Book 5 of 2024: Child of Earth (The Sea of Grass Trilogy) | DNF: Goblin Siege, Fox and Phoenix

Child of Earth (The Sea of Grass Trilogy) by David Gerrold. [Reread from 2015. Original review here: Link.]

Quick synopsis: Humanity has discovered how to open gateways to other worlds and has begun training families to go live on them.

Plot: Until the last 8% or so, there was very little plot in this book. The whole thing was one extended family training to go live on another planet and fit in with a culture that knew nothing of Earth. They had to learn how to build a house, how to speak the language, what gestures to use, every little part of life in a completely alien culture.

Near the very end of the book, one of the scouts on the alien planet was taken hostage. That started a plot to rescue him.

Writing/editing: Both were passable. Writing was fine, editing was okay. Biggest issue was that the book is incomplete: It ended right in the middle of a scene, continuing in book 2. That's not okay.

What I Liked/What I Didn’t Like: I loved this book the first time I read it, but it didn't work nearly so well for me now. While the worldbuilding was great (having no plot through most of the book wasn't an issue at all!), so many of the characters' actions just didn't make sense and weren't believable.

More than that, the fact that this alien planet was somehow populated by a small handful of humans (centuries later there were cities full of humans... were they all horribly inbred?) and that it evolved into the Dark Ages (the ultra-religious society burning "witches"). It was so unbelievable.

Rating: 1-Hated / 2-Disliked / 3-Okay / 4-Liked / 5-Loved: 3.75-4-ish (It's my system and I'll be wishy-washy if I want to be!) I mostly enjoyed reading it, even if there was a lot of unbelievable stuff in it.

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DNF #3: Codename: Freedom - The Goblin Siege by Apollos Thorne. When other reviews of this book said it was nothing but the main character training, I thought they were exaggerating. But nope! I made it through the first 15% of the story, and it was just the main character running, lifting weights, etc. The only dialogue was about his training. (Really! "Adjust your arm more, bend you leg more when you lift that.." things like that.)

Apparently that goes on for the first 90% of the book. Just the main character running, lifting weights, making sure he eats the right diet. Wacky!

DNF #4: Fox and Phoenix by Beth Bernobich. This story shouldn't have been as forgettable as it was. I started reading it only a couple days ago, but couldn't remember anything about it.

Set in a China-like city, everyone had a spirit companion (one of the Chinese zodiac animals). A young thief, Kai, and his best friend Yan have to work together to rescue a princess from... something something.

The story felt like a middle book even though it was the first of a series. The worldbuilding was interesting, but I didn't connect with the main character or the story.