César
2.0 - Audiolibro
Reacio a leerlo por muchos años decidí por fin darle una oportunidad a un Audiolibro encontrado en Spotify. Le di algunas ojeadas al Ebook que tenía por ahi en el cloud y definitivamente la versión de Audiolibro es mucho menos poética (para mi gran alivio) pero bastante bien interpretada (en la mayoría de los casos; aunque Romeo es realmente insufrible).
Esto está bien como símbolo del amor venciendo al odio pero nada más. Estos amores fugaces son tan inverosímiles para mí que caen en lo risible. El pobre y desdichado Romeo que, por culpa de un amor no correspondido por parte de una tal Rosalina (¿o era Rosalinda?... y creo que también era una Capuleto), decide olvidarse de ella en un santiamén para caer profundamente enamorado (en una noche...) de Julieta Capuleto.
Cuando Romeo confiesa esto a Fray Lorenzo, este le responde: “¿Otra vez, Romeo?”. Eso, señores, es una clara indicación de algún síndrome amoroso sufrido por Romeo Montesco. No es nada nuevo para sus conocidos. En conclusión: si no se mataba por Rosalina o Julieta, iba a ser por cualquier otra.
DNF - 50%
The concept is great. A spacecraft carrying colonists is escaping Earth en route to Mars but after an asteroid collision it goes off course. 15,000 years will pass before they reach the next star.
The execution wasn't great for me. Poetry basically complicated the experience for me.
Kudos to the translator. That must have been a hard nut to crack!
“Life, all life, has the twin drives to survive and to reproduce. Intelligence is an aimless byproduct except as it serves these basic drives.”
Yeah, okay. The reason I had two failed attempts to read “Lord of the Flies” is because having a group of schoolboys left on their own and trying to be grown-ups is not something I really cared about at that time. And I'm saying this because it seems that this book shares some similarities. The difference is that the initial part of Golding's book was soporific while Heinlein's was extremely exciting.
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So, in brief, this is a decent and entertaining Heinlein juvenile. I guess my search for a 5⭐ juvenile will have to wait, for some reason I thought this was the one. I guess I was expecting a dazzling story with a lot of planet-hopping adventures and a little less social commentary. But, again, it's a good survival story and I always enjoy, to a lesser or greater extent, the exploration of human nature and, in this case, the struggle to avoid falling into barbarism.
Some other themes worth mentioning: strong female characters, Malthusian overpopulation, teleportation, isolation and probably some other Heinlein-ations I'm forgetting about...
“The hunger of a dragon is slow to wake, but hard to sate.”
What a wonderful journey! Mages, spells, dragons and much more. Coincidentally, this book was published the same year as Panshin's “Rite of Passage”, my previous read.
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Being a reckless, powerful mage can lead to unexpected consequences: he will upset the balance of the world. But he will learn from his mistakes, he'll grow into a more cautious, wary wizard, one that will refuse even a promise of greater power and will face his own shadows for the sake of Equilibrium. There's a school of wizards where apprentices learn the Arts (e.g., summoning, healing, naming, patterning, binding, etc.), I wonder what potterheads think of this book...⠀
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This was originally conceived as a bildungsroman for “older kids” but let's take labels out of the equation because the result is a timeless story just for everyone. Reading the Grand Mistress' fantasy was a gratifying experience. Her stories age very well and she had this amazing talent for worldbuildings, I think she specially excels at culture-building. I'm sure she has influenced a lot of writers over the years but I couldn't stop thinking about Rothfuss' The King Killer Chronicles, the “true name” of things and the power it gives you over them. I wish I knew the true name of my elder son because, guess what, he never listens to me! ⠀
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M̶a̶s̶t̶e̶r̶f̶u̶l̶ Mistressful
“If I had the opportunity, I would make the proposal that no man should be killed except by somebody who knows him well enough for the act to have impact. No death should be like nose blowing. Death is important enough that it should affect the person who causes it.”
A fine coming-of-age novel that is still relevant today.
This was Panshin's first published novel and my introduction to his work. It won the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1968 and was also nominated for the Hugo Award for Best novel in 1969 (losing to Brunner's Stand on Zanzibar; Delany's Nova was nominated this same year too). And now I can see why.
There's something very fascinating for me in the anthropological and psychological aspects of living in spaceships, or any other man-made space structures for that matter (e.g., space stations, merchants). I've read about this before in novels by Heinlein, Silverberg, Delany, Cherryh, just to name a few, and the bottom line is that a new culture will emerge and with it a new set of rules that will favor sustainability. I think Panshin did a great job with the world building and depicting the life of a little girl living under this context, waiting for the Trial to come. They don't just send 14-year-old kids to die in a colony planet, they receive actual training in Survival Class, but despite that, the mortality rate is fairly high. As cruel as it may sound the Trial has a purpose: ensure that those who survive are skilled enough to contribute.
It was really fun and thought-provoking to experience the character's evolution through a series of events and little adventures that end up broadening her world and growing her confidence and moral not only towards her own people but towards the colonists as well. The other major aspect of the book is related to the differences between the ship people and the colonists (derogatorily known as “Mudeaters”). A lot of different subjecs are discussed throughout the book: ethics, philosophy, slavery. Solid story, beautiful book.
“I was alone all along, but now I am truly alone. The sole living human within several light-years, at least.”
Wow. That was fascinating and highly addictive.⠀
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To be honest I was reluctant to believe that Weir could rip five stars out of me. Why, question? Well, I rated “The Martian” just 3 and felt like I was the black sheep of the Goodreadsverse. Mainly because I thought Mark Watney was too smart to be true and because the level of detail was dull and overwhelming.
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“Project Hail Mary” was everything I expected and more. The story is told through a series of flashback and present events. I never thought I would end up enjoying this back-and-forth (I mostly want my narrative to be linear!) but Weir managed to cohere the story masterfully. I was helpless like a bird following a trail of bread crumbs. I was connected, I was Ryland Grace. I frankly felt every possible feeling in the threshold and certainly didn't almost cried. IT IS THAT GOOD.⠀
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Like me, you're probably a little skeptical on the lone scientist thing but hear me out and turn a blind eye a little because this is such a beautiful story. It's a tale of hope and survival and friendship. I don't know what else to say without spoiling it for you so just go ahead and experience this for yourself. There's a big chance you will put this story in the “unforgettable” corner of your mind.