Arnaud
Note: Listened to audiobook. My complaints could be a result of translation style or narrator style.
I have no idea how this book is so popular. If you're not into sci-fi and you get recommended this, please ignore and read Adrian Tchaikovsky or Ursula K. Le Guin instead.
The first few hours were vaguely interesting in terms of Chinese history, but I struggled to connect to any of the characters. It's far too long before anything interesting happens and the characters personalities are not enough to carry the story. When interesting stuff does start happening - great stuff. Interesting and funny while being a little mysterious - excellent!
Then the mystery doesn't get resolved, but a bunch of stuff you'd need knowledge of the mystery to understand happens which left me extremely confused. Maybe I'm stupid but I had no idea what was happening for about 3 hours in the middle.
The last 4 hours are genuinely brilliant - there's great hardcore sci-fi elements in a sort of epistolary framing, which I found super interesting.
YMMV, I won't be reading the sequels.
Note: Listened to audiobook. My complaints could be a result of translation style or narrator style.
I have no idea how this book is so popular. If you're not into sci-fi and you get recommended this, please ignore and read Adrian Tchaikovsky or Ursula K. Le Guin instead.
The first few hours were vaguely interesting in terms of Chinese history, but I struggled to connect to any of the characters. It's far too long before anything interesting happens and the characters personalities are not enough to carry the story. When interesting stuff does start happening - great stuff. Interesting and funny while being a little mysterious - excellent!
Then the mystery doesn't get resolved, but a bunch of stuff you'd need knowledge of the mystery to understand happens which left me extremely confused. Maybe I'm stupid but I had no idea what was happening for about 3 hours in the middle.
The last 4 hours are genuinely brilliant - there's great hardcore sci-fi elements in a sort of epistolary framing, which I found super interesting.
YMMV, I won't be reading the sequels.
