Juvenile fantasies

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

I can recommend this book to teenagers. It's light-hearted and plays to boyhood fantasies of adventure, girls and riches.

Has Half Share turned you off from other books in this genre?

Yes. I may give it another shot, but the whole book is about how amazing the protagonists looks and how every single female is swooning over him. This was ok in the beginning, but got more and more irritating. Also, he is supposed to be young and generally inexperienced. I guess a few months on board and new clothes turned him into Hugh Hefner.

What does Jeffrey Kafer bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

A plot. Everything always works out great. The tension between the Engineering team seems contrived and not believable.

Was Half Share worth the listening time?

I had higher expectations, but if you want young adult SciFi then it wasn't too bad.

Any additional comments?

I hope it gets better. The premise is interesting.

11 people found this helpful

It's not Quarter Share!

Would you say that listening to this book was time well-spent? Why or why not?

I loved the first book. While this book has some of the same great elements - it got too weird for me.

What do you think your next listen will be?

Unfortunately, not full share. I had plans to listen to the whole series but I was disappointed with this second book.

Which character – as performed by Jeffrey Kafer – was your favorite?

Of course the star is my favorite character but Pip is a close second.

Did Half Share inspire you to do anything?

No

Any additional comments?

For me the change from a struggling but intelligent new comer to a worldly heart stopper was disappointing.

11 people found this helpful

turn for the worse

the first book was a fun departure from normal space stories. this book however turned into a shitty matriarchal fantasy romance novel. This one will be the end of the series for me

9 people found this helpful

Not what I was expecting...

What disappointed you about Half Share?

Quarter share was not a bad book and I had hopes for this series but Half Share turned from OK into nothing more than the main character preening over his looks (and discovering who he wants to be as a man through purchasing the right clothes - ugh, give me a break) and girls fawning all over him. I did not purchase this book to get a banal romance novel. Really disappointed in this one in the series. Maybe they get better again after this book but I wont be finding out.

8 people found this helpful

Series takes a strange turn

Wow. I thought the first book in this series was a fun, slow paces look at life as space trader. Good stuff. However, in this second book, for reasons I don't understand, the author has awakened Ishmael and turned him into some fantasy sex god. I mean, it is great that he gains confidence with his new wardrobe, but do we really have to listen to chapter after chapter of him observing every female swooning in front of him. Ishmael manages to sneak a humblebrag into seemingly every conversation. It just never ends, and has the tone of a middle school male's fantasy fiction.

This continues for truly painful amount of story time. Not the mission I signed up for!

7 people found this helpful

A Review of this Amazing Series

This is this is one of those series you gush about and reread over and over. It will suck you in to the point where you find yourself saying *credits smedits, where's the buy button.*

Ishmael is 18 years old in book one, and an orphan. He has no choice but to grow up fast -- and because of that hardship -- he becomes the kind of steady, intelligent young man any parent would be proud of. By the time he reaches adulthood in the series, you're thrilled to have watched him mature. (I'm on *Captain's Share* right now, and I'm completely captivated by it.) I am in awe of what Nathan Lowell wrote, and how Jeffrey Kafer has brought it to life.

This is a true literary treasure for all ages to enjoy.

Each book in the series presents new challenges, new environments and new friends and enemies. The pace, nuance and plot is so well done I feel that Lowell must have written it all down before publishing any of it, but that would just be crazy, right?

The books are like one big blank canvas that's gradually filled in as you read them, so that in the end, you have the entire picture of the life of one (fictional) Officer on a Space Vessel. When things go wrong, and they do, it's as if you're there, sweating it out, praying they avoid disaster. It's so beautifully written it's impossible -- like a fascinating magic trick.

Ismael's kindness, ingenuity, sense of responsibility, and compassion for his fellow spacefarers, is at the center of the story, and I feel safe just knowing he's present and accounted for. Frankly, he's such an amazing role model that the books belong in schools for all children to read -- like Dickens or Twain. I want to go back in time and give them to my son to read.

***A Quick Note About Sex: Lowell doesn't embarrass himself, the characters or his readers, by trying his hand at explicit scenes. While he lets us know that Ish is a hotty, (and the girls all come to the yard), Mr. Lowell handles these moments with a fine sense of sweetness and respect. Romantic moments are read and said with the same quiet respect as everything else Ish does, and then we all move on. Which isn't to say that Lowell isn't effective or romantic at what he writes -- he is -- but he doesn't belabor the point, or make the books inappropriate for kid's.

Most of all, I'm grateful that he makes it possible for younger people to enjoy the series, too. I learned to love books at a young age and it's a love I've carried with me all my life. We need more series like this -- to grab the imaginations of younger people, and to remind us oldsters why we love to read.

And the narration is simply brilliant, which brings me to . . .

***A Note about my review of Book One: I think my reaction to *Quarter Share* was that I liked it but nothing happens -- and I thought Jeffrey Kafer made Ishmael sound too old. That impression quickly dissipated in the subsequent books. Jeffrey Kafer's take on this character is so mesmerizing, that i regret saying what I did. In fact, Kafer's tone makes the series come alive, t and I offer him a sincere apology -- and dinner in Cookie's mess hall -- if we ever happen to meet.

HIGHLY RECOMMENDED for all ages (14 and up), and anyone who likes a good yarn. Ismael Wong is a fine role model of kindness, compassion and civility, for us all.


*** Just One More Thing About Sex: There is a very lovely scene of Ishmael with an insecure older woman that isn't at all physical, but is by far the sexiest thing I think I've ever read. It's so moving and genuine and full of respect that I wonder what else Mr. Lowell has up his sleeve.

I know I'll happily read whatever he decides to write next.

11 people found this helpful

SUDDENLY: Sophomoric boy sex & fashion fantasy

The author ABANDONED the Rise-In-Rank, day-in-the-life Sci-Fi series that he started in Quarter Share, and suddenly turned it into a bizarre & unbelievably childish sex fantasy novel… not romance, specifically pursuit of sex through buying the right fashion brands to get sex from women who are HELPLESS under the thrawl of fashion brand names. Literally our lead character buys magic jeans and all women become helpless each time he mentions that they’re Prada. It’s not literature. I really hope this was written a decade before “THE WIZARDS BUTLER” and was just a young writer sharpening his craft.

4 people found this helpful

Already heard it Paid for it anyway It's that good

I listened to the free podcast version narrated by the author. I liked it so much I paid for the audible version.
Nathan Lowell is really a great narrator. His podcast versions convey a sense of emotion that made me feel like I was really getting the intention of his stories. Jeffrey Kafer brings his own flavor that agrees with the authors reading.
Now I am waiting for the rest of the stories.

8 people found this helpful

Disappointing

There is no plot, just endless insane dialogue, mostly focused on how well clothing fits on the main character.

3 people found this helpful

terrible let down after quartershare

"Look at me I'm a super smart nerd who - gasp! - puts on nice jeans and now everyone lusts after my butt! And I have sexy coworkers who all want me! And I want casual sex but if a woman wants it she's a slut!"

If you loved Ish's clever and inventive problem solving of quarter share, you are in for a sad disappointment with half share There is almost nothing about what made quarter share delightful in this one - no adversity to overcome, no problems that get Ish's special creative touch, Just a lot of stupid. Yes, Ish shows off his ability to take tests. wahoo. I literally could not finish this because I just did not care. A friend who recommended it says the later ones get better. I'm turning this one back over for my credit and will risk the next one in the series but I say for this - stay away.

3 people found this helpful