Bleak and haunting tale about the arbitrary valuation of life. The pinnacle of the cyberpunk genre.
I’m not big into the cyberpunk genre. I liked Snow Bleak and haunting tale about the arbitrary valuation of life. The pinnacle of the cyberpunk genre.
I’m not big into the cyberpunk genre. I liked Snow Crash because it was fun and didn’t take itself too seriously. I thought Neuromancer was an objectively bad book when I read it with terrible plotting, pacing and one dimensional characters. Accelerando suffered from similar problems. The thing about cyberpunk is that the books that constitute the genre are emblematic of the genre: vapid, shallow, frenetic pacing that almost always reads like a fever dream. They are usually unsatisfying books for me. That was not the case with Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep.
I actually loved this book. It started out and ended weird but the main character Rick Deckard and his noir bounty hunter chase to “retire” renegade androids captivated me as I read along. The reason this was good is because the characters and their emotions really mattered to the story. This story is deeply dystopic and almost apocalyptic where the Earth has been scourged with radioactive dust and large swathes of humanity have colonized parts of the solar system. Living creatures are now rare on Earth, highly coveted and even a status symbol. One of the biggest motivators of Rick is to obtain a live animal to take home to his life that he can buy by killing renegade androids. Rick is deeply depressed and relies on an emotion box fused with religious dogma to regulate his emotions.
He wondered, then, if the others who had remained on Earth experienced the void this way. Or was it peculiar to his peculiar biological identity, a freak generated by his inept sensory apparatus?
The greatest thing about this book is the apparent paradox of the ignored humanity of the fugitive androids. Rick sees them as a dollar sign but he starts to understand the arbitrary valuation of life as he seeks a sexual relationship with Rachel and then ultimately quells that cognitive dissonance for his own self interest using the prevailing religion of the day, Mercerism.
Listen to the words of Rachel the android:
We are machines stamped out like bottle caps. It’s an illusion that I personally really exist. I’m just representative of a type. How does it feel to be born, for that matter? We’re not born; we don’t grow up; instead of dying from illness or old age, we wear out like ants. Ants again that’s what we are. Not you, I mean me. Chitinous reflex-machines who aren’t really alive.
And the Rick’s rationalizations and deep nihilism:
You will be required to do wrong no matter where you go. It is the basic condition of life, to be required to violate your own identity. At some time, every creature which lives must do so. It is the ultimate shadow, the defeat of creation. This is the curse at work, the curse that feeds on all life.
And this is paired with Rick’s own paradoxes and self loathing when speaking to Rachel:
If you weren’t an android, if I could legally marry you, I would.
Ultimately I think this book is about the social constructs and self interest that allow our biases and discrimination to bloom and harm others. The androids do have value because of their lived experience but the human dystopia doesn’t recognize it, something that even Rick admits:
The electric things have their lives, too. Paltry as those lives are.
Side note: I can't believe this book was written in the 1960s. Way, way ahead of it's time. Truly brilliant. ...more
It's a cool continuation of the prior novella although in a completely different direction. The developments were interesting but kind of felt contrivIt's a cool continuation of the prior novella although in a completely different direction. The developments were interesting but kind of felt contrived and arbitrary. I love the world developed and the main character. These two short books are definitely worth your time. ...more
A tale of an outcast who doesn't forget what matters.
Spoilers:
I love Tchaikovsky and am making my way through his novellas. This didn't disappoint andA tale of an outcast who doesn't forget what matters.
Spoilers:
I love Tchaikovsky and am making my way through his novellas. This didn't disappoint and I enjoyed every bit of it. You'll find the story of a post-terraformed world in the distant future whose society and human genomes have been altered and aided by AI to help the settlers survive. The main character, through no fault of his own, becomes a pariah from his small village and sets out hungry and impoverished to find any means on which to live. Duped by a demagogue, he joins forces with a revolutionary movement and learns the earthly origins and common ancestry of the villages that dot the area. But the main character doesn't forget that everyone has their own narrative they follow to justify cruelty and bring about new change. It's a beautiful and exciting tale. ...more
Yes, of course duct tape works in a near-vacuum. Duct tape works anywhere. Duct tape is magic and should be worshOne of the best books I’ve ever read.
