Sleeping Giants

This was the best audio book I've listened to in a long time. The voice acting was, overall, terrific. I'm looking forward to diving into the sequels.

Entertaining and imaginative premise, but it lacked the kind of depth I was looking for. I thought World War Z and The Martian were much better overall.

one word: unremarkable

Thank you to Destiny for suggesting we buddy read this together. I've been wanting to read this book for a while. I've had several people recommend this to me after I read and loved the Illuminae Files. They said this was similar. While it does have some similarities, I think comparing it to the Illuminae Files was a disservice. I went into this book expecting the format to be like Illuminae when the only similarity is that it's told in interviews which is great, but I was expecting more so that was a little bit of a disappointment to me.

As for the story itself, I really enjoyed it. I feel like the relationships took over the story though. I didn't hate the relationships, but it wasn't balanced enough for me with everything else going on. I feel like the characters were well developed. There was a good bit of science/math that went over my head but luckily it didn't take over the book too much.

I was shocked by the ending, and I definitely want to continue on with the series because I need to know what is going to happen.

I gave up quarter of the way through. I don't mind the interview format but the buildup of the story was too slow and the characters try too hard imo.

It pains me to put down this novel, as the synopsis and opening has incredible promise. However, I just simply don't have the drive to continue due to numerous issues, and I will tell you why. Where [b:Sleeping Giants 25733990 Sleeping Giants (Themis Files, #1) Sylvain Neuvel https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1459785141s/25733990.jpg 42721200] struggles is in two things - characterization and infodumps. Each interview didn't feel like an interview - it felt like a exposition, like I'm being talked at rather than with. The flow of conversation was unrealistic, and the characters themselves are flat, with little to distinguish between them. For example, we are told (several times, in fact, sound familiar?) that one particular character is “combative” and has “a problem with authority”. In the next interview, she's making friends all over the facility and chumming it up with the interviewer/narrator. In yet another interview, she's torn up to pieces about an incident that occurs. No consistency. She felt labeled, as they all do, with one-hundred percent telling and absolutely zero showing.The narrator/interviewer is, for lack of a better term, annoying. At times, they speak more than the interviewees, which completely negates the entire point of interview-based storytelling. I think the interviewer's identity is a mystery to be solved in [b:Waking Gods 30134847 Waking Gods (Themis Files, #2) Sylvain Neuvel https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1462736382s/30134847.jpg 50566357] and [b:Only Human 35820656 Only Human (Themis Files, #3) Sylvain Neuvel https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1502999023s/35820656.jpg 57322413], but the aggressive flexing, the excessive talking... Quite frankly, I don't care who it is, only that he/she needs to chill.I eventually gave up around p82, when discussion over the discoveries is glossed over and described without any real life credibility - they're discussing (or rather infodumping) a massive discovery, and it's like the character is talking about a car or a blender. I skipped forward, and found it only got worse. The ending seemed really good, but it wasn't enough for me to trudge through 238 more pages.No stars as I didn't finish, but I unofficially give a 2 star rating to [b:Sleeping Giants 25733990 Sleeping Giants (Themis Files, #1) Sylvain Neuvel https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1459785141s/25733990.jpg 42721200] based on what I did read. Someday I may pick this book back up, as the sequels are well rated - but for now, I will have to DNF it. I am quite disappointed.

Now that is how you do an epilogue! 5 Stars ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️!

While it starts as a solid popcorn movie scifi story, even with the stereotypical characters, by about the midpoint the wheels come off and it truly feels like the author is flying by the seat of their pants. Characters are suddenly not what you'd expect, the plot shifts completely, and the book winds down to a bit of a whimper.

I liked the concept of the premise. I'm usually a fan of the extraterrestrial/unknown but this one didn't do it for me all that much. I'm ambivalent on the “interview” style of storytelling. Not a fan of most of the characters.

