Bill Wood

Very interesting and imaginative, I loved the mix of technology and magic and the sense of wonder. It kept compelling me to keep reading to find out what was going to happen next.

I don't know what I expected, but this wasn't it. I knew it was considered a classic. It is a collection of thematic vignettes of varying lengths, from just a few paragraphs to several pages. The book is short. The beginning was rather cheeky, with several expeditions to Mars and the results of them. I found the middle of the book a bit meandering, but it really hit its stride with several of the longer stories being very riveting.

My favorite stories were:

–And the Moon be Still As Bright - a commentary on colonialism
Usher II (which I found brilliant) - a commentary on the cost of censorship
The Martian - a commentary on loss and grief
The Luggage Store - a pithy short but meaningful conversation
The Off Season - where the plot takes a dark turn
The Silent Towns - a statement on our materialism and shallowness
The Long Years - where not everything is as it seems
There Will Come Soft Rains - almost a meditation on the potential disaster of nuclear war
The Million-Year Picnic - a poignant end

Having gone back through the book to pull out my favorites made me realize how much I did enjoy the book. It provoked a lot of thought.

One thing to be aware of, though, is one story (Way in the Middle of the Air) that addresses racism through the eyes of racists in the Jim Crow south and is one of the few stories that take place on Earth. It is disturbing in its portrayal of the bigotry and actions of the main character and in the repeated use of the n-word. It does not feel as gratuitous and “natural” as the writings of H.P. Lovecraft, but is jarring nonetheless. It is a commentary on racism, and having been written in 1948 by a white man lacks any subtlety, but fits the theme of the book in calling out humanity's shortcomings.

Overall a very good book and it entices me to want to read more of Bradbury. The prose is often beautiful, full of imagery and poetic phrases.

This was interesting. It reminded me a bit of Hyperion and a bit like Rendezvous with Rama in that it felt like several vastly different scenarios and stories within a single science fiction narrative and included a bit of an exploration of a strange environment with imaginative world-building. A medieval dungeon, an island of cannibals, a high-stakes casino, a heist or two, a rag-tag crew, etc.

While I won't say it is stellar or on the level of Hyperion (which is one of my all-time favorites) I did enjoy it and there were several times I was on the edge of my seat wondering what was going to happen next. There were also a few times of “get on with it” which knocks it down a star for me.

One thing I enjoyed was the personality that was put into the various races and settings. Changers in general and Horza specifically, Yalson, Balveda. Also Schar's World, orbitals, Minds. I liked the imagination.

This is my first foray into the Culture series, and I look forward to exploring it more.

This was not an enjoyable book. I read it to preview it for my 8-year old daughter who loves dogs. I found the main character so unlikeable, and the ending so fairy tale, that I felt there wasn't enough redemption to make the slog worth it.

I get that we are supposed to relate to her unfortunate situation as a way to make her sympathetic, but there was little reflection, little growth, just several episodes of her ignoring her conscience, being jealous of her brother when he had a good idea, calling him names, being rude to her mother, and just on and on.

I won't be passing it to my daughter.

It was entertaining. I didn't get bored while reading it, but it was just a bit YA for me. Too many silly examples of dialog and writing that jarred me out of immersion, like “That's what she said.”

Not just once, but twice that I remember.

Seriously? I know you want Gideon to be edgy and cool and angsty, but that just didn't work for me.

The world building was interesting. The mystery setting was interesting.

I had a hard time following everyone since they were referred to by many different terms and names.

“Thanks, Palamedes.”
“Sextus was a marvel.”

Those are the same person, referred to in two consecutive sentences, and aren't the only terms used to identify that person. I was reading an ebook and not a physical book, and if I was reading the physical book I'd have been able to easily flip back to the Dramatis Personae to help with that issue.

I bumped this up the TBR because a good friend raved about it as one of his favorites. Perhaps the expectations were too high.