Yes, of course duct tape works in a near-vacuum. Duct tape works anywhere. Duct tape is magic and should be worshiped.
Somehow I never read this book when it first came out. And then I saw the movie which I thought was decent and I put to bed the entire phenomenon of The Martian. And wow was I a fool to do this. I finally read it and I must say, this is easily one of the best books I have ever read.
I started the day with some nothin’ tea. Nothin’ tea is easy to make. First, get some hot water, then add nothin.
Here are the reasons this book is so utterly good and is an instant classic: detailed and easily digested science and engineering, survivor story, Mars setting, likeable and relatable main character, pacing, constant twists and satisfyingly ending, the sparking of hope for humanity. The book is simply a magic combination of things that work and when it's all packaged together, it simply a masterpiece.
I'm calling it the Watney Triangle because after what I've been through, shit on Mars should be named after me.
The critical thinking and problem solving is the lubricant that makes you turn each page. The odds that Watney faces and how he overcomes them with tenacity, grit and science is incredibly compelling. There is something so dynamic about the problem solving a single brilliant engineering alongside that of a beauratictic committee thinking at NASA. Both are important and both have their places.
Me: “This is obviously a clog. How about I take it apart and check the internal tubing?” NASA: (after five hours of deliberation) “No. You’ll fuck it up and die.” So I took it apart.
The humanity and humor of Whatney is what makes this story absolute magic. It it the tiny details about him trying to not only survive but actually have a meaningful quality of life while he is on Mars that makes this book so realistic and relatable. The fact that Watney cuts canvas out of the Hab (the main place he lives to survive) to make more of a comfortable "bedroom" for the rover as he travels to reach the Ares 4 MAV is so realistic and relatable that it really elevated the story and character. I absolutely cried at the end of this book and I loved the final passage so much:
If a hiker gets lost in the mountains, people will coordinate a search. If a train crashes, people will line up to give blood. If an earthquake levels a city, people all over the world will send emergency supplies. This is so fundamentally human that it's found in every culture without exception. Yes, there are assholes who just don't care, but they're massively outnumbered by the people who do.
Look I got nothing else to say that people don't already know. I'm ten years late to this party but I just wanted to gush. Read or reread this book today....more
What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy?
This is about my fifth Le Guin book and she is an absolute master. The folly of doing good.
What sane person could live in this world and not be crazy?
This is about my fifth Le Guin book and she is an absolute master. It's not just her prose, which is simple and beautiful, it's the premise, the worlds, the characters, the relationships and the masterful commentary about not only our society but often what it is to even be human.
Spoilers about the plot. (view spoiler)[This book is about a man, George Orr, whose dreams change reality upon his awakening. This causes extreme distress to George who takes drugs to suppress his dreaming which is illegal and lands him in front of a psychiatrist, Haber, to rehabilitate him. Haber figures out that Orr is not crazy but does in fact change reality with his dreams. Haber, considering himself a force for good to remove all the social ailments from the world, using a machine to control Orr's dreams and to make a new society in his image. The results, are of course, like making wishes to the monkey paw as it doesn't quite turn out the way Haber would like. He asks for world peace and gets aliens who attack which causes humanity to unite in peace. And so forth. What we get in the end is a dystopic authoritarian society where race and disease don't exist anymore but with that, the loss of humanity and even entire people like the black woman and love interest, Heather Lelache (hide spoiler)]
He had grown up in a country run by politicians who sent the pilots to man the bombers to kill the babies to make the world safe for children to grow up in.
The derangement and cycles of reality that happen in this book give a surreal quality that is not unlike reality. It's incredible this book was written in the 70s. The language, characters and story do not seem outdated at all.
The ethos of the issues with Haber and what are ultimately fascist ideas can be summed up in this quote from him:
"We need health. We simply have no room for the incurables, the gene-damaged who degrade the species; we have not time for wasted, useless suffering".
I find it interesting that Le Guin used the names George Orr and Haber. I'm almost positive she meant George Orr is a reference to George Orwell (mentioned in the book) and his ability to create worlds and to try to navigate them. And I believe Le Guin intentionally is evoking the nazi scientist Fritz Haber, the man who developed the Haber process which created chemical warfare and also helped to free nitrogen from the air to prevent likely billions from starving. The paradox of Haber's intentions and impacts are clear in the book.
