Amazing series however...

I feel the ending was rushed with holes in the story line. Good read nevertheless.

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excellent!!!

I loved this story line! Cheering for Yosef all the way. Highly recommended. Tons of Adventure you never know what to expect.

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Mehha

Ok story, kinda boring. Good narration. The characters seem to be one dimensional and aren’t very realistic. The author tends to have the characters yammer on and on without getting to any point.

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LOGICAL TO A FAULT... BUT with Crazy Strengths

I have read thousands of storybooks, and while I have read books that have a slightly more enticing story-line, this book series has something I have NEVER seen anywhere else which makes it one of the most interesting and FUN books I have ever read. To avoid spoilers, I will list what philosophies separate this from all other books.

- THE AUTHOR IS A SCIENTIST: I don't personally know this author, but I could almost hear his disdain for inconsistencies. This guy wanted to do a "what if book" with absolutely no plot holes of any kind. Have you ever wondered what would happen if a scientist went back in time realistically? Well no suspended disbelief here. The stage is set with surgical precision.

- A RAVENOUS HATRED OF GOD AND THE MACHINE: Whenever you usually read a book the main character just gets away with stuff sometimes right? Well this guy had something to prove, like that main characters could exist without gods help. ALL factors are accounted for, and his main character becomes powerful on a pillar of logic. Usually when you read books you know the main characters going to get away with something you just want to know how. Its different here. You can tell he likes having a main character, but so help him god his main character will achieve everything with the tools he has been given or not at all. Its like hes playing a game of chess with a storybook. He only works with the pieces that are on the board to work with his people. That makes reading this really fun, because you can take satisfaction in things that could reasonably happen. To make this possible, no details are omitted. None. Talk about commitment.

- DEEP DISDAIN FOR VILLAIN CHARACTERS WHO "JUST COOPERATE": I feel like this is an extension of his hatred of god of the machine, which saturates every word of the book. He tells the story from the perspectives of absolutely anyone who has any play at all regardless of where they stand. What he achieves by doing this is re-enforcing that his main characters aren't just getting away with stuff, but are legitimately foiling the foe or being foiled. He shows the reader both sides of the fog of war and makes sure they understand that everyone is really trying to win and he favors no one. In a way, hes showing you both sides of the chess board so you know hes not cheating. I really appreciated this aspect, because it makes the thought experiment makes a ton more sense.

- A SCIENTIST CANNOT ESCAPE HIS OWN LOGIC: This is why the story is 4 stars. While its perfectly written, its obviously written by a methodical person. There are subtext patterns that can be completely relied upon to predict whats going to happen next. Once you figure out the pattern, you will never be surprised again. That's what I mean when I say "Logical to a fault". Everyone and everything is so logical, that you can logically predict the future and be certain your right because nothing has ever not been logical. My main issue with this is every. Single. Character is the pinnacle of logic.I would consider myself a follower of the religion of being logical, and I cannot achieve the levels of perfect logic at all times that these characters do. I know really smart people who also cannot reach this level of logic 100% of the time. I also know an enormous numbers of people who would never, under any circumstances, submit to being this logical. They would rather die than experience logic on this scale, and would implode if exposed to it. There is no way that these characters can be this logical. Maybe 1, but not all of them. Unless there is some secret formula that makes everyone in this book logically this logical, then this is the one thing to me that I have to constantly suspend my disbelief at. I believe the irony is that the author doesn't see this, because he himself being logical doesn't see why anyone wouldn't be logical. And the answer is that its not logical lol. All that being said, his religious adherance to logic creates a "story of competing super-geniuses" that is really really interesting to watch progress and you cant get it anywhere else.

EXTREMELY RARE EXPERIENCE OF BEING IMPRESSED: Legitimately one of the first books where I felt stupider than 90% of people in the book. That's very difficult to achieve because remember in order for people in a book or show to be smarter than you, the people writing it need to be smarter than you. Thats why if you watch Sherlock Holmes on TV hes not smarter than you hes magic instead. That's because the people writing him are not as smart as the character they are writing. Because their interpretation of people being smarter than them is magic because by definition they cannot fathom how one would achieve elevated brain process by their own restriction, Sherlock becomes a wizard who just knows things and never actually does anything "Impressively smart" without using his god writer granted wizard powers. Not so here. The person writing this book is SMART, so get ready for a battalion of really smart people competing with each other and depending on who you are maybe admitting to yourself that some of the things they decide might not have occurred to you, but now that you hear them make alot of sense. This is the series of real life Sherlock Holmes's, and its super fun to read for that reason. The read gets the full ride.

I hope this helps you decide to read these books. Yes they follow patterns, but compared to other books you can basically leave your suspended disbelief at home. That's a very rare experience.

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A great escape into a brave new world

I felt like I was listening to a far better version of one of my own daydreams. The author writes the detailed chapters and the reader brings them to life. A thoroughly enjoyable listen!

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Can’t stop listening

Blazed through these 4 books in only a few short weeks (delayed by waiting for the audio release of the last book). I’m sad they’re done. I enjoyed listening to the stories immensely and highly recommend this series to anyone longing for a BIG tale to take them away to another world. Well done! Thank Jonathan for giving these characters a voice.

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Riveting finish go a story arc

this was a good way to finish off the last several books, a few dry spots when they were talking about planning but I think that's this writer's style, love the humour and the personality of the characters still coming to the surface to shine throughout all the situations

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such a great series

I have found this series to be one of the most immersive I've been through. I love the world this author has created and the narrator really brings this planet and its people. Definitely one of the better stories I have read.

Now all that said, I do feel like there was too much discussion on war planning and tactics, a lot of it could have been cut out from the story (the last book almost had this issue too). This sort of falls into nitpicking territory though and it doesn't hurt the overall narrative.

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Great, for a specific crowd. What a performance!

This review will also function for the series as a whole. Having just finished the book, I have to say honestly that it was very enjoyable. While others might have found it somewhat dry at times, I myself (as an enthusiast of military history, science and other topics covered in the book) thought it just the right amount of everything. It's no earth-shaker; the series will seldom leave you feeling shocked (for good or ill) but it is methodical, well written and created from a place of, I feel, true understanding for the subject matter. If you find yourself enjoying historical fiction, the intricacies of chemistry, early modern industrial and political development or military tactics, I heartily recommend this series.
Because it was somewhat 'niche' in it's appeal, I gave the story 4 out of 5 stars (though it's a 5 for me on a personal level).
The performance, however, is nothing short of exemplary. Davis is a master at holding the listener's interest, and is certainly among my top 5 voice actors of all time. I would heartily recommend listen to other performances of his. Seriously! Go listen to Snow Crash!

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A reasonable immediate conclusion

As far as endings for this arc of the story goes, this one is fine. It drags in the middle and while the enemy was presented reasonably I felt that they should have accomplished more than they did and the good guys should have screwed up a few times.

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