Well, I've only got myself to blame. I didn't like I'm Thinking of Ending Things and swore I wouldn't read this author again. But noooooo. I let myselfWell, I've only got myself to blame. I didn't like I'm Thinking of Ending Things and swore I wouldn't read this author again. But noooooo. I let myself be convinced to try Foe, even though I trust the source.
Just goes to show that we are all different and taste is certainly subjective.
Foe is a bleak, near future novel, set in what is obviously a climate damaged Earth (oooo, but we don't come out and actually say it. Let's let the readers think they're smart.), and a stranger shows up to an isolated farm couple with an amazing offer to the husband that will change their lives and better humanity. I totally saw where this story was going. I've seen way too many Twilight Zone and Black Mirror episodes for me not to figure this one out. But besides that, and this is going to seem like a bizarre analogy but it’s exactly the imagery that came to mind, I felt that this story was in an isolated box. What I mean is that I felt totally disengaged with it both from a sense of place and how uninteresting I found the characters.
I will say that his final chapters were quite good, just good enough to save this from a one-star rating for me. But this was a tedious one. For a good 60% of this novel I was getting frustrated with it and just wanted to cut to the chase already. If it hadn't been a relatively short novel with some very short chapters, I would have DNF'd at that point. It was an okay tale that would have been best served as a short story, in my humble opinion.
A lot of people liked this, so I am once again an outlier. Two stars from me....more
Back in the mid-80s when I had re-discovered reading for pleasure (four years after high school English almost killed it for me forever), horror and sBack in the mid-80s when I had re-discovered reading for pleasure (four years after high school English almost killed it for me forever), horror and science fiction were my go-to genres. With the help of some good friends, I discovered the greats of sci-fi, namely Arthur C. Clarke. As the decades went by, my tastes didn't change all that much, but the genre certainly did for the most part. From the beginning of the new millennium on, it seemed that new works were predominantly weighted down with cautionary themes (if we humans don't smarten up, we're doomed), and how political/social consciousness is affected by whatever far future idea an author has dreamed up. All well and good if you're into that kind of thing, and certainly worthwhile things to ponder. But I don't look for this in my reading life and frankly it turns me off.
I read for escapism and all I really want is great characters and story. Sure, teach me something along the way or be thought provoking, but don't hit me over the head with it.
I had leaned away from science fiction because, as an old man once said, "they just don't write 'em like that any more" (Okay, that was me. And I'm not really that old. Anyway.) But I still have hope that lightning will strike again, that I will find something that will blow my mind or give me that wonderful sense of wonder I had while reading the masters. So I still look. Recently I had the bright idea of searching for Rendezvous with Rama (one of my absolute favourites) in the r/printSF subreddit for similar reads, and a couple of people suggested Pushing Ice, and received many upvotes. So I went for it and was not disappointed.
What I loved so much about Rendezvous with Rama was the exploration of an alien artifact. Pushing Ice really did deliver on this. It was a terrific premise: one of the moons of Saturn suddenly breaks orbit and accelerates out of our solar system towards a distant star. Obviously this was not a moon and the crew on the space vessel Rockhopper (who mine ice from comets), are given the opportunity to follow the "moon" to its destination. The exploration and discoveries are exactly the type of thing I came for. Aliastair Reynolds does a lot of big science but most of the story is delivered with dialogue amongst the crew. This makes for an easier read, which could have been a real slog in the hands of other authors who can be overly descriptive in the manner of science texts. I had read Reynolds only once before, and that was Chasm City, which I enjoyed quite a bit. It had a nice dark edge to it which I really liked, and I was able to visualize everything he described. Which is odd because I had a lot of difficultly visualizing Rockhopper in this novel. I had a very hard time understanding where things were happening, particularly not knowing if what he described was on the inside or outside of the ship. Now, this could very well be a shortcoming on my part. Obviously with the story told via dialogue, Reynolds' stories are character-centric. Which is great, but I have to say that while they were a big part of the story, strangely I didn't feel they were all that well developed. I didn't really feel a whole lot for them, except for Bella.
There was one particular story arc concerning a suspicious death which I wasn't really invested in, and it kept coming up through the story, when all I really wanted was more alien discoveries.