Love doesn't just sit there, like a stone, it has to be made, like bread; remade all the time, made new.
Patternmaster is the fourth and final book in the Patternmaster series and I can say that while I didn’t exacA joyless tale of generational domination
Patternmaster is the fourth and final book in the Patternmaster series and I can say that while I didn’t exactly enjoy this series, I’m certainly glad I read it and can say it is wholly unique and worth your time. Every book of this series is very different in setting and plot but they all cluster around the same themes: domination politics, patriarchy and eugenics. These themes are then weaved into a very sci-fi tale that spans thousands of years beginning in the 1700s in the fist book Wild Seed and ending thousands of years in a bizarre post-apocalyptical future in Patternmaster.
Minor spoilies ahead
These books are about a society of human beings with special telepathic and telekinetic abilities that have been bred to unleash their potential over many generations by a demigod in the prior books. The second installment Mind of My Mind was a masterful tale about subversion of the power dynamic that results in a new type of human being that fundamentally changes and later controls society. What I found both interesting and depressing is that these same power dynamics are playing out thousands of years later in a brutal and autocratic mind regime in this book. I found Patternmaster really compelling with great main characters Teray and Amber. I also really enjoyed how this story dovetailed with what happened in Clay’s Ark, a book I found really hard to read because it was so unenjoyable. Despite the convergence of the plot lines, I was left feeling that the entire tale was kind of arbitrary because it seems that nothing has changed in human politics despite fundamental changes in human ability. This was a very depressing conclusion but nevertheless poignant.
I overall recommend this series but don’t expect to exactly enjoy it. The sci fi concepts, setting, characters and prose is really top notch but I can’t help to just kind of be bummed out after reading all this.
P.S. I read this series in chronological order, not publication order and it worked for me. ...more
A fast paced, time dilation space thriller with heart.
I hated that to save the world, we had to change its mind.
I don’t know what I was expecting whenA fast paced, time dilation space thriller with heart.
I hated that to save the world, we had to change its mind.
I don’t know what I was expecting when I opened up this book but it wasn’t this. And I mean that in a good way. This is an interstellar space travel epic with the urgency of Earth climate disaster, a genre that is well worn and well loved and still very much relevant. The book started out awkward for me because of one of the book’s cosmology mechanics called orbital locking. The orbital locking didn’t make a lot of sense to me and I still don’t think it does, but I stopped caring because I really enjoyed the implications of the time dilation and its bearing on the story and characters. What we get in the end with Time’s Ellipse is a very interesting narration told over thousands of years that still somehow maintains its cohesion.
But there’s no solution that keeps us human. Only one that keeps us alive.
I’ve never read anything with this kind of narrative structure. There isn’t really a main character, but rather chronological vignettes of dozens of characters that the reader pieces together. I found this story-telling both bold and interesting if not a little risky but I think the author pulled it off.
(view spoiler)[It was really compelling reading about how some initial characters later became gods to their offspring. One of the most enjoyable parts of reading this book was to see how a pagan-like lore and religion developed from a group of initial astronauts and unwitting settlers. Really cool stuff and the highlight for me. (hide spoiler)]
This book was like reading something along the lines of Neal Stephenson’s climate crisis told over many generations in Seveneves with Tchaikovsky’s space settler book Children of Memory all told with the narrative tone of that main character from the movie Snatch. It was quite the combo and I definitely enjoyed it....more
There you have it, my third reread of this series and I got to say: it holds up. Of all the old school sci fi bMy favorite classic sci fi series ever.
There you have it, my third reread of this series and I got to say: it holds up. Of all the old school sci fi books I've read, this is the pinnacle. Yes it's better than Dune. Dune is awesome but the series as a whole crumbles under its own mysticism and becomes pretty incomprehensible. Foundation, on the other hand, starts out very strong, dips a little bit as Asimov explores new concepts, and then finishes really strong with the two prequels. These books are by no means perfect and suffer from bland prose, often poor characterization and sexism but as a whole, this series is some of the best sci fi that anyone can read. The series not only takes hard sic fi concepts like a intergalactic empire and space travel but overlays it with the incredible concept of psychohistory and then unravels an amazing tale of shadow governments, conspiracy, espionage, subterfuge, political brinksmanship all while exploring how different societies arrange themselves into autocracies, democracies and even communism.