The narrator is a faceless unknown G-Man figure with his hands in multiple pots and always has the upper hand in some way or fashion. The book constantly reminds me of how hot Kara is. And speaking of, Kara is immature and reads like a bratty teenager, which is not who I would have pegged as a pilot in the military. She acts and talks like a high schooler that doesn't want to work with a kid in her class. Vincent is an arrogant prick that kinda grew on me. Ryan...exists. I'm intrigued by Rose in the epilogue because as far as we all knew she was dead. 

There was a lot of time spent by the G-Men on the relationships between Kara and the two men in the short-lived, but still godawful (and consequential) love-V. I don't think for a second that an all-powerful G-Man would care about someone sleeping with their coworker(s). I'm grateful the author didn't write out a sex scene. I would've DNF'd on the spot

There were moments that went nowhere. I was promised a trip to Bosnia that happened completely off-page that only lent credence to a boring reveal later in the book about obvious-antagonist turned obvious-villain Alyssa. And there were a few action sequences that were done in a “overhearing it through the phone” interview style that were...fine.
Very conspiratorial “government stooges doing cover-ups and having the upper hand at all times” thriller type stuff. Not really the book for me, to be honest. I might try the sequel and see where it goes.

Hovering around 3.75-4 stars.

This was a book where my star rating went up the more as I read the book. It started as a pretty “meh” 3 out of 5, but the score had risen by the time I reached the end.

It had an intriguing premise: a mysterious, giant hand is uncovered by a young girl in her backyard. As the years go on, the journey to find the other parts of whatever enormous robotic body it belonged to unfolds, along with the mission to find out what exactly it is and what it does. But it wasn't just the premise that caught my interest: the format did as well. Instead of traditional narrative prose, the book is told in epistolary format. It uses the form of documents and transcripts, but mostly interviews between characters to tell the story. For me, the epistolary format is a bit of a mixed bag. It can be a very intriguing way to tell a story and give it a certain kind of tone/atmosphere...but it's a common shortcoming that due to their nature, epistolary novels often suffer from a very bad case of “telling, not showing.” I've read books in this format that were just exposition dump after exposition dump, and it gets to be a drag to read.

This one was a pretty engaging read. I was pretty invested in the plot. I wanted to read on as the characters worked to untangle the mystery of the giant robotic hand and see what would happen. Also, with the interview format, I found the characters decently captivating, and the author did a good job giving the main characters their voices and showcasing their personality through their words only, which I consider pretty hard to do since you can't use described action to show what these characters are like. Certain developments in the plot got me hooked enough to want to keep going and events happening to characters took me for a surprise.

I have some complaints with the book: it does sort of fall into the exposition dump from time to time, but it is by no means bad, in my viewpoint. It also suffers from a common epistolary problem in that sometimes, characters say things in supposed “interviews” that don't sound natural, since you're supposed to believe that the characters are saying this out loud in a conversation (I cannot imagine anyone saying with any kind of natural tone a sentence like “he had leathery-esque skin” out loud to someone else). A big plot complaint is, without any spoilers, how we get the “explanation” for the giant robot body parts. It seemed to come absolutely out of nowhere with no build-up, no foreshadowing, just dump a random exposition character in there.

On that last note...to be fair, this is the first in a trilogy of books, and it may be meant to be explored in the later books. The book ends on a cliffhanger, and a pretty intriguing one...

All in all, a pretty good book that's held back by some flaws, but an enjoyable read with a unique format!

⭐3.5⭐

2.5 stars

This didn't feel like a complete story and each of the interviews felt like the audience was missing parts of what was going on.

Interesting characters and premise and decent worldbuilding.

Book Club Pick #3

I listened to the audiobook, which I would definitely rec'd. It's told as a series of interviews, and I hear it's hard to follow physically.

It's started out SO good! I was hooked, and loving it. But the longer it went on the less I cared. I'm bummed. It had such potential.

3.5 ⭐️

Easy to read, interesting narrative choice (the whole story is narrated by means of a series of 1:1 interviews between two of the characters).

Оh, this was good!

This is an adult sci-fi that addresses one of my favorite subjects ever - finding mysterious things someone buried in the ground long ago.

It has multiple super interesting characters the majority of whom I alternately hated and loved (and one whom I hated passionately since the moment she showed up on page).
It has a very engaging plot packed with action, mystery and science.