All in all though, Reynolds had some big picture / big ideas stuff going on that were very satisfying. If you do go in, he's going to throw a lot of technological advances at you that are unexplained. If this stalls you, don't worry about it. They become very familiar over time and I liked how he did that.
Four strong stars for now. We'll see what sort of lingering qualities this has on me and whether I bump it up....more
Arguably one of Clarke's best novels, this one was a just mediocre for me.
Feeling nostalgic for that great feeling that 2001: A Space Odyssey and RendArguably one of Clarke's best novels, this one was a just mediocre for me.
Feeling nostalgic for that great feeling that 2001: A Space Odyssey and Rendezvous With Rama gave me, that wonderous feeling of discovering alien things and the mystery of it all, I went to the printsf subreddit group (which is terrific) and searched for Rama to find like-minded stories. The City and the Stars came up a few times so I was sold. Overall it was a fine read, and despite the fact that I was feeling dissatisfied for most of it in regards to discovery, this did eventually deliver somewhat in the final third of the novel.
But I found, unlike 2001 and Rama, that the writing was hard to get through. I can't quite put my finger on it, but this 200 page novel really felt like 400 pages. Not that it was overly dense, but I guess I found the prose rather stilted and I found myself fighting to stay awake through it.
I never regret reading Clarke, though. His imagination and intelligence as a writer set the bar for SF writers, and overall this was a cool story and concept. It just didn't flow easily for me and I although I'm glad I read it, I'm also glad to move on to something that will flow into my head better....more
I was so excited for this one early on. As some of you may know, science fiction was my go-to genre when I first got back into reading in my early tweI was so excited for this one early on. As some of you may know, science fiction was my go-to genre when I first got back into reading in my early twenties. After devouring so many exciting titles from Clarke, Simmons, Varley, etc., once the 2000s rolled in, something got lost for me. It seemed the genre became more focused on being "important" with cautionary tales of humanity destroying itself or our planet. Yee haw. (That was sarcasm for yawn.)
Yet, I am still on the lookout for sci fi reads that will rekindle that sense of wonder that the masters were able to do. And I really thought I hit it here. This novel had a terrific premise about terraforming and evolution. I won't go into any details because it's best if you go into those first chapters blind for some very nice surprises.
However, at 40% I started to notice a lot of repetition in the novel, whereby one race is evolving to goodness and, of course, humanity devolves. After reading a couple of negative reviews I felt vindicated that these reviewers found the same thing, and that the progression was repeated throughout the novel. At this point I was getting bored with it, and with over 300 pages still to go, I have decided to pull the pin and move on to something else.
Despite the great ideas, the themes here are not what I am looking for in my reading life. Give me wonder and discovery in my science fiction; I already see enough of humanity behaving badly in the real world, thank you very much.
Your taste will definitely vary; Tchaikovsky is a very engaging writer for the most part....more
I won't say this is my favourite of hers, but it was still pretty great and very clever. Emily St. John Mandel is best known for Station Eleven, which I won't say this is my favourite of hers, but it was still pretty great and very clever. Emily St. John Mandel is best known for Station Eleven, which I enjoyed, but wasn't particularly driven to read her again. As it turned out, I did end up reading The Glass Hotel, and it was one of my top five novels of the year. Just fantastic character development and linking of storylines that wins for me every time.
Now, Sea of Tranquility comes in as my second favourite of hers. Like The Glass Hotel, there are a few storylines to make up the story as a whole. And, should I tell you this or not?
...
NO!
You'll realize once you're into it.
I don't think there is much more that I need to say. If you enjoy her writing, she will not disappoint here. I really enjoy reading her and can't wait to see what she comes up with next.
Have I only been reading this a week? It feels like two. I am at the point where I cannot read a few paragraphs without falling asleep.
It's nDNF at 52%
Have I only been reading this a week? It feels like two. I am at the point where I cannot read a few paragraphs without falling asleep.
It's not the math or the science. I'm a techie guy, but I'm done with the incessant attention to detail clogging up this plotline. I'm also done with the cheerful disposition of someone who's alone in space with the future of humanity solely on his shoulders. I like the story. But these things are making it difficult to for me to stay engaged.
Again, this bucks the popularity trend (although after looking around I can see I'm not the only one who feels this way), but I don't care. Life is too short and I'm not spending another week having my chin hit my chest.
