Montgomery Webster
Definitely a child's book with little to offer for adults. Cannot understand why this would be on the Top 100 SciFi books of all time.
Story: 6 / 10
Characters: 5
Setting: 6
Prose: 4
I'm wondering if this book should even be considered “science fiction”. My impression is that everything accomplished in the book could take place now (in 2015).
Either way, it isn't a terribly interesting read. Between the “hard science fiction” description and the diary-style writing, it is quite difficult to digest. The one element that really sets it apart is the intergalactic survival story. Then again, survival stories aren't really interesting.
Recommended only for extremely technical, hard science lovers.
Possibly one of the best prequels ever written.
Story: 7 / 10
Characters: 8
Setting: 8
Prose: 7
The book starts to lose direction towards the end. Mainly, this is because it is trying to align with WOOL, but that doesn't make it reasonable. Still the first 2/3 are fantastic and a brilliant commentary on aggressive, pre-emptive war policies.
Fantastic adventure. Despite being rather “slice of life”, the book remains intense and ends warmly. Definitely will add Heinlein to the queue of readable science fiction authors.
My second Heinlein book and it was too much like the first (Starship Trooper, which I liked). Sadly, this book does not hold up to its counterpart, despite also relying on the journaling writing technique. The whole premise was weak, closely related to Gataga, altogether unclear what the big deal was in this case.
Will give Heinlein two more reads, but I am worried that he will not be one of my science-fiction authors.
Starts to pick up for the ending, but otherwise a rather strange story structure.
The reign of terror is what I want to remember about this one.
Story: 3 / 10
Characters: 4
Setting: 3
Prose: 8
Story: 3 / 10
Characters: 6
Setting: 6
Prose: 5
Certainly feels like the “Catcher in the Rye” of Japan. Luckily this was markedly better than Salinger's. Hopefully will someday meet a fan that can explain why this book is so famous (other than its brevity).
Story: 6 / 10
Characters: 7
Setting: 7
Prose: 7
The “bobble” is a solid concept and “The Peace War” explores its implications fully in a clever, steampunk dystopia. The most important theme in the book is the balance between progress (science) and peace. However, the story is simply not sufficiently engaging.
Recommended only for anyone who has already read all of Vernor Vinge's others novels.
Quite a challenging read with the dialect writing, but probably worth the effort in the end.
This is the earliest scifi mention of creches, also known as clans or lines, that I've come across. Definitely a welcome alternative to traditional childrearing.
Another 5: Nothing interesting. The movie was significantly better, which is largely uncommon.
Story: 5 / 10
Characters: 7
Setting: 7
Prose: 6
Cline asks two questions with this book:
1. Can you retell another, famous story and make it worthwhile?
2. Why are popular culture book and movie references taboo in storytelling?
Though I enjoyed the book, my answers are very encouraging:
1. I always thought you could effectively “remix” a book by changing the story in fundamental ways. In fact, I was eager to have a few authors all explore variations of the same book at the same time, creating 3 or more separate, standalone works. However, while I enjoyed “ARMADA”, everything previously covered in Orson Scott Card's “Ender's Game” was effectively boring: I'd certainly heard it all before. I'm not convinced.
2. Could I have enjoyed the book more if it didn't explicitly say it was a remix of Ender's Game? Most likely. When another story, like Star Trek, is mentioned, the world of the book (diegesis) is suddenly interrupted and possibly merged with a very different fictional setting. It is unnecessarily distracting and I believe strongly that it is taboo. Nevertheless, if Cline didn't mention Ender in Armada, that could be considered a more serious crime (stealing).
8/10: Definitely one of the best recommendations I've received (Thanks, Rob West).
Brilliant prose and excellent pacing, the book takes off fast and continues an incredible pace. The mysteries are compelling and the romance captivating. The only weak point was part of the plot. The ending relies on all readers agreeing about The LOVE, which I clearly didn't. Not a big point and the ending still works.
Definitely recommended for you, by me...
Incredible book. Absolutely unparalleled step-by-step, tool-based explanation of how to implement a browser-based wireframe or design process.
Story: 5.0 / 10
Characters: 6
Setting: 6
Prose: 4
Read this novella to prepare for the Story Grid Podcast's Masterwork Experiment.
Not recommended.
An okay book, but not what I was expecting from this “cult” author. Frankly, nothing happens to the main character. The real story is all told through his research, which is not a very engaging technique.
I would skip this for your first Lovecraft read.
Story: 7 / 10
Characters: 6
Setting: 7
Prose: 7
The original “missing night” book, a very interesting concept. However there didn't seem to be a main character. Why bother introducing a narrator at all if they aren't going to play a big part. It caused a few minor troubles for the story. Nevertheless, certainly worth a read.
Useless and boring. Struggling to think what I can say in book club, except the last 1/11 of the book picked up. Absolutely not recommended.
Story: 7.0 / 10
Characters: 6.5
Setting: 8.5
Prose: 6
Note that this adventure book doesn't have an ending
¡Finally read my first Virginia Woolf book! Now I am quite afraid of her! The prose is divine, so it certainly was a pleasure to read, despite having that clear stream of consciousness style. However, I could not follow the story at all! There are not any chapters or even paragraph breaks. When the point of view changes, it goes largely unnoticed (¿Who is Septimus?). Compound that ambiguity with the loosely structured story, abrupt ending, and gibberish is all that is left. This sums up to a pleasant bit of nonsense, unrecommendable.
If this really is Woolf's most famous work, I will not be visiting her again...
