Abaddon's Gate by James S.A.Corey

The objective side of me liked several aspects of Abaddon's Gate: it was a continuation of the main "super powerful aliens" storyline of the Expanse series, it had many fast adrenaline-filled moments, it was logically sound, and it was very quotable. Plus, it reached a good point in the overall arc of the series. 

But the subjective side of me missed Bobbie and Avasarala. I could not see any reason for completely omitting the two best characters of the Expanse series in the book 3. And I didn't manage to bond as well with the new characters, with the exception of Bull.

In particular, I found Melba's story to be uninteresting. Usually I am a great fan of redemption arcs, but somehow Melba's journey felt predictable and contrived form the start, and because of that her chapters felt tedious to me. I kept thinking: "I know where this is going". 

And even overall, I found Abaddon's gate to be predictable. As soon as the purpose of the Ring was established and the new characters were in place, I guessed the ending in good detail. This can be a plus or a minus for different readers. I usually find predictability to be a minus. 

I give Abaddon's Gate 3 stars out of 5. This is still the series I love, but the book 3 felt like going over the hill after the book 2. I hope for better things in the book 4.

Pacific Rim

To say that I felt apprehensive before watching Pacific Rim is to say nothing. I thought I have seen enough Kaiju films to last me a lifetime and didn’t want a to see a copy of “The Host”. But I have to eat my hat and admit that Guillermo del Toro can do no wrong for me, even if it is a film about Giant Sharks vs Giant Robots. Even if it is a film that tells me that Russians look like this:

What can I say? Switch your brain off and enjoy the joy and the beauty of humongous monsters fighting humongous robots! Don’t look for too much plot – there isn’t too much of it in “Pacific Rim” and don’t look for any exceptional actor performances neither. Let’s admit it that any actor that can deliver phrases like “Today we are canceling the apocalypse!” with a straight face deserve recognition. 

But just take it seriously for a minute, and the marvelously created monster battles will help you to do so. Forget the reality of your life. Feel the surge of adrenalin and the visual pleasure. This is Pacific Rim. 

Oh yes, my second brain ( my lizard brain ) enjoyed this very very much.