I normally finish all books I read. However, I have had to admit defeat at only 10% of the way through this one.
I hadn't read the first one, which may have affected how easily I got into this book, but I don't think that was the problem at all. The first 10% could, I felt, have been condensed into two pages and I would not have felt 'behind' at all. It is long-winded, very slow, and seemed to have no thriller, suspense, technothriller or mystery about it. I read other people's reviews to see if it all ramped up later in the book and became interesting, alas it seems not so I can't waste any more of my life on this.

While the synopsis and premise of this book is unique and really drew me in I didn't enjoy the book for so many reasons but I do have a full review to come.

I am very sorry to say that I didn't get all the way through this book before my time to read it expired. I liked the beginning, though!

This was a fascinating story. I wasn't sure if it was fiction or fantasy, not knowing much about Astrology but that didn't seem to matter. The concepts and their different effects on the members of the team were intriguing. The story was very detailed and intense and the conclusion was brilliant.

This is outside my genre and yet I found myself completely drawn in. I was up turning the pages until the wee hours of the morning, well pass my bedtime. I'll be recommending this one to friends and family alike.

A very interesting premise and plot. My first experience with this author, but reading this book, which is actually the sequel, I went back to read the first boo, The Astrologer's Apprentice.

Thanks to the author and his publisher, Shimmering Water Productions, as well as Netgalley.com for the privilege of reading this book.

I was intrigued by the description of this novel, being something of a lapsed astrologer.

The main character is a man with a mission. He is a Believer in the sense that for him, the passage of the planets in the heavens against the zodiac reveal God's plan for humanity - or at least those who prefer a less loaded expression that the G word, the realisation that life is, not random or devoid of meaning, but rather that we live in a sentient universe of neo-platonic certainties. The astrologer's role is to reveal that sacred unity to the earthly masses. His mission is to prove astrology works and with the advent of cybertechnology he can.

The only problem is that the means by which he seeks to do this are not strictly honest. It involves using genius cyberhackers to bust the private birth data of the entire population of the States and Europe, them to match the horoscopes of each and every citizen alive to their personalities and to their life events via their astrological transits.

All is fair in a noble cause, it seems.

Rufus and his disciple Robert work all guide rich European astrologers and the young hackers to realise this noble cause.. However, problems constantly emerge in what to tell those who are less privy to the aims of this this exclusive little group of esoteric Insiders. Doubts also begin to emerge about us how altruistically this enormous fount of knowledge will be applied, once secured. Astrologers like to get their palms crossed with silver, never mind gold, as much as anyone else.

The question is never really asked, but the reader might well when ploughing through this sometimes long-winded tale of cyber espionage: how might you or I feel if our horoscopes could be monitored at any time by rich conglomerates, to be made public whenever convenient? How might this knowledge be used?

Many astrologers may in any case disagree with the idea with the premise that creating better Inerpretive algorithms via mass chart matching with real life data and chart analysis is the best way forward to 'prove' astrology either, as it ignores the fact that there may be varying ways a chart could be lived out. The idea that there maybe only one way to live out the potentials of a chart brings us back to the idea that 'mpdern' astrology is only the iron fist of Fate again,but served up in a velvet glove.

This novel was an interesting read insofar that it depicts the way one writer imagines where astrology as a discipline may go and what it should be for. However the basic ethical question of whether the end ever justifies the means in this case is never really answered, except maybe how Rufus views what he has achieved at the very e.nd.

The pacing of the novel is somewhat laborious at times, there is a lot of fretful intrigue within this ratified club of altruistic sages, so that for me. this was sometimes a little heavy-weight. The sense of community between these special people, a lot like a secret round table of Knights Templars does convey well how astrological community.ütoes tend to be - alongside a little of the hidden infighting that exists over how scientific, commercial or whatever. astrology needs be.

If you are not an astrologer, then this bookman he of interest to those who may be curious about cyber espionage, as long as you are not expecting a Fast-paced thriller.

I'm happy to support self-published works, but this one was almost impossible to get through.

Nowhere in the description does it say this is a sequel/the second in a series. I haven't read the first book, and don't feel able to jump into the series mId-way... It's too bad - the premise is extremely interesting to me, But I have tried to read series books out of order before and it never goes well -
I always find myself vaguely dissatisfied, even if the author tells me the stories are technically stand alone. I always feel like I'm behind the eight ball... And unfortunately the first book is not available through my local library and is only available for purchase on Kindle (I am not a member of Kindle unlimited), so I'm going to have to pass on this one - at least for now...

This was the first time reading anything by this author and im so happy i did read this book it was awesome.

Rufus is on a mission to prove the validity of astrology. To do so, he teams up with other like-minded and well-funded individuals to effect on of the most massive data heists in the history of data heists. "Astrologer's Proof" covers these heists and the subsequent efforts to use the data, and the fallout it triggers within the group.

A non-believer when it comes to astrology, I nonetheless found the premise of the book intriguing, particularly the Jungian aspects of it. Several of the characters are interested in supplementing the MBTI (Meyers-Briggs Type Indicator, which was created based on Jung's theories of personality type, and which I DO believe in) with astrology, something that is also appropriately Jungian, since Jung himself was interested in astrology and even began a large-scale study of people's astrology charts and life histories (Jung's conclusion, before he abandoned the project, was that he found correspondences when he was excited about the project and believed in it, and stopped finding correspondences when he lost interest in the project--a fascinating topic for study in and of itself). So there's lots of good potential material here for those with Jungian inclinations, or just those who find astrology interesting.

Frustratingly, though, I found that "Astrologer's Proof" left me with more questions than answers. It's the second book in a series, which may have been part of my problem. At first I thought this was an alternate world in which astrology was definitely valid, or maybe a kind of urban-fantasy story in which the proof of the validity of astrology would be revealed, but that was left up in the air. As, for me, was the question of whether the theft of massive amounts of census and IRS data was justified. These are all important questions, particularly the issue of using people's personal information without their knowledge or consent for something that could potentially produce large-scale benefits. If you're not planning to harm people, and are working on something that could make lots of people's lives better, is it okay to steal the birth, marriage, and work records of millions of people? This is an intriguing question that the book touches upon but doesn't delve into. So overall I found much that was interesting about "Astrologer's Proof," and I think that readers who take the benefits of astrology more seriously than I do might find it more satisfying, but for me it opened up a lot of questions without necessarily providing satisfying answers. Still a unique book with a unique premise.

My thanks to NetGalley and the publisher for providing a review copy of this book. All opinions are my own.