Steve
Another great, meditative story from Becky Chambers, who had rapidly become one of my go-to authors for stories that bring on a sense of calm and peace.
This is a fun read (or listen, since I got the audible version). Fast paced, with a sense of humour, while still taking itself seriously enough to feel substantial. I'm definitely going to read the next in the series.
I tried. I failed. I got to the point where I couldn't care less about anyone involved and had to eject.
Much better than I was expecting. I was prepared to lump this under stolid fantasy, but it actually proved to be involving and surprisingly fast-paced for such a large book. The largely female-driven plot also made a welcome change. Granted there were a few more “fortunate coincidences” than I feel entirely comfortable with, but I am willing to write these off as the hand of an intentional deus ex machina. In any event, the final confrontation was genuinely blistering, which went a long way to removing any reservations. Highly recommended.
Hmm. After the glorious Children of Time, this was deeply disappointing, although I am not sure if this wasn't simply because I listened to the audiobook this time (I read the first one).
After the emotional highs and low of the first book, this felt more like a dry history. In addition, the various technological leaps that the story revolved around seems less like things that naturally evolved from the behaviours of the characters (as in the first book) and more like macguffins to allow the plot to proceed.
Towards the end we are meant to believe that extremely complex ideas can be communicated between 4 very different species using 4 very different communication techniques in a high stress scenario, with one of those techniques essentially being glorified flag signals in an unfamiliar language. Then, to round things off, FTL travel is invented by an octopus essentially telling its tentacles to "get on with it and don't worry me with the details". This doesn't so much strain credibility as pulverize it.
As I say, I am not entirely sure this wasn't down to the audio performance, which seemed very flat and surprisingly academic. Based on the first book, Adrian Tchaikovsky is obviously very good at creating a believable, involving world out of unexpected situations, however this completely failed to come across in this sequel.
For anyone else interested, I strongly recommend reading this rather than listening.
Phew. Glad to find that this is still one of my favourite Diskworld novels after a gap of cough years.
I'm torn on how to rate this. On the one hand, it is a good story, written from an uncommon perspective. On the other hand, the frequent hops between the different time periods made it sometimes difficult to keep a track of what was happening, particularly when listening to the audiobook (which was otherwise well narrated). Maybe if I had read the text, which makes quickly skimming back and catching up simpler, this would have been a much better experience. As I say, however, this was a good story.
Contains spoilers
So, 4 stars 'cos it's Scalzi and, if you like Scalzi, you won't be disappointed (although personally I find, particularly in more recent books, the witty patter is getting to be a little tiresome; this predates that however). On the other hand, the ending of this does feel a little rushed and it does require a literal deus ex machina to provide a solution (of sorts; it does feel like Scalzi reached a point with the whole Flows Collapsing thread and just threw his hands up in the air and said 'Fuck it!'). So, good but not great.
I am giving this the benefit of the doubt and marking it as 4 stars. The story has all the ingredients of a good story but the narration of the audiobook is soporific, which drains the life out of story. I spent half the book snapping out of a daydream, realising that either the character or scene had changed but the intonation hadn't. I strongly recommend this one be read.
I originally read this 20-30 years ago and greatly enjoyed it. Re-reading this now, the Cold War politics and unprescient vision of 21st Century dates the book severely, however, if you view this as an alternative history story, it is still a good read. Obviously inspired by Rendezvous with Rama (another book that is now feeling very dated), this is a significant improvement on the story telling. Maybe what is required now is for someone to write a more up-to-date story inspired by both...
This seemed to take a very long time to get going, but ultimately it reached a satisfying conclusion.
A solid, fast-paced close for the trilogy (setting up the next trilogy). Your experience with this book probably depends on how much time you have for space battles. Personally, I'm looking forward to the next story from the Terra universe.
Very good. Very brutal but very good. The (relatively) lighter, more traditional Kale story offsets the at-times grim Ruka story. Looking forward to the next in the series.
Hmm. It's not really possible to review this book without spoilers, but I will say it is a book of two parts: one an excellent story of life under the horrors of colonialism, and another (the majority) a plot-hole-riven and frustratingly by-the-numbers story. On my generous days, I bump this up to a 3.5 (a 4 for the first third, and a 3 for the rest).
An interesting 3.5, to which I'll give the benefit of the doubt and raise to a 4. At times this was very good, but at others...something I can't put my finger on just missed its target. The ending in particular felt unsatisfactory; the conclusion felt like it came to early. I wanted a glorious finish but this felt like the minimum necessary to wrap up the story.
Starts off as a “simple” tale of weaponised animals but then develops into a discussion of what it means to be human and the implications of body augmentation.
A “hmm” book. On the one hand, this is a very good effort of imagination; a world where everything is magical, from the animals to the rocks. On the other hand, it is spectacularly misogynist. Granted this was written at a time when attitudes were different, but it still seems incredible that every female character is largely defined by her appearance (and the rape “trial” beggers belief). At several points it is explicitly stated that women are not as capable as men. At times I was left wondering if this was meant to be satirical, but, no, it appears this is meant to be taken at face value.
There is a certain curiosity value to the book, which is the only thing that kept me reading until the end, but I wouldn't look down on anyone for jumping ship once they had felt they'd had enough.
I'm giving this 3 stars, since the basic story is good and, if it wasn't for the skincrawling sexism, would easily be a 4 star book. I can see this being popular with unenlighted 15 year old boys. If you have an academic interest how not to write female characters, give it a try, but don't feel guilty if you bail once you get the gist.
As mad as a box of frogs (or crate of snakes). Huge fun once you attune to the rapid-fire humour. Some genuinely laugh out loud moments. Much better than I was expecting.
This whole quadrilogy has been a really good reading experience. The individual novellas are each excellent on their own, and together they form a coherent and satisfying story. The characters - particularly the various robotic ones - are all well drawn, and some of the questions raised about what it means to be an artificial intelligence would do Asimov proud. I am now very much looking forward to reading the recently published fifth book.
Good, but maybe not as good as the first one. I found it a little less involving this time, although maybe that was due to the change of narrator for the audiobook (due to the different perspective). Worth someone's time, but maybe not the tour de force of the Kings of the Wyld.