021-01-22 & 2022-02-02 - updated for clarity....more
2020-01-13 - Wonderful book. Not for those with delicate language sensibilities, but otherwise I recommend it to most any adult. Very funny. Very inform2020-01-13 - Wonderful book. Not for those with delicate language sensibilities, but otherwise I recommend it to most any adult. Very funny. Very informative. Breezy, yet serious too. If you want an intro into why "democratic socialism" might be worth being careful of this campaign season, this book is for you. Great little descriptions of the key features of such socialist countries as: Venezuela Cuba North Korea and the former socialist countries: China Georgia (in the Caucasus mountains next to the Black Sea, not the US State) Russia Ukraine and the never socialist, though highly welfare statist & high taxing: Sweden.
Oh, the book ended with a visit to a major socialist convention...
in the USA - perfect.
I loved the mix of travelogue, history, drinking & eating, economic theory and more. The references to key people and ideas was just about right for this intro-level book. I read it in less than a week, which is pretty darn quick for me. I listened to part of the Audio book and read other parts on my Kindle, due to my schedule and love of both. The professional narrator, John Pruden, was excellent.
Highly recommended for those who have not closed their mind on the subject of socialism (or the free market alternatives). If you think you like the idea of the promises of socialism, give this book a shot. If you like the idea of seeing what travelling to some exotic and talked about places in the news, this could be the ticket.
Great place to start a reasonable journey toward clearer understanding and how to create an actually better world....more
2019-12-23 Finished listening a week ago. Loved it. Great continuation of the series. Started watching the Amazon Prime version in their "Season 4." Ver2019-12-23 Finished listening a week ago. Loved it. Great continuation of the series. Started watching the Amazon Prime version in their "Season 4." Very good too, though there are some significant differences: some scenes cut, some out of order, some characters in the TV version but not in this book (Avisarilla plays a much more pervasive role in the TV series than this or the other earlier books), some characters doing different things in the TV series than in the book, etc.
Same main crew continues in this book/TV Season from books and TV Seasons.
Holden's commitment to doing things as non-violently as possible works pretty well, as best he has control. But he has no control of many things and some folks just don't see the longer-term downsides to initiating force or they let themselves get in situations that make it impossible not to use force.
One mention of the word "libertarian" - in the epilogue. A bit funky, but not totally out of place.
Another kinda cool description in Chap. 4 - paraphrase by Holden: "Medina Station was a graveyard... which made it too much like any other government he knew of."
Looking forward to book 5.
30 Dec. 2019 - started Book 5, Nemesis Games - audio version, and am loving it!!!!!!
Note on the title - the author continues using funky, little known title references: Cibola - Wikipedia https://en.wikipedia.org › wiki › Cibola Cibola most commonly refers to: Cevola or Cibola, the Spanish transliteration of a native name for a pueblo (Hawikuh Ruins) conquered by Francisco Vásquez de Coronado. One of the Seven Cities of Gold, the Spanish legend that Coronado tracked to Hawikuh. The Zuni-Cibola Complex, which contains the Hawikuh Ruins.
Marginally fits a significant part of the book... but is still so obscure that I find it quite hard to remember.... and that is why I am noting it here....more
26 Nov. 2018 - I enjoyed this audiobook very much. The narrator, Jefferson Mays does a fantastic job. Third in the Expanse series and kept me riveted26 Nov. 2018 - I enjoyed this audiobook very much. The narrator, Jefferson Mays does a fantastic job. Third in the Expanse series and kept me riveted. The main Rocinante crew returned with a few other characters from the previous books, but several new characters proved quite interesting.
Similar tension in the book on just how to deal with the alien force that entered the solar system and is very worrisome. Detective Miller is back from the previous book, ... kind of. Still loving the humor of some of the characters, even though it's often of the "locker room" type, but it can ease the tension that the reader goes through with the life and death situations and ethical choices that are posed. Various views on religion and religious people are dealt with very well here.
One flaw for me was how the authors drew one of the new main character's motivating force. It was incredibly and destructively irrational, which they basically admitted in the end, but they did not deal with that issue at all earlier in the book, when the reader is supposed to be convinced this is a someone who could be actually motivated by the events in the previous book. I played along, but did not quite buy it, which made the turn-around at the end a bit more disjointed. But other than that, the book gripped me and would not let go.
The book can probably be read on it's own, if you have not read the previous books yet, if you want to. But you would get a richer experience if you read the books in order.
Regarding the title of the book, which does fit the topic of the book, but I did not hear it actually referenced in the book, here is Wikipedia's brief description:
"In the New Testament Book of Revelation, an angel called Abaddon is described as the king of an army of locusts; his name is first transcribed in Greek (Revelation 9:11—"whose name in Hebrew is Abaddon, The Angel of Death.") as Ἀβαδδὼν, and then translated ("which in Greek means the Destroyer", Ἀπολλύων, Apollyon)."...more
5 August 2018 - Read (listened actually) to this book at the suggestion of my wife and son who recommended the whole series highly. I was NOT disappoi5 August 2018 - Read (listened actually) to this book at the suggestion of my wife and son who recommended the whole series highly. I was NOT disappointed, but rather deeply engrossed, enchanted, disturbed, consumed, excited, challenged and could not wait to go on to book #3 in the series. See my review of Red Rising for more on that first book in the series. I will be writing about the other following two books in the series that I have read already too.
The book and series dealt very seriously with important issues to me, such as love, force, legitimacy (or illegitimacy) of governments, death, honor, leadership, war, rebellion, slavery, humor, purpose, etc. The writing is compelling. There were some gaps in the story line and reasoning, but they were forgivable, considering all the good stuff.
2021-12-21 - Getting back to this review. Yes, I got to see the video series, about 3-4x through season 5. Started season 6 last week - Wow! Books are 2021-12-21 - Getting back to this review. Yes, I got to see the video series, about 3-4x through season 5. Started season 6 last week - Wow! Books are even better, but heck, the TV series is quite amazing still.
8 Sept. 2018 - finished this last weekend. Trying to get time to gather my notes and thoughts. But I can say this, it was an excellent follow-up to the first book: Leviathan Awakes. The narrator, Jefferson Mays does a fantastic job. And I can't wait to get to book #3 in this "The Expanse" series: Abaddon's Gate. My son, who recommended this series thinks it will take me at least a couple years to finish the series. Since there are already 9 books in the series, and each one is pretty long, that could be very generous.
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