I am headed for spoiler country now to cut to the chase....more
Those who have followed me over the past several years might raise their eyebrows when they see me reviewing a science fiction novel, and that would bThose who have followed me over the past several years might raise their eyebrows when they see me reviewing a science fiction novel, and that would be warranted given that I don't read it all that often anymore. But science fiction used to be my jam. I had re-discovered reading for pleasure a few years after high school and once that happened, I devoured science fiction through the 80s and 90s. Arthur C. Clarke's 2001 and the next few in the series, Rendezvous with Rama, John Varley's Titan trilogy. Dan Simmons' Hyperion. Wow. These had captured my imagination like nothing else.
Unfortunately for my tastes, science fiction became Speculative Fiction, which lectured the reader on the perils of abusing our planet. That's all well and good if that's your bag. Me? I don't need lectures in my pleasure reading. I know what's up. Reading is my escape. Even at the age I've gotten to I'm still looking for that sense of wonder from this genre. I always keep an eye on releases and lists, but nothing seems to entice me. It seems to have become a genre of self-importance. But this one kept popping up. And when I replied to the New York Public Library's tweet offering recommendations based on any title with 2001: A Space Odyssey, The One-Body Problem was the answer.
It took me three or four tries to settle into this one. It has a slow start to it, referring to a lot of Chinese history, but I was hit with strong focus for some reason, and the book managed to take hold. I loved a lot of the ideas in this story, and it's a great one. Despite the occasional clunkiness of writing, which is normally something I have zero patience for, I stuck with it through the end. This ended up being quite a feat particularly through the third-last chapter, the longest in the book, which dealt with dimensions, photons and sophons that took me three nights to plow through. There is a lot of heavy science throughout this, but I admire the writer/translator's ability to break this down to a layman's level using clever and simple analogies. Except for that one chapter. That was heavy, but I did have an adequate understanding regardless. One peeve I do have, though, is the use of many characters with similar names. This is needlessly confusing.
I'm glad I read it, but I don't think I will continue. I didn't particularly enjoy the prose, which could be attributed to translation, enough to get excited about book two. Having said that, I did get a little bit of that wonder back for a little while, so thanks to the author for that. I may watch the TV series because it is a dynamite story that I'd like to see unfold....more
I was so excited when I discovered John Marrs last year. I had read The Passengers and The One back to back and couldn't put them down. Such fun enterI was so excited when I discovered John Marrs last year. I had read The Passengers and The One back to back and couldn't put them down. Such fun entertainment. The Minders is a return to this universe (I hate calling it that, but that's the lingo, ain't it?), but unfortunately it doesn't measure up at all. In fact, I had to DNF this after 100 pages or so.
This novel is structurally set up the same way as The One: each chapter follows one of six main characters and we cycle through these. The problem is, while The One had a great concept and great characters, The Minders had neither. This was a ridiculous concept and I couldn't care one whit about any of these characters. This was an easy one to put down, I'm afraid.
This was a blip, I'm sure. I will definitely read him again....more
Science Fiction used to be my jam. Back in the 80s and 90s, when my reading addiction really took hold, this was when I was reading the greats from suScience Fiction used to be my jam. Back in the 80s and 90s, when my reading addiction really took hold, this was when I was reading the greats from such authors as Arthur C. Clarke, John Varley, etc. Into the 2000s, unfortunately, my interest was waning because I just couldn't find anything that could capture me like the masters did. Far too many recent submissions to the genre became too politically charged and self-important. I just wanted a sense of wonder and escape.
I've started hitting Reddit quite a bit recently. The book groups there are fantastic, with very respectful and helpful members. I decided to search for one of my favourite sci-fi reads of all time, Rendezvous With Rama, and see what lists I could find that had other favourites listed with it. That's how I found out about Ship of Fools. I had never even heard of it, which just goes to show how distanced I had gotten from the genre (it was nominated for the Locus award in 2002).
This book really hit my check boxes. There was good character development, and, similar to Rendezvous With Rama, a sense of discovery and suspenseful mystery surrounding first contact with aliens. Oh, and some dashes of horror to really ratchet things up. One of Russo's skills that really impressed me was creating a sense of space (no pun intended) without confusing over-descriptiveness (something else that can drive me from the genre). At no point whatsoever was I unable to totally visualize what he was describing. It is truly a gift to do that with simple descriptions.
