Hubbard
I really enjoyed this book for the most part. It has a slight philosophical bent, with some interesting dialogue about the meaning of "purpose", particularly toward the end, where I felt the book hit its stride with what it was trying to become. The plot takes a little longer to build up than I would have liked, but it's not excruciatingly slow by any means (it's relatively short overall, too). Worldbuilding isn't a huge focus, but there was enough of it to spur my imagination on to wonder about the details left out. This isn't the kind of book that tries to be extremely realistic or predictive, and it incorporates some elements of fantasy into what could otherwise be tentatively described as futuristic science fiction, without the focus on the science. I found a good balance here, for this style of story, and liked it enough I'll continue on to the next book in the series, mostly out of curiosity for finding out what philosophical stance the story ultimately ends up on.
I really enjoyed this book for the most part. It has a slight philosophical bent, with some interesting dialogue about the meaning of "purpose", particularly toward the end, where I felt the book hit its stride with what it was trying to become. The plot takes a little longer to build up than I would have liked, but it's not excruciatingly slow by any means (it's relatively short overall, too). Worldbuilding isn't a huge focus, but there was enough of it to spur my imagination on to wonder about the details left out. This isn't the kind of book that tries to be extremely realistic or predictive, and it incorporates some elements of fantasy into what could otherwise be tentatively described as futuristic science fiction, without the focus on the science. I found a good balance here, for this style of story, and liked it enough I'll continue on to the next book in the series, mostly out of curiosity for finding out what philosophical stance the story ultimately ends up on.