Kyle
Very well written and wonderful world building, but I found the characters somewhat wanting. The best part are the interludes, which look at a handful of other characters outside the main plot. They focus much more on the world building, and so I found myself excited to learn more about the universe the story took place in. Let me repeat that: I was EXCITED for the INTERLUDES. Still, decent enough stuff.
Very well written and wonderful world building, but I found the characters somewhat wanting. The best part are the interludes, which look at a handful of other characters outside the main plot. They focus much more on the world building, and so I found myself excited to learn more about the universe the story took place in. Let me repeat that: I was EXCITED for the INTERLUDES. Still, decent enough stuff.
Great narrative of the early history of Astoria and the big dreams of the man who started it.
Great narrative of the early history of Astoria and the big dreams of the man who started it.
This book was really well paced (which is my normal complaint with these type of competition based plots), had interesting characters, and a solid plot. It would have gotten five stars from me except HOLY SHIT SO MANY 80'S REFERENCES! I swear, there was an average of four per page, and some pages had up to 10. I get how it fits in with the plot, but it's just way over done.
This book was really well paced (which is my normal complaint with these type of competition based plots), had interesting characters, and a solid plot. It would have gotten five stars from me except HOLY SHIT SO MANY 80'S REFERENCES! I swear, there was an average of four per page, and some pages had up to 10. I get how it fits in with the plot, but it's just way over done.
History x Magic.
Really good first half, but then sort of falls apart in the second half. The time spent in the Mote system is full of interesting characters and intriguing mysteries about how the aliens work, but once they return to the empire, the characters seems to get flatter and all the mysteries have been explain, so you're just reading to to see how it ends. I would have liked a bit more of a cliffhanger ending, where they're leaving the system with the Motie Ambassadors in tow. It would have fit the tone of the book a bit better
Really good first half, but then sort of falls apart in the second half. The time spent in the Mote system is full of interesting characters and intriguing mysteries about how the aliens work, but once they return to the empire, the characters seems to get flatter and all the mysteries have been explain, so you're just reading to to see how it ends. I would have liked a bit more of a cliffhanger ending, where they're leaving the system with the Motie Ambassadors in tow. It would have fit the tone of the book a bit better
Take the fact that I have given every book in this series as huge praise for it. Few series manages to keep the same characters fresh while not letting the plots get too overcomplicated. Fforde does a beautiful job dancing around cliché while never stepping on it, and the series has a feeling like good improv, where you can tell that he's making it up as he goes along, but you can't wait to see what he comes up with next.
Take the fact that I have given every book in this series as huge praise for it. Few series manages to keep the same characters fresh while not letting the plots get too overcomplicated. Fforde does a beautiful job dancing around cliché while never stepping on it, and the series has a feeling like good improv, where you can tell that he's making it up as he goes along, but you can't wait to see what he comes up with next.
Has the same fun and inventive storytelling as the first book, but much less character development.
Has the same fun and inventive storytelling as the first book, but much less character development.