MAJOR SPOILIES AHEAD
I felt bad for Asimov because aging is an enormous part of this book. Seldon ages from forty into his seventies and then dies at the end of the book after setting up the Foundation. Seldon is constantly depressed about aging and losing his loved ones and I can't help but think Asimov was projecting his own fears of age and death as he wrote this. Asimov died in 1992 and this book was published in 1993. Despite the weaknesses and sexism of Foundation, I do think Asimov was an amazing sci fi writer and he has been such an inspiration to me ever since I read this series when I was a teenager. I remember been exhilarated by the thought "Wow, THIS is science fiction." He inspired me to become a sci fi writer and a lot of Foundation influenced by own book Refraction.
This book is the second prequel and is a direct continuation of the preceding Prelude to Foundation. It centers on the author of psychohistory, Hari Seldon, and his family. This book is Asimov's most successful attempt at creating sympathetic characters. Most characters up to this point are fairly one dimensional and outright awful to read (don't get me started about Trevize, a character I loathe). This story centers around Seldon and his relationships with his wife Dors, his orphan son Raych and his grand daughter Wanda. Seldon also has meaningful relationships with Eto Demerzel (who is Daneel and ends up being the only robot left behind on Earth's moon in the final chronological book in the series). It's really cool to see how everything came together and was almost lost to start the Foundation and the telepathic Second Foundation which Wanda started on Trantor. I really enjoyed watching everything converge and it made reading these two prequel books essential to experiencing everything this series has to offer.
Anyway, farewell to Foundation until I reread you again in ten years....more
This is the fourth book in the Foundation series and my third read of the series and I just got to say that I’m eatiEspionage and social arrangements.
This is the fourth book in the Foundation series and my third read of the series and I just got to say that I’m eating this series up. It is sooo good and unique. Yes it still suffers from sexism and patriarchy like the prior books. Looking past the flaws, I think this is probably my favorite science fiction series I’ve ever read.
MAJOR SPOILERS:
This fourth book is after the ordeal with the Mule and the First Foundation believing they have finally vanquished the Second Foundation in the prior book. This book is about the linchpin character Trevize who believes the Second Foundation is still in operation because the Seldon Plan is running a bit too smoothly and reeks of orchestration. And then we have a second POV by Gendibal who is actually from the cabal of the Second Foundation and he claims the Seldon Plan is working too smoothly when they look at the Prime Radiant which must be evidence that there is another agent at work, pulling the strings. So you have these two parallel stories going on with amazing espionage and subterfuge and very cool deductions happening between the characters. One of the main elements in this book is the power struggle and politicking between the established physical government representative of the First Foundation and the shadow government which is the Second Foundation. It’s all really compelling to read.
And then on top of that you have the search for Gaia which as we come to find out is a world of in which all organism live in mental harmony which was created by the “Eternals” who are robots from thousands of years ago who apparently followed the First Law of Robotics so much that they created an entire dimension where humans are the only intelligent life form in order to protect them forever. So you have that little plot point going on which is worked really deftly into the story and everything interests the character Trevize. Trevize has some sort of unspoken and special ability to have a mind unaltered from mentalic influence. Gaia has selected him to make a decision for humanity: how should civilization proceed? He has three options: 1. Go with the autocratic and military rule of the First Foundation in order to establish a second galactic empire 2. Go with the shadow government that will be led by the Second Foundation or 3. Go with Gaia who will spread their consciousness throughout the galaxy to integrate all together in harmony. Basically the three options are fascism, technocracy or communism. Trevize goes with the third option, not because he believes it is the best, but it will take thousands of years to accomplish thus buying time for further options.
I’m amazed that Asimov took his story here. His willingness to abandon the Seldon Plan and explore these concepts and the politics involved is truly something special. I think Asmiov had a really great mind to work these concepts into his science fiction.
At any rate. I LOVE this series and loved this book. ...more
The politics of espionage and geopolitical subversion.
Spoilies ahead
This third installment and my third reread of Foundation has solidified for me thaThe politics of espionage and geopolitical subversion.
