This book has come up a bunch of times since I've started becoming interested in #pkm, so when I saw it and was buying some other books anyway I decided I might as well get it and read it for myself.
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I mostly read Science Fiction books and books about Programming. My main fediverse account is @ryuslash@fosstodon.org
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Tom's books
2024 Reading Goal
92% complete! Tom has read 12 of 13 books.
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Tom started reading Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett (Discworld, part 10)
Tom started reading The Manga Guide to Databases by Co Ltd Trend
Tom rated Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin: 4 stars
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Tom Waltz, and 1 other (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin, #01)
A New York Times Bestseller!
Who is the Last Ronin? In a future, battle-ravaged New York City, a lone surviving …
Tom finished reading Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin by Tom Waltz (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin, #01)
Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin by Kevin Eastman, Peter Laird, Tom Waltz, and 1 other (Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: The Last Ronin, #01)
A New York Times Bestseller!
Who is the Last Ronin? In a future, battle-ravaged New York City, a lone surviving …
Tom rated Parable of the Sower: 4 stars
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (Earthseed, #1)
In 2025, with the world descending into madness and anarchy, one woman begins a fateful journey toward a better future. …
Tom finished reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (Earthseed, #1)
Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (Earthseed, #1)
In 2025, with the world descending into madness and anarchy, one woman begins a fateful journey toward a better future. …
Tom started reading Parable of the Sower by Octavia E. Butler (Earthseed, #1)
Tom replied to radio-appears's status
@radio_appears@books.theunseen.city Yeah I had very much the same experience with the series (read the whole series in ~2 months) and reaction to this book. I did still enjoy it a lot, but it just didn't go where I hoped it to go.
Unfortunately I didn't know anything about this series before I started Wild Seed, I got it in a humble bundle at some point and it said that Wild Seed was the first book, so I started with that.
radio-appears reviewed Patternmaster by Octavia E. Butler (Patternmaster, #4)
A bit of a let-down compared to Wild Seed
So, I burned through the whole patternmaster series in a matter of months, which is pretty unusual for me. I like to leave big gaps in between installments, so I don't get burned out on a story.
While the series is overall great, I really regret reading the books in chronological order, starting with Wild Seed, and ending with this one, because in publishing order, this is her first book and her first published novel ever. As is to be expected, as Butler's skills as a writer increase, the quality of these earlier and earlier published novels decreases. Patternmaster isn't necessarily bad, but it doesn't hold a candle to Wild Seed, or even Mind of my Mind and Clay's Ark. Not to mention that the stories become gradually less ambitious. So, the overall effect is that a series that starts as an epic world-spanning, century-spanning tale of conflict between two …
So, I burned through the whole patternmaster series in a matter of months, which is pretty unusual for me. I like to leave big gaps in between installments, so I don't get burned out on a story.
While the series is overall great, I really regret reading the books in chronological order, starting with Wild Seed, and ending with this one, because in publishing order, this is her first book and her first published novel ever. As is to be expected, as Butler's skills as a writer increase, the quality of these earlier and earlier published novels decreases. Patternmaster isn't necessarily bad, but it doesn't hold a candle to Wild Seed, or even Mind of my Mind and Clay's Ark. Not to mention that the stories become gradually less ambitious. So, the overall effect is that a series that starts as an epic world-spanning, century-spanning tale of conflict between two primal forces of nature peters out as a story about a brotherly feud. It's a bit of a let-down.
So, if you read this series (and you should), do yourself a favor and read it in publishing order.
Tom rated Patternmaster: 3 stars
Patternmaster by Octavia E. Butler (Patternmaster, #4)
The combined mind-force of a telepathic race, Patternist thoughts can destroy, heal, rule. For the strongest mind commands the entire …
Tom finished reading Patternmaster by Octavia E. Butler (Patternmaster, #4)
Content warning opinion on conclusion
That was an enjoyable book to read, but after having read the other 3 first I was really hoping for this to go somewhere, but it seems like it didn't really.
Tom wants to read The Manga Guide to Databases by Co Ltd Trend
Tom started reading Patternmaster by Octavia E. Butler (Patternmaster, #4)
Patternmaster by Octavia E. Butler (Patternmaster, #4)
The combined mind-force of a telepathic race, Patternist thoughts can destroy, heal, rule. For the strongest mind commands the entire …