Written Among The Stars

Disclaimer: I received a free copy of this book from the publisher in exchange for an honest review. Thank you Curiosity Quills!

This will probably be a short review because the book just wasn’t that good. My first annoyance with it was actually the blurb. It gives away so many big plot points. I mean, who writes these things? It tells me the entire arc of the story almost, guess I didn’t need to read the book after all.

I was highly annoyed with the magic in this book too. I hate it when books don’t give magic any consequences, it’s jut there to fix all your problems. The book claims that doing magic can make you deranged and evil, but the main characters seem to have no problem whipping out complex magic when it suits them…and seem to suffer no ill effects or other consequences. For example, fiddling around in someone’s brain? Well it was for their own good, so no consequences. The only possible consequence is that the person doing the meddling now had to remember all those bad memories they were erasing, oh the horror! End snark.

David was a fairly likeable character until he started excusing a rape (he’s a dark wizard, can’t help it) and then perving on a 17 year old (but she’s a fertility witch, he couldn’t help it!). Notice a pattern here? It is always the magic’s fault, not the character’s.

In the end, I didn’t care for this book. It was a fairly good idea but not executed very well. The characters were marginal but not unlikeable. The magic was poorly executed and seemed completely secondary to the story. I won’t be continuing with this series.

I have no idea how it took me this long to question this but....where did the "neural implants" come from? That is how the new big bad is spying on people...but where did they come from? Was this something that everyone already had from before and the big bad is just tapping into it? Were these implanted somehow, and for some reason, during the first war? Was this addressed before now or in the last book and I just missed it?

It's kind of bugging me now, I suspect convenient plot device.

I can't remember if I posted about this when it happened but I'll recap anyway! So hubby and I went to a dentist a few months ago. We were not happy. The place was outdated, the staff was not friendly, and we just didn't feel comfortable there. Then they hit us with the work that needed to be done, according to them. Me: 4 new crowns, replace 1 existing crown, wisdom teeth need to be pulled. Hubby: 3 new crowns, wisdom teeth need to be pulled, an "in depth" cleaning that will cost $100. In total, they quoted us $5000 worth of work!

Yeah, we didn't go back. So today we went to a new dentist for a second opinion. Their office was modern and equipped. Every member of the staff shook my hand and introduced themselves to me. They answered all of my questions and explained everything in detail. And then we talk about work that needs to be done. Me: 3 fillings, wisdom teeth are just fine. Hubby: 1 crown, 2 wisdom teeth need to come out the other two are okay for now, an intense cleaning but certainly won't cost us $100. Total estimate: $700.

I mean, holy crap! How do dentists like that exist? What complete scam artists! I was stunned. We are definitely staying with this new dentist for sure.

I don't care anymore. I want it to be over. This is boring. I feel like this should have been a stand alone book with Robopocalypse but the author got caught up in popularity and wanted to capitalize. There was no reason for another book, none at all.

I am so booooooooored!!!! This book, apart from a brief moment of awesome, has been vastly inferior to the first book.

"After all this time, we still don't know whether I'm "seeing" radar or radio or infrared or some combination of everything."

Okay, it may have taken you guys two years but I've got this down for you.

1. You can see heat signatures or living organisms. That's infrared, congrats you can see it.

2. You can see the communications that the robots and machines make with each other. Since they communicate on radio waves, congrats you can see radio waves.

3. You can also see people speaking. This is sound waves, congrats you can see those too.

I think I figured that out in 30 seconds, what exactly is taking them so long?

I am so behind on reviews, I have to review my Nature Box thing. I need to get back to my freelance writing, I have no excuse because I got the laptop back last Thursday lol. I am just so tired.....

I want a nap. And I want peanut butter. I've been on a peanut butter kick lately. But mostly I just want a naaaaapppp....

We have the laptop back! It came in the mail today. Thank God I was starting to lose my mind after the boss cracked down on using the internet for personal use at work this week. Man, I have a lot of reviews to write lol

I was just getting really into this, I turn on my Nook and I see 'The lending period for this title has expired."

NOOOOOOOO! Damnit! I could redownload it, because I don't think it will be archived for another few weeks, but I have no laptop still. So I can't do anything. And my laptop will probably not be back until next week. Ugh. This sucks. It just better get back before the title is archived, or I'm gonna have to just buy it and finish it that way.

