John

Beautiful writing but light on ideas. Feels a bit like an inferior copy of Cloud Atlas, with a hint of pandemic to make it more modern

Still a page turner but the series starts losing its strength as it seems intent on endlessly recycling the same dynamic between the same characters

Good simple fun, cool concept, short and efficient. But not as rich and impressive as other Scalzi books.

All through the book I had a feeling of déjà lu
A bit too slow and predictable. I guess it makes sense that both the crime and the action will be quite mild in a “literary thriller”. Add to that a hero that we can't really like. That's a lots of challenges the author set for himself.

Pirouette littéraire, maîtrisée mais un peu vaine
Full of darlings still very much alive

A dogma filmmaker's ethereal version of a Rick & Morty episode. Lots of ideas we'd love to explore more in depth. Very human emotions at the core. Nice stylish sentences. All packed into a too short yet slightly boring story

Smart and important but also long and boring. The “novel with bits of educational content throughout“ format doesn't really work. Mostly because the novel part isn't very interesting. On the other hand, it does pack ten times more interesting ideas than the average novel.

Amazing work of balance between the magical and mysterious world we're taken into, by a narrator that knows almost as little as we do, and the confident line tying it all together and taking us to a satisfying conclusion
Shares very little with Jonathan Strange, apart from that focus on the frontier between the real world and the magical world (though this time, we spend more time on the other side of the border) but equally fascinating
Beautiful writing and construction (or should I say architecture ?)
My only complaint is that Susanna Clarke should write faster

Fun read. Interesting concept. Very good construction and pace. Dark but fun. A bit in the spirit of “The Boys”

Read it years ago and loved it. Just re-read it and it still works. A light but smart story about scientific discovery, fads and thinking for yourself. Now I need to re-read “to say nothing of the dog”

A couple of chapters in, you already know how it's going to end, but it's still an enjoyable ride

Not your usual space opera. Original, solid characters, the story is not full of action and laser fights but takes you by the hand and never lets go.

3,5⭐️ rounded up.
Sweet story, nice characters and universe. A bit light on the plot.

Smart, inventive, fun concept, flawless execution, and yet that's mostly what it is, a concept, used to convey a message. Even the small bits of story and character journey feel like the minimum amount required to get the message across. It's still a great work and worth reading, just feels a bit like short story material stretched to tell a big message

Reads like a good episode of Black Mirror
Taking one idea to its extreme conclusion
Could have been a bit shorter but still a page turner

3,5 stars. Cool concept, good pace keeps the pages turning, but the writing is a bit clumsy (not as bad as Dan Brown but still a bit light)

There's listening to music and there's experiencing live music. At least the was, until a pandemic changed everything and live music became something you experience in VR.
When this book was written, it was science fiction, of the dark near future type. Even won the 2020 nebula award.
Sadly, we currently live in that dark future, but that makes the story and messages even more relevant.