Montgomery Webster
Story: 7 / 10
Characters: 8.5
Setting: 6.5
Prose: 10
Art: 7
Although the book was well done and is considered one of the best graphic novels ever written, it did not appeal to me at all. I would only recommend it to literary fiction readers.
Lem' mastery lies in his uncanny diegeses, their elaborate descriptions, and strong conceptual themes. This book was a supreme analysis of space travel, especially its motivation and the reintegration of astronauts / cosmonauts into life on their return. Add that to the invention of Betrization and you have an impressive book.
Story: 5 / 10
Characters: 6
Setting: 7
Prose: 7
Interesting parallels to Solaris, but ultimately only a mediocre read.
An awful book. The entire story was filled with problems all the characters were unable to fix. In fact, only the ending accomplished anything. Physiological problems are simply not reasonable conflicts in any storytelling medium.
Time travel in general is boring science fiction. However, this book did introduce some important time travel innovations. It does not save the book, but it is worth mentioning. (Thankfully, I have only read one other time travel book REPLAY, which was significantly better).
Mixed feelings. The book starts out very well, so the first 3rd is great. However, a lot of the other parts are weak. Some of the chapters were written for different publications and do not seem to flow well with the book as a hole.
The only other worthwhile part was when the author starts connecting with other suicide victims.
Still, this is probably the best non-fiction book I have ever read.
Thoroughly enjoyed the book. However, would not recommend for people who do not like Philosophy. The main character presents his experience very conceptually, making hypotheses to explain his surroundings. Though this may not appeal to many people, I found this approach clever, scientific, and humble.
A quick read.
Story: 2.5 / 10
Characters: 4
Setting: 6
Prose: 3.5
Themes: Communism, Politics, Civilizations, Culture, Customs
Story: 3 / 10
Characters: 4
Setting: 4
Prose: 1
An altogether useless book. The story and writing are entirely obscure, making it one of the most difficult reads you will encounter. No real value except that the subject matter is concerned with conspiracy theories and the Illuminati.
Fight the urge to read this cult classic.
Story: 5 / 10
Characters: 7
Setting: 7
Prose: 5
An interesting concept: The first intergalactic space voyage destined to the most Earth-like planet identified. However, it is a hard science fiction novel. As such, the book is really about the science and simply does not focus on the story enough. P.Anderson does justice to the character emotions, but it isn't enough.
Interesting note: This is the extra-terrestrial version of Wells' The Time Machine.
The best relationship book I've read. Essential reading for everyone, regardless of relationship type: familial, friendship, or romantic.
Story: 7.0 / 10
Characters: 8
Setting: 8
Prose: 4
Just research for one of my writing projects...
Read it in a time of need, but this wasn't the erotic book I was looking for.
Same critique as last time: This book is not relevant science fiction and instead political suspense, which I am not interested in. Most of the other problems remain as well. Who wants to read a book about paranoid characters in hiding? My hope for the finale is a strong focus on uniting the world. Get it done OSC.
Tied for the most difficult book I have ever read. It was also the first book where you actually did have to read the summary (on the back cover) to understand the context. Either way, the reverse Time Arrow used in the book was useless. It added an extreme amount of effort to understand basic elements of the story (in UX we call this cognitive load). Lastly, I DON'T read books on this topic.
Steer clear of this one, folks.
