Other Worlds Than These by Stephen King
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

First, I'll just nitpick a few things. Terms and sayings that have been said ad nauseam in previous King novels. Shitting in one hand, etc, was perhaps slightly overdone. Same for a few other old sayings that may get pulled off if we're being a stickler for correct time periods, but personally, if they should have come back in a book like this, I would have preferred new ones from those periods instead of just these glorious returns from already published works in the same series.

That's pretty much all I have to say about this that is bad.

As for what is good?

MUAHAHAHAHAHAH let me tell you the ways. This is not just a novel that goes full circle to the Talisman, one of my favorite early King novels and one that really turned me onto Straub in the first place, but it fully strengthens and deepens all three novels completely. I loved the second much more than the Shining's sequel, for example.

But more than any of that, this novel is a pitch-perfect companion, perhaps a coda, or definitely a different pitch to the Dark Tower series. The whole shades upon shades aspect was brilliant. As was the shadows of words and worlds and people. Roland and company didn't show up, but Mid World absolutely did. In spades and spades.

Chef's kiss.

And as for the red heads? I'm one, but I'm neither a teenager nor someone who fakes it by dying my hair in blood, so I guess I've saved myself from being a nasty red-headed stepchild and servant of Discordia. Thankee sai. Mauahahahaha

Who is this book for?

Any fan of King's wide universe and especially of the Beams, the Dark Tower, and the Wheel. Period.

It is a great capstone, if you will, and a beautiful tribute to Straub's investment. (Will be missed. 2022.)



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The Path of Ascension 4 by C. Mantis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Definitely a slower book, but that's fine. A few side quests, a lot of it surrounding crafting and a bit of magical-science work, and even a consolidation sequence where he goes back to where he began.

A lot of actual time passes, but as readers, we see it fly right by. Which is fine. Real progression happens. And we get a little depth in the universe. But now, I do kinda hope we have a big plot coming up. (War.)

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The Path of Ascension 3 by C. Mantis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

This one firmly stuck us in only one tier and no kind of direct essence gathering, but all for the grand purpose of a worldwide mock war. No deaths allowed, but damn, everyone is allowed to try. The more you contribute the war, the more you can get out of the war chest.

It sounds like a great training exercise in a powerhouse universe, of course, but people will be people. Nothing ever goes smoothly. Fun stuff, seeing everyone actually improve their real skills and use their real brains to accomplish all their goals.

I consider this a very successful veering off the path. :)

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The Path of Ascension 2 by C. Mantis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Interesting but slow progression despite a tense golem outbreak decimating a planet. It was actually fairly interesting focused solely on the rift creation experimentation.

All said, it was pretty cool, and while a lot less varied things happened in this book compared to the first, it was still enjoyable and addictive as almost all of these LitRPGs are.

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The Path of Ascension by C. Mantis
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I honestly didn't know what to expect with this because of the somewhat generic title and just hoped it was going to have good characters at least. Fortunately, I had my heart warmed pretty early on by people being genuinely good sorts and helping out when they really didn't have to, and that just elevated the otherwise generic training and training-area montages into something more entertaining. It DID have the potential to be dark and depressing, mind you, but LitRPG is nothing if not devoted to self-improvement.

A nice hybrid cultivation tier system, and the MC has a requisite broken skill that gives him that glorious edge. Not truly unlocked yet, of course, but as he rises in those tiers, it's gonna be godly. Pretty standard stuff, but the characters are pretty cool, so no problem.

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D: Heavy Water by Neal Stephenson
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

What a wild ride. I loved seeing Aurora again for a vast portion of this novel, but surprisingly enough, I really grew to love Owen, too.

But you know what really stands out for this, and Stephenson books in general? Brilliant attention to details. Rigorous attention to history. Crafty and genuinely crazy plotting. Nerdy nods to not just science, science history, but literature itself.

I'm frankly amazed how a book like this can be an interesting travelogue novel pre-WWII, with lots of adventure and insight... only to become a huge Hemingway nod that made me think almost entirely of For Whom the Bell Tolls... to a crazy romance that made me love the dynamic even though I kept wondering why the HELL Aurora fell for this guy. I mean, it's funny, and I GET it, but if I were him, I'd be wondering why the hell she fell for him, too. :)

But best of all, I love how it THEN turned into one hell of an espionage novel that's all about the D. Not about the scientists surrounding the creation of the nuclear bomb, directly, but about the feet-on-the-ground spycraft that secures the necessary medium to pull it off. Deuterium oxide, baby. Deuterium oxide.

I feel like I learned a lot even while I was immensely entertained. Highly recommended.

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The Infinite Extent by Dennis E. Taylor
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

Dude! THIS guy again? What the hell do we have to do to get rid of an immortal AI with an outmoded political agenda, anyway?

OH. Red-tape him. Ding ding ding! Muahahahahaha And no, I'm not talking about Bob. Bob has some issues, it's true, but that's why he has himself. And himself. And himself. And what's WITH all these biologicals, anyway? Maybe it IS time for a happy divorce. Let the monkeys, or at least, the pre-post-monkeys, get on with messing up their lives however they want. Sheesh.

Wait, am I just reviewing my reactions to this book? But what about the book? Solid continuation of the Bobbiverse and perhaps slightly better than the previous one. Minus THAT GUY. AGAIN. I think the singularity needs a bit of love. At least neighbors are knocking at last.



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