But the most unique thing about this book is the format in which it's written - in the form of logs and conversation recordings. Basically, all dialogue.
How the author managed to create such a multilayered and engaging story with this format, I can't even begin to fathom.

I loved it all and I am so excited to continue with this series.

I really enjoyed the reading experience of this book and where it went. I re-emphasized to me how much I enjoy this type of book. My only real complaint, is that I never fully felt bonded with the characters. So I am withholding five stars for now, but I think story as a whole as a lot of potential.

Everything but the epilogue gets 5 stars, but I can't forgive the author's choice at the end. There would never be a moment of tension for me in the rest of the series, if consequences don't stick.

[Spoiler]In the philosophy of Scott Sigler, Dead = Dead[/spoiler]

3.5

It was fun to read but it just felt like a lot of rising action and no climax. I kinda dug the narration style and the idea though. IDK i get the feeling I'll give the full series a pretty good rating but the first book alone was just aight

Didn't think I would like a book about giant robots so much, but am now into the second of the series...

This story is told almost exclusively through interview tapes with the various characters over a few years. An ancient alien robot(mecha?) is discovered and resembled. The story deals with all of this information coming into the public light and the geopolitical situation that eventually develops from it. I'd be honest and say I wasn't hooked on the idea of continuing the series towards the middle of the book, but by the end, I have completely bought in and look forward to picking up the next installment.

Sleeping Giants is an engrossing full cast science fiction audiobook that reminds me of the heartbreakingly good movie The Iron Giant more than it should, basically only because, big robot.

A group of genius misfits, each with their own niche interests and skills, are herded into a team by a mysterious unnamed man. The team's mission is simple in theory but complex and often deadly in practice: 1) unearth and 2) understand the scattered pieces of an immense metal being governed by advanced technology.

Neuvel provokes questions about the ends justifying the means, what happens when professional and personal relationships overlap, and how work on a project with stakes high enough to end humanity as a whole warp one's ego and value of human life. Work where every choice is simultaneously carefully weighed and outrageously reckless. It's also about how emotions seep into whatever we do, no matter how high the stakes, for better or worse.

I think the main pitfall of Sleeping Giants is something I'm considering making a Goodreads shelf for: “male SFF author introduces really cool premise only whoops he can't write women and makes everything about sex which is a boring letdown.” I'm workshopping the name.

Overall, an entertaining ride about a painfully dedicated group of characters, with some interesting twists. Really fun to listen to. We'll see if I continue the series.

An alien artifact is discovered and this leads to a chase to get it all working again. Told through a series of interviews, the writing style brings to mind World War Z, although this time the media is all very similar rather than the extended cast used there. In this novel, the interviewer is a constant figure, although he is never quite named. The conversations recorded have a suitably official type feel and it allows the reader to parse together the outline of the story very effectively without telling it in a more descriptive manner.

The basic premise of god like aliens leaving tech behind on Earth has been done before, but the documentary style is effective at telling the story. The documentary style does lose some of the character development, but for this type of story that is less important

A solid start to what looks like an interesting trilogy

The format of the book is very conducive to audio with multiple voice actors. And these actors did a great job of conveying the individual personalities, the sarcasm, the back-n-forth verbal sword play, etc. I laughed alot too.

The subject matter is interesting and it leaves some mystery to keep you interested for more. I'll continue with the series.

DNF: 60%. Poorly written in every way with some sexism and ableism sprinkled on top.

i always get excited when the formatting of a book is a little different. This reads like files, and while it does a fantastic job in formulating a seamless story, it still left me wanting more.

Some devastating things happen to the protagonists, yet I failed to feel the impact as I wasn't able to connect with the characters through their dialogue which failed to allow their personalities to seep through.

It's a wonderful work of fiction regardless.

It combined giant robots with alien civilisations and threw in government conspiracies and a touch of religion too. All this while simultaneously being limited by the format, which is quite impressive.

It is also a very visual novel so I was disappointed that there were no accompanying graphics. Though that's a personal qualm.