And it doesn't help my mood that I feel horrendously sick

I am really confused. Is Archos the bad guy or this other AI? Am I supposed to be confused, because I am. Although I do like that the AI is using religion to get people to help it, very interesting. Humans are a religious bunch, it's a very good way to deceive.

So I was wrong. Dead wrong. The stories are just as interesting....now that new information has been revealed. Before I was like "Meh, this is okay but the war is still over and so who really cares?"

But then I read that one page and now I'm all like, "OMG, now this is just so much more relevant! And....omg!"

I apologize Daniel Wilson, I should have never doubted you *hugs*

So far, I am not as interested in this book as I was the previous one (which I still can’t write a review for because of a broken, missing laptop). The stories are just not as enthralling.

I need my laptop back, we have watched so many movies since it broke, and not many of them were that good! The data backup is done, I am picking it up after work to send to the company for repair or replacement. Then another 7-10 business days to get it fixed. It is probably going to need to be replaced, the motherboard got fried.

Here is my rundown of meh movies....

Xmen: Days of Future Past: It was okay, but nothing to write home about. The effects were great. The two actors who played the young Prof X and Magneto were excellent. Wolverine was excellent as usual. But it was just so....meh. The ending was an annoyingly sappy HEA. I mean, seriously, they could have done so many other endings that were more believable. I now have no doubt that they are pulling a Star Trek on this one. Going back in time to create an alternate future to restart the franchise.

I, Frankenstein: I actually kind of liked this one. The story was a bit silly, the acting was...shockingly bad for Aaron Eckhart. But the effects were great and visually it was an exciting movie. And I liked the concept. So ultimately not great but I enjoyed it.

Monument's Men: This one is the only one on the list that I loved, my hubby did not. I thought it was a great story about amazing men. He felt it was too happy go lucky. I liked that. Because it was going along, joking, messing around, having fun and then BAM a barrel of gold fillings taken from the dead at the concentration camps. It hit you because you weren't expecting it since we were all just joking around a second earlier. Moments like that made the movie very profound for me. And I think it made a very profound statement about the politicians who sent that team to do that job. I loved it.

Elysium: Ugh, the socialism....it burns. I have officially accepted that I just don't like this director and writer. His whole purpose for making movies is to beat you over the head with his political statement, which is about as subtle as a brick to the side of the head. District 9 was awful because it was all about a statement to say "see how evil humans are, look at all the horrible things they do to people who are different than them." This one sucked just a bad because the whole point was "See, look at all those evil rich people. They could make the world a better place, but choose to hoard everything for themselves instead...OPEN BORDERS FOR EVERYONE, THE RICH SHOULD BE FORCED TO TAKE CARE OF YOU!"  Ugh, just stop already. It is no coincidence that all the rich people on Elysium are 99% white and the poor, unwashed masses were 99% Hispanic. Yeah, really subtle there.

The Wolverine: Not too bad but not as great as I had been led to believe. I loved the journey that Logan goes on in the movie but it started to get a bit silly in the end.

WTF! He just made out with his kids' friend! Who is 17! I know she is a fertility witch and has this sort of sexual draw about her unconsciously, but you pervert. You have a child that's her age! Ugh.gag.me.

So in a moment of supreme idiocy, I accidentally spilled water on my laptop yesterday. Yeah, I know, totally stupid. Luckily, I have 3 years of a warranty on accidental damage so it will be entirely free to replace or repair. Well all except the backing up my data part, I have things I haven't backed up and the laptop is currently non-functional so I can't do it now, so I'll have to take it somewhere and ask them to back it up for me...probably cost me about $50.

Here's the crappy part. I won't have my laptop for like 2-3 weeks! I won't be able to listen to any of my podcasts, because I got no itunes. I won't be able to listen to what's currently on my ipod for long because I wouldn't be able to charge it (unless I also track down and buy an a/c charger. I have ARCs that are going to expire undownloaded in that time. I can't freelance write, which is a huge amount of time to lose.

This just all around sucks!

I'm no longer sure exactly where this is going. They're being set up somehow? Maybe? Not sure. While looking for a minor witch's missing parents at the same time. I want to enjoy this story but I am struggling.