Did you love Morpheus and his crew, gallivanting around the galaxy, bumbling their way to success?
Then don’t read this. For the first couple books, its not the worst, but man, once the plot sets in, it’s 60 something hours of the same repeated philosophical drivel, the characters repeating the same conclusions, and, worst of all, one character constantly being right, being betrayed by his “friends,” then being lectured on morality before, yet again being proven right. And, spoiler, he still never gets an apology, but instead, is forced to apologize himself.
It got to the point where I actively rooted for the bad guys so that at least I wouldn’t have to hear the authors wheel out yet more hand wringing and berating while scattering in pointless conversations between characters that didn’t cover new ground, advance the plot, or develop their characters.
**Spoilers**
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If you think I’m exaggerating, the character literally warns everyone to stay away from dangerous technology. They, including his girlfriend, ignore him and go behind his back to use it. Scatter in lots of people calling him an asshole and no one thanking him for saving someone’s life. Then, the use of that technology triggers an apocalyptic threat. Does anyone say “gee, sorry, we shouldn’t have done that”? No. They double down on berating him and trying to go behind his back. He says not to use the tech any more.
Meanwhile, the people who are lecturing him are forming a cult that literally kills anyone who disagrees that one of them is a prophet.
After a confrontation that leaves a ton of people hurt, he sends help, but no one thanks him for the people he saves from death and disability.
No, instead they decide to steal more of the technology, all while telling him what a piece of garbage he is. He could have killed the thief, but lets her get away, warning her it will make things worse. Guess what happens as a result of using the tech? It advances the problem by an order of magnitude, spiraling out of control.
Do they apologize? NO, they tell him they’re going to evict him from his home, that he’s a failure, and that he’ll have to kill them to keep them from stealing more of the technology that caused these problems.
These are the people we’re supposed to be rooting for, somehow.
Finally, at the end, galaxy saved by his hands, the idiot literally travels across the universe to ask his ex-girlfriend out, and she proceeds to lecture him and badger him until he apologizes. Not a thank you in sight.
I don’t know if the authors were trying to depict constant emotional abuse in relationships, but that was a success if they did and painful to read. Not that thrilling, either.