Spoilies ahead
This third installment and my third reread of Foundation has solidified for me that this is one of my favorite sci fi series I've ever read and deserves its status in the pantheon of the sci fi greats. We get a continuation from the cliffhanger from the previous books which focuses on the disruption of the Mule who has thrown off Seldon's grand plan of psychohistory which predicts the end of orderly galactic rule based on the statistics of populations.
With the Mule we get the portrait of a autocratic leader: emotional weak, wounded, resentful and unable to adapt because of a calcified system necessarily created by his own rule in the first place. This book is about the weakness of the autocrat and the espionage of a shadow government, the Second Foundation, and their mind games played from a distance to not only defeat the autocrat but actually convince him that he has won. Nothing will defeat an enemy faster than getting them to believe they are the victors of the war.
The second half of this book deals with the Second Foundation seeking to maintain control of not only the First Foundation but to continue to exist in the shadows to ensure the Seldon plan comes to fruition. I loved the perspective of the First Foundation conspirators and the fourteen-year-old Arkady who is one of the great heroines of the story and who is the grand-daughter of the heroine of the previous book, Bayta. Sadly, however, what I first thought was a really well written young woman protagonist turned out to be the acts of a person controlled by a cabal of men. So that was a bit of a bummer. But, I really sympathized with the First Foundationers who perceived the Second Foundation as an enemy. As the reader this didn't make sense to me at first since they should have the same goals but then I realized Asimov's genius: this is exactly how people behave. A society would only perceive a shadow government with mental powers as an enemy, it doesn't matter what lore is wrapped around it.
How this story wraps up is really amazing. The genius of the Second Foundation and how they subvert literally every one of their enemies is really compelling and teaches the reader a lot about geopolitics and the nature of politics in general. Overall this is such an amazing series and very easy to read. I highly, highly recommend it. ...more
I have had a long and arduous journey with this series. I’m overall glad that I finished it but it took me fGood storytelling, underwhelming delivery.
I have had a long and arduous journey with this series. I’m overall glad that I finished it but it took me five years. After I read the second installment Shift I gave up on the series because I found that book to be quite boring with one dimensional characters. I felt the books didn’t quite live up to the hype. But then, years later, I watched the Apple TV show Silo which I thought was really well done and it sparked my interest again to finally get to Dust. Now having finished the series, I’m quite happy I did but I’m still feeling a disconnect between the popularity of this series and what it actually delivers.
This series mostly does everything right and Howey’s greatest strength is the storytelling. The way he unravels the setting, the plot and the mysterious origin story is extremely well done and I think what accounts for this series blowing up so much. Howey is a very talented writer. Juliette is a truimph in characterization. She is well fleshed out with a good backstory, develops and succeeds despite everything going against her. She is brave, integritous and very admirable and is the centerpiece of this story.
I found the rest of the elements of this series to be only mediocre but nothing bad. There are many stock characters who get stage time but not a lot of development. The other main characters like Donald, Charlotte and Lucas don’t ever get fully fleshed out to me. The subplots seemed like filler. When you stand back and look at all three books there actually isn’t that much plot. The origin story of the entire conflict goes a little too far for my suspended disbelief. How everything happened at the beginning of this story and why the silos were created—it doesn’t make a whole lot of sense. The “nanos” are used too liberally as a plot device and resolution. I feel like Howey created a great premise and used a little too much elbow grease to polish out the rough edges of the plot and because of this the delivery and resolution fell flat and was very underwhelming and predictable.
At any rate, this is a decent series and I’m excited to keep watching the show because it is outstanding....more
I put off reading this for years. I was weary of negative reviews and I suspected it was one of those insufferable intellectual piecFrom 2 to 5 stars.
I put off reading this for years. I was weary of negative reviews and I suspected it was one of those insufferable intellectual pieces like Too Like the Lightning or Ninefox Gambit, and honestly it was in the beginning. The dread started to grow in me as I read prose way, way too carefully chosen with absolutely no clue what was going on in the story.
But then...
But then there was enough plot threads and world building to keep me going and then I absolutely fell in love with the writing when I just leaned into and accepted that this entire novel is just one long poem. Once I got it, I really got it. This is an insanely beautiful book. The writing and prose is absolutely spectacular. The content of the story is very compelling and the main two antagonists are very raw and authentic. What unfolds toward the end of this little story is seriously beautiful and unique. The authors and very good at what they do and executed this novella perfectly. I HIGHLY recommend this....more
I almost DNF'd this book and the entire series at the 50% mark. King clearly was doing stream of conscious wrI don't know what this is, but I like it.
I almost DNF'd this book and the entire series at the 50% mark. King clearly was doing stream of conscious writing and it started to get REAL tedious at around 40% with tons of extraneous details and many, many coincidences in the plotting and it was starting to get contrived and boring. I took the matter to my Twitter and Discord pals that I really wanted to DNF. Most were like "do you, DNF" but there were the dissenters that were adamant that I should persevere and so I did. And I'm totally happy I finished this because it was awesome.
I don't know what this series is and that's what makes me keep picking up the books. It's urban fantasy and science fiction and horror and post-apocalyptic and found family all rolled together. After King gets a bunch of arbitrary nonsense out of his system, that later half of this book is bizarre, unique and really, really compelling. The city of Lud and the bonkers characters including Tik-Tok man and Blaine the Pain are just like a train wreck to read. I could hardly put this down after 50%. And then the main protagonist cohesion really started to come together which I really enjoyed. The characters have always been good in this series but it wasn't till this book that I started to care about them. The mystery of the Dark Tower and all the parallel inter-dimensionality and cataclysmic things on the horizon really worked for me and I ended really enjoying this book. I will definitely be picking up the next one....more
I enjoyed this quick paced story that had the feel of techno-thriller but the tone of a psychological-thriller.Like Blake Crouch re-wrote Vanilla Sky.
I enjoyed this quick paced story that had the feel of techno-thriller but the tone of a psychological-thriller. Armitage lays the bread crumbs that keep the reader going about a mystery surrounding a single man who lives in a peculiar city where manipulating the past has become mundane to make wanted changes to the present but with the stipulation that this power is within corporate hands. There are strong themes of personhood, choice and accountability which also made it fairly thought provoking. The writing is clean and to the point which I think fits this genre very well. The story finds a good balance between being both character and plot driven.
I would've liked to see just a tad more exposition. I enjoyed the way in which retrofitting the past to the present was done but a little bit more of the mechanisms would've dispelled some distracting confusion I had as I read along. A little more exposition also would've helped provide context for a lot of other plot elements like the protest movement and the back story of several of the main characters. The characters didn't quite jump off the page for me and could've been fleshed out a tad more. Overall, it was an enjoyable read and I think fans of techno/spy/crime/psychological thrillers like Blake Crouch or Daniel Suarez might enjoy....more
This is like my seventh Tchaikovsky read and this only cements in my mind that he's one of the greatest contemporary sciThe wizard who isn't a wizard.
This is like my seventh Tchaikovsky read and this only cements in my mind that he's one of the greatest contemporary sci fi writers. This novella combines space faring colonization with hybridized cybernetic wizard (Nyr) who is so advanced he's a wizard to a young royal warrior (Lynesse) who has something to prove to her mom. The setting, plot and characterization are masterful as long of the switching between 3rd and 1st person POV. Nyr's vulnerability and emotional catastrophe pairs so nicely with the myth of what Lynesse believes he should be. This was wholly original and an absolute delight to read. Highly recommend. ...more
I could feel my own brain while I finished reading this
I've never read anything like Children of Memory. I had some hesitation at first because, althoI could feel my own brain while I finished reading this
I've never read anything like Children of Memory. I had some hesitation at first because, although I'm a big fan of Tchaikovsky (especially his Final Architecture) I wasn't a big fan of the preceding book to this, Children of Ruin which I found to be a little too dry without enough dynamic story telling. But I am sooooooo glad I picked this book up because it was a stunning and beautiful piece of science fiction unlike anything I've ever read. This third installment in this series is completely different from the other books and in all the best ways.
The backstory does matter and informs a lot of the characters and plot of this third book, but it's okay if you don't remember a lot of the stuff in the prior books because the author does a good job of recalling to the reader the prior stuff that actually matters. And the characters here are phenomenal. From the sentient-goo occupying a human/spider hybrid to a pair of crows that may or may not have dual sentience, there is some compelling stuff going on right from the get go. And then you have the backstory of the prior earth ark ships that tried to seed the galaxy and all their ecstasy and agony along the way. The narration is very good here at cobbling all these past plot points together to get you to actually care about what now is going on.
