Goran Lowie
This was surprisingly excellent. It starts of as more of a coming of age story with a dystopian/sci-fi setting, but as it goes on it becomes more of a typical golden age of sci-fi big-idea concept novel, until it changes again into more of a philosophical work. Really masterfully written.
This has everything I could ever want in a sci-fi book. Immersive worldbuilding, perfect pacing, truly imaginative ideas, and themes that can (with some thinking) easily be translated to the real world. Highly recommend it!
Ender's Game is one of my favorite books of all time, for so many reasons. Speaker for the Dead I loved just as much, for entirely different reasons. Ender's Shadows feels like Ender's Game, but different– a different perspective, a slightly different view on the world, and a slightly different story. In my mind, it's almost just as good as Ender's Game.
I'm not sure how I feel about this book.
It was a great read with fantastic prose. It manages to evoke a sense of wonder which few other books/other types of entertainment have managed to do. It's a beautiful book, a magical one, ultimately about the magic of story-telling and the power of empathy.
And yet, the writing often felt dreamy and disjoined (which I liked at times but disliked at other times). Some of the characters seemed very two-dimensional and flat and the plot was a bit shoddy.
I suppose the main character is really the circus itself, which was fully fleshed out. It becomes a living entity, one that you constantly want to know more about.
I really liked it for what it is. Don't go into this book expecting a great plot and amazing characters (a mistake I made)– instead, prepare yourself for a magical place which your inner-child will long to go play in. If you go into this book expecting that, you will be handsomely rewarded.
A fantastic look at Kurosawa's early life, his way of thinking and his creative process. What a wonderful mind.
Definitely an interesting book. It's essentially H.G. Wells War of the Worlds meets Ballard's The Drowned World, with a heavy focus on science and rational thinking. It's a decidedly pessimistic work, showcasing the fallibility of people and their governments. A classic of British science fiction.
It's reminiscent of classic big-idea science fiction, but modern. Great and interesting read, even if some parts of it were unsatisfactory.
Second read, rating unchanged (a well-earned 5 stars).This remains McKillip at her best for me. An intricate plot, compelling characters, interesting worldbuilding, lush prose. A joy to re-discover.—PREVIOUS REVIEW JULY 31, 2018 5 STARSThere is something very special about Patricia McKillip's books. This is probably my favorite of hers that I've read so far.
Books like this one is why I read. I'll read a hundred books in the hope that even just one of them is like this.
EDIT: after re-reading, it's somehow more beautiful than I remember it being. I know what happens now and I've read some of her other books, which really enhanced my re-read.
Brilliance.
McKillip always manages to surprise me with her sometimes very complex novels (Alphabet of Thorn comes to mind), this definitely being one of those. Feels like a modern translation of a medieval/Athurian tale (and made me realize I really have to get around to Lady of Shallot).
I don't understand how McKillip keeps writing these amazing books. There's been 2 or 3 books by her that I wasn't too keen on, but ignoring those, she has to be one of the only authors of which I love almost every single book. This one I absolutely loved as well.
It's different from her other books, yet it's kind of the same. It has many of the familiar aspects of a McKillip book but executes and brings them together wonderfully.
A hypnotic read from McKillip. Here you have her usual beautiful and lyrical writing, in a more abstract story than usual, a slow burner that often feels strangely distant. It will probably be too elusive for most (honestly, it kind of was for me), and definitely too repetitive, but there's still the classic McKillip charm here.
FIRST REVIEW, 2021:
It took me a much longer time to read this than I was expecting. It's one of McKillip's most complex works, as well as one of her most poetic, filled with all kinds of allegories and mysteries. I couldn't always follow the storyline or the action, but I just went with the flow.
SECOND REVIEW, 2024:
Well, I'll be damned. Read it all practically in one sitting this time on a long train trip, but I had zero recollection of this book. It was only when I wanted to log it that I discovered I'd read this before. It's still a very abstract work, especially near the end.
A disappointing read, I'm not entirely sure where she was going with this and I feel like it's extremely oversimplified. Not really worth reading.
Labatut is such a tremendous writer; with just the two books of his I've read he has so intelligently weaved different subjects together in a way that is nothing short of mind-blowing. Whereas When We Cease to Understand the World was awe-inspiring, this one inspired sheer terror in me– if there's one common thread, it's of some of humanity greatest minds being shaken to their core, often to the point of mental breakdowns, by stunning “progress” in the worlds– top mathematicians who are stunned by the very foundations of maths being questioned; physicists broken by the developments of the second world war and the advance of the impossible-seeming, now taken-for-granted computer; and the greatest minds of chess and Go having their entire goals and existence put into question by AI opponents. It's a magnificent read, but it instills a small terror.
I'm not entirely sure how I feel about this book. There were parts of it I really liked, but at the same time it was a slog to get through and didn't really captivate me all that much.
It's an unconventional book. It reads more like a connected collection of short stories. There's an entire chapter which consisted of a PowerPoint presentation and, although I found it a bit gimmicky at first, quickly became my favorite chapter of the book because it's such an interesting and new way of telling a story.
I loved the concept of the book. I loved the writing style. I loved the themes. I loved the PowerPoint chapter. In short, I loved the idea of the book. The actual content itself– the story, especially the characters, bored me out of my mind. While the story and its characters are forgettable, I liked the book overall.It's worth the read, at the very least.(it's also another reminder for me to finally pick up In Search of Lost Time!)
What can I say? I read it in one day– it's currently 4 am. I can't wait to fall asleep so I can wake up and immediately start reading the sequel.
One of my favorite fantasy books I've ever read. It was my first introduction to the Cosmere after Mistborn. Just got the Tenth Anniversary Edition– it's beautiful and actually includes a new hoid chapter.
I first started reading this book about 3 years ago, immediately after the prior two books. I distinctly remember what I'd read- the early parts depicting Givar's childhood learning and playing, which to my memory was about half of the book, but apparently it was only around 1/4th- unfortunately, as much as I was enjoying the book, it was due at the library and somehow it took me three years to come back to it.
In a way, I'm thankful I was able to save this book a little longer, being able to look forward to it for years. I found myself returning to it with perfect timing. After a few recent disappointing reads, and a longing for some Le Guin, I read Powers at the exact right time. What I found was a complex work, very low on fantasy (Powers feels like a slightly misleading title. The powers are only mentioned off-hand a couple times until the last part of the story, and it never felt like the novel's focus), but big on characters.
Imperialism, slavery, reading, culture, memories, utopia, ideologies, rebellion, revolutions, grief, freedom, learning, justice, work, societies, hierarchies, (betrayal of) trust, morality, ... Whereas books like Earthsea are mythological tales, the annals of the western shore are deeply personal novels of normal people living their life, and Powers exemplifies this most of all. It's a great travel story.
Le Guin at some of her most direct (without ever getting too obvious, like in The Word for World is Forest) and humanist.