If I wanted to be snarky, I'd say that this book is the most elaborate vehicle anyone has ever built just to set up a few good acronym puns.
To be fairIf I wanted to be snarky, I'd say that this book is the most elaborate vehicle anyone has ever built just to set up a few good acronym puns.
To be fair, it is an interesting story, and might suit your needs, if you're bored of the more standard story forms, and are looking for something different.
The story is told in a "found text" style, and also has some "comedy of errors" type elements.
The style didn't fully gel with me this time, and I would have been happier reading something less different....more
An interesting and different fantasy/scifi mas-up world. The story gives us a grand tour.
I wasn't that into it in the beginning, but it kept reeling mAn interesting and different fantasy/scifi mas-up world. The story gives us a grand tour.
I wasn't that into it in the beginning, but it kept reeling me in as the action started to unfold. About the third quarter was the strongest section. I was ready to give it four stars, but my overall impression in the end was just shy of that.
The narrative voice was somehow really strong. It gave a definite and banal viewpoint which made the strangeness of world easy to absorb. There was a superb ease in the way intelligence and superstition were mixed and matched, and nobody seemed that bothered about it. ...more
It seemed so promising on the surface, but didn't work for me. The plot is awesome, with loads of interesting themes, and I so wish it would have beenIt seemed so promising on the surface, but didn't work for me. The plot is awesome, with loads of interesting themes, and I so wish it would have been presented differently.
First, the biggest, most important reason why I did not like this book. Something just happened with the characters early on. Too many of them were too unlikable. I think there was on only one character I really found I wanted to follow. Some were bland, like in any book with huge amounts of characters, but too many were both one-dimensional and ugly. Maybe that's realistic, I don't know, but if it is, all the more reason for people to write fiction where people are better than that. One of the themes of the whole series seems to be redemption, so maybe starting with "sinners" is necessary for the plot arc. I just didn't like it, and what's worse, it cast some kind of a shadow over the rest of the book, and even when things started to get interesting, I just could not get rid of this gloomy lens I read the story through. This early problem ruined almost the whole book for me. And things really do get interesting. But the more I read, the more I hated the fact that I couldn't like any of it, because of this negative overall vibe I couldn't shake. I only started to feel better about everything in the final sixth of the book.
A smaller problem, ironically, was the huge size of the book. It's over a thousand pages. I was excited by the prospect of a long story, but the main plot only spans a few years. There is absolutely no reason why this plot could not have been fitted into 300 or 400 pages. Even with the need to present a back story for a series, 500 or 600 max. On top of that, it has a cliffhanger ending, so the story didn't really fit even this amount of pages in it's current form. The extra bulk is well written, but in no way necessary, and while interesting, I could not fully enjoy any of it because of the previously mentioned strange reason.
I just read the Wikipedia synopsis of this book, and while too short, it was a more enjoyable read than the actual work. This is the format I prefer, and I'll gladly read the rest of the series there. ...more
**spoiler alert** The story itself is a surprisingly straight forward adventure. I was expecting something more conceptual. Clarke's style may not be **spoiler alert** The story itself is a surprisingly straight forward adventure. I was expecting something more conceptual. Clarke's style may not be the best suited for such a conventional plot. He does the science stuff really well, but the excitement and energy needed to suck you in to the moment by moment progression is not there.
People may be crossing artificial oceans in flying bicycles, but you might as well yawn and think about what to have for dinner. Only afterwards, the concept of the ocean crossing will stay with you, and you will have to say to yourself that yeah, it's an impressive idea. The delivery, though, doesn't deliver instant excitement, the way a modern author would be expected to deliver it.
I was expecting something a bit weird and different, so the normality of the story surprised me. Still, it was a good book and I'll have to read more Clarke some day. ...more
I was positively surprised. I'd made a few false starts with this book previously, but now that I actually got into it, it was better than I expected.I was positively surprised. I'd made a few false starts with this book previously, but now that I actually got into it, it was better than I expected.
The writing style is unobtrusive, and as is Asimov's wont, the characters are shallow. They are there just to run through the plots. The plots, though, are the strong point of this book. The first one or two stories are not that interesting, but after that the stories get better and better.
Asimov talks about robots, but it's clear that the issues he deals with are still relevant. Just replace "robot" with "artificial intelligence", and this book is now as topical as ever, if not more so. I love the fact that most of the time the robots don't have any problems at all, it's the people who are having problems with relating to the machines.
I also appreciated the lack of violence. I've gotten tired of all the violence and bleakness in fiction....more
I really like Lem. The atmosphere his stories evoke really resonates with me. Most other books have little niggling bits that I don't agree with, Wow.
I really like Lem. The atmosphere his stories evoke really resonates with me. Most other books have little niggling bits that I don't agree with, plots, characters, whatever. But with Lem it all seems so right, even when I have no idea what's going on.
Before I read this, I'd seen the Clooney movie a few times, but didn't remember anything about it, except a for a vague feeling of not liking it. The movie kept me off this book. Then I read other stuff by Lem and liked it. Now I've read Solaris and liked it, too.
The plot is haphazard and the characters are stiff, but the philosophical musings are awesome. The info dumps were great. Even though they are fake science on an imaginary subject, I just really like the flow of Lem's reasoning.
I was afraid this would be more of a psychedelic surreal Philip K. Dick -style nonsense hodgepodge. Luckily all of Solaris seems to make sense. There's even a resolution offered to the mystery.
I'm looking forward to reading this again in a few years and rating it even higher, when it opens up even better for me....more
A downward turn for the series. There were five stories in the first book, and only two in this one. Still the two books are the same length. This meaA downward turn for the series. There were five stories in the first book, and only two in this one. Still the two books are the same length. This means that where the first book delivered five plots worth of story, this one delivers only two. With Asimov's style, this is a problem. His terse style relies on plot, so less plot is less everything.
I don't see any reason why these two stories had to be this much longer than the previous ones. The added length comes from additional prose, not from more complex plots. The plots are quite weak, actually, and I believe they would have worked better as shorter stories, in the super minimal style of the first book. Now, with excess fat, they drag.
This slightly more verbose Asimov is not bad per se, but it lacks the uniqueness that made the first book feel different and fresh....more
I read this collection to get a feel for Hamilton. It's a mixed bag. Most of the world ideas and plot devices are awesome, but some of the characters I read this collection to get a feel for Hamilton. It's a mixed bag. Most of the world ideas and plot devices are awesome, but some of the characters are a bit too nasty for my taste. It's a shame, really. I want to like this more, but can't help but feel disappointed, partly because it's so close to being really good....more
Very well written at the beginning, but a bit vague later on.
But what's up with the gloominess? Not just here, but in fiction in general? I don't get Very well written at the beginning, but a bit vague later on.
But what's up with the gloominess? Not just here, but in fiction in general? I don't get it. I thought fiction was supposed to be an opposing force to all the bullshit going on in the real world. I really don't understand the point of creating more injustice and darkness, even fictitious....more
Somewhat generic detective action, makes for a decent time-waster.
Some parts, not many, flirt with being so bad they are good again, in an ironic way.Somewhat generic detective action, makes for a decent time-waster.
Some parts, not many, flirt with being so bad they are good again, in an ironic way.
It did also get me thinking. The casual way this story mixes humans, robots, and cyborgs really blurs the the line on what is human and what artificial. Most stories with these themes are bland black and white human-good-robot-bad bores, so the unapologetic mishmash in this book came as a positive surprise....more
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