The author starts bringing in some welcomed fantasy elements into a new terraformed world where the majority of the story happens. The storytelling and mystery is incredibly engaging. The fledging colony, with all its hope and setbacks, is just really compelling. About 2/3 of the way into this book you realize something weird is happening and that your probably going to have everything turned upside down on you. And guess what, that's exactly what happens. At first I was like "hmm is this some dues ex Machina stuff going on?" The answer is no. What happens instead is the author completely shattering conceptions of autonomy, personhood and shattering and redrawing you expectations and perception of what sentience really is. Yeah. Tchaikovsky really pulls it off here and created just a stunning, though-provoking read that will make you feel your own brain as your reading. It was a little scary tbh.
A note about the writing style: it has a lot of exposition and lots telling over showing. But it works, really, really well. Why? Because the author has the confidence in his story and knows exactly what kind of reader experience he is crafting. This book is a prime example that there really aren't hard rules in writing.
There's nothing like this book at there. I highly recommend it. My overall rating for the series is 5/5 and that's even with Children of Ruin being 3/5. In fact, if you aren't really into Ruin, you could skip it and still pick up this book, which you should because it's amazing.
This series is an absolute gem and I've read every installment. Here we get another side quest adventure on a planet of coloMurderbot murderbots again
This series is an absolute gem and I've read every installment. Here we get another side quest adventure on a planet of colonists who are about to get duped into corporate servitude and Murderbot has to protect them while trying to not kill humans while enjoying media as well. You'll get exactly what you expect with this installment and I enjoyed it.
One issue that I have with these books is the plot is always kind of an after thought which usually works because Murderbot is such a dynamic and sympathetic character. The world and setting itself has always been vague including the social arrangements, location and even time. This makes the plot kind of arbitrary. And I find that the series has become pretty repetitive at this point and they're all kind of congealing in my head so much that I don't think I need to read any more of this series. I think this will be my last foray and I won't read the inevitable future installments. I just don't think the material has more to offer than it already has. At any rate, I look forward to the hopeful screen adaptation of this iconic character....more
Yeah this series is a total winner. The third installment really rounds out the story and fleshes out the characters in ways I didn't eVery satisfying
Yeah this series is a total winner. The third installment really rounds out the story and fleshes out the characters in ways I didn't expect. Throughout this series I've enjoyed the characters and the plot but I didn't think this third book would exceed my expectations but I got to say Adrian not only stuck the landing but elevated the entire series with the final book.
First, the characters are just phenomenal. From Idris, Solace, Olli and Kris the humans from the incredible cast of alien creatures including Kit, Ash, Aklu and many more, a huge world with cultures and quirks is expanded on with each book. And then amazing developments happen with every character because the author does that magical thing where he makes every character matter. There are some epic developments particularly with Olli and Idris and the complexity of the character relationships deepen as well with the plot developments. The author even brings in newer POV of lesser prior characters and also makes them matter. What we get is an awesome narrative told through a diverse cast which makes for an engaging page turner.
The plot was so, so solid and the ending was so cool and so touching. The mysterious thread throughout the series is definitely resolved in unexpected ways and it totally worked for me. Now, Adrian's story-telling may be a problem for a lot of readers. There is quite a bit of exposition and info-dumping and telling over showing. Also some of the sci-fi plot mechanics are definitely hand wavy and get a little ethereal. This will irk some readers but I can say it worked well for me because I had buy-in right up front. This last book is the best in the series followed by the first and the second remains the classic middle book....more
This was a phenomenal sequel to Wild Seed which continues the story but in a different time period but some of the same characterThe circuit of power.
This was a phenomenal sequel to Wild Seed which continues the story but in a different time period but some of the same characters. I don't want to get to spoilie with this but this book was really, really excellent. Aside from the assessible prose, the characters and dialogue just jump off the page. There is a lot of brutality and violence in this book and it's all mixed up with power struggles and also a reframing of mental illness. I loved the dynamic between Doro and Mary and how their relationship absolutely transforms into something very, very different. The themes of power and domination are salient here. A lot of the plot points and developments happened as disembodied people, which I don't always love, but Butler got it to work really well. I will definitely be continuing this series. ...more
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