Liss
My first read from Tchaikovsky and one that has cemented him as one of my new favourite authors. A fantastic entry into the SciFi genre for people who primarily stick to Fantasy. The systems are not overly explained, but it still contains some philosophical questions on what it is to be human.
The story centres around humanity and our quest to terraform other planets to make them hospitable to human life. In this particular case however, spiders have evolved to be the dominant species, not any kind of mammal or specifically ape that we were expecting.
The spiders however progress through the stages of development, even though it goes in slightly different stages to ours, and eventually are capable of space exploration. By this time however, the last surviving vestiges of humanity are desperate to land no matter the cost, and must face the spiders head-on.
The situation can be summed up as the Prisoners Dilemma, and the characters even discuss as much. But when the stakes are so high, there is only one inevitable outcome. Though the results of that outcome were very unexpected.
It should be noted, that for people who want 'strong independent women' characters, Isa Lain is that woman. She loved, she lost, she faced Gods and monsters, she sacrificed everything for the survival of humanity. This is the 'strong woman' we need to see more of in media, and it strikes me that Tchaikovsky is good at writing women because he treats us like people.
I look forward not only to reading the rest of this series, but the rest of his works, and have already pre-ordered his next book. (Shroud)
My first read from Tchaikovsky and one that has cemented him as one of my new favourite authors. A fantastic entry into the SciFi genre for people who primarily stick to Fantasy. The systems are not overly explained, but it still contains some philosophical questions on what it is to be human.
The story centres around humanity and our quest to terraform other planets to make them hospitable to human life. In this particular case however, spiders have evolved to be the dominant species, not any kind of mammal or specifically ape that we were expecting.
The spiders however progress through the stages of development, even though it goes in slightly different stages to ours, and eventually are capable of space exploration. By this time however, the last surviving vestiges of humanity are desperate to land no matter the cost, and must face the spiders head-on.
The situation can be summed up as the Prisoners Dilemma, and the characters even discuss as much. But when the stakes are so high, there is only one inevitable outcome. Though the results of that outcome were very unexpected.
It should be noted, that for people who want 'strong independent women' characters, Isa Lain is that woman. She loved, she lost, she faced Gods and monsters, she sacrificed everything for the survival of humanity. This is the 'strong woman' we need to see more of in media, and it strikes me that Tchaikovsky is good at writing women because he treats us like people.
I look forward not only to reading the rest of this series, but the rest of his works, and have already pre-ordered his next book. (Shroud)
DNF'd this at about 80%. I remember the Horrible Histories books as being educational while managing to still be interesting to a child who at the time, couldn't care less. It is with those memories that I find myself disappointed with this take on British history.
While it starts off interesting, although Terry is unable to keep his political opinions or bias out of it, it proceeds to gloss over major events as 'things that happen for no reason and we certainly won't look into it'.
The book looks to be a pathetic excusing of the state of the UK today. "Britain is always being invaded, and technically the natives are extinct now, so why care about the current situation?" Also Britain deserves it because empire bad. It would be interesting to see him make a similar book on Japan, Mali, Mongolia, or any non-European country that did some dirty empire dealings. I'm guessing we won't get such a book however.
DNF'd this at about 80%. I remember the Horrible Histories books as being educational while managing to still be interesting to a child who at the time, couldn't care less. It is with those memories that I find myself disappointed with this take on British history.
While it starts off interesting, although Terry is unable to keep his political opinions or bias out of it, it proceeds to gloss over major events as 'things that happen for no reason and we certainly won't look into it'.
The book looks to be a pathetic excusing of the state of the UK today. "Britain is always being invaded, and technically the natives are extinct now, so why care about the current situation?" Also Britain deserves it because empire bad. It would be interesting to see him make a similar book on Japan, Mali, Mongolia, or any non-European country that did some dirty empire dealings. I'm guessing we won't get such a book however.
Having had time to think on this, I realised I had no real idea what was going on.
The book seems to be a commentary on what happens when we abandon our friends and ourselves in the desperation to 'fit in' with people we normally wouldn't. Sometimes choices are made and you can't take them back, and you may just lose everything you had before.
The MC appears to be another unlikable girl who thinks she knows everything but is easily led along by the stronger characters around her. This is to her detriment, and is a message a lot of us could have used in our younger years.
In the end I don't even know if everything was just some crazy drug trip. Maybe I would understand better on a second reading, but I likely won't give it the time.
Having had time to think on this, I realised I had no real idea what was going on.
The book seems to be a commentary on what happens when we abandon our friends and ourselves in the desperation to 'fit in' with people we normally wouldn't. Sometimes choices are made and you can't take them back, and you may just lose everything you had before.
The MC appears to be another unlikable girl who thinks she knows everything but is easily led along by the stronger characters around her. This is to her detriment, and is a message a lot of us could have used in our younger years.
In the end I don't even know if everything was just some crazy drug trip. Maybe I would understand better on a second reading, but I likely won't give it the time.