The list that I found on Reddit that had this book was appropriate. The novel is, in one aspect, quite similar to Rendezvous With Rama. As far as the ending went, I was a little disappointed that some things weren't fully resolved. But mostly I'm okay with that. I am even more okay that this is a standalone (these are becoming unicorns)!
I'll give this a strong four stars, and my heartfelt thanks to Richard Paul Russo for bringing me back to the genre. Actually, no. My little bit of pickiness doesn't deserve a star docking. It's a big thing for me to find Sci-Fi that I like, and this really was a cool story. Five it is! Well done, RPR....more
It's got to be 30 years since John Varley lit my brain up with his Gaea Trilogy.
I kept meaning to read him again but he just kept slipping off my radaIt's got to be 30 years since John Varley lit my brain up with his Gaea Trilogy.
I kept meaning to read him again but he just kept slipping off my radar. A few weeks ago I saw a mention of the Gaea trilogy and decided to put this one on my to-read list here. My list has been woefully thin of Science Fiction because, as Greg Kihn sings, "They just don't write 'em like that anymore". In my opinion, anyway.
This one started off great, and stayed pretty great for most of the novel. What really impressed me about the writing early on is that Varley was able to explain a lot of what was going on that was fairly easy to consume. It could have been really confusing in the hands of another writer. Unfortunately about halfway through it did start getting very confusing. I'm not as patient a reader as I used to be, and I have been very liberal with my DNF policy. I almost DNF'd this, and certainly would have if it was a longer novel. But I did not; I pushed through and was fairly rewarded with more clarity on what I had been confused about.
I liked this enough, but not near as much as I enjoyed those Titan, Demon and Wizard books. 30 years later and I can still visualize those cables...
It was good to read him again, but I'm not that interested in the rest of the books set in this universe....more
A short, old-school science ficiony tale from Stephen King, vaguely reminiscent of The Incredible Shrinking Man and the like.
As always, it's nice to sA short, old-school science ficiony tale from Stephen King, vaguely reminiscent of The Incredible Shrinking Man and the like.
As always, it's nice to settle into King's storytelling, but this will not go down as one of my favourites of his. A short story that will result in a short review. I'm rating this one two stars, mainly because (view spoiler)[ I found the ending devoid of any sort of payoff. Having no explanation or resolution (apart from: bye-bye to the sky) was frustrating to me. Also, I fail to see how Scott's helping Deidre up during the race caused such a radical shift in the town's prejudices towards her and Missy. I would have expected Scott to join the ostracized. (hide spoiler)] ...more
Yet, I was listening to a podcast where one of the hosts said she also was not a fan of the genre but loved this oneDid I mention I'm not a fan of YA?
Yet, I was listening to a podcast where one of the hosts said she also was not a fan of the genre but loved this one and found it as addictive as the Hunger Games. I loved reading the Hunger Games. But Scythe? It was just ok for me.
I'll give the author credit for a great and enticing concept and plotline (for the most part). But every single character in this book was about as complex and interesting as a lamp. I was also annoyed with being spoon fed things as if I was an idiot. For example, the Scythes adopt aliases for themselves, using the surnames of people who have left their marks in history (people we're familiar with today, even though the story takes place at least two hundred years from now, I think). But just to be sure we really get it, he has Goddard use some forced familiarity on his underling: "Will you accompany me, Nelson?" "I'll stay here," said Mandela.
OHHHH! He named himself after NELSON Mandela! I get it!
Now, okay, I'm being really picky here. The novel wasn't overwrought with this but on occasion there were overly simplistic instances that, even if I was a young adult or even teen, I would have found insulting. Conversly, there were mild sexual references so it would seem the target audience was lower intelligence rather than age. It just didn't add up.
But, what really got to me was this: (view spoiler)[ I can't for the life of me understand why Goddard had so much power and influence that resulted in Scythedom's approval of Citra or Rowan required to glean the other in order to become an ordained scythe. And why this stuck even after they were assigned to separate scythes? To what end? It was stupid.
Also stupid was Volta going ahead with gleaning an entire room of children even though he was clearly agonized over seeing them. He could have easily closed the door and moved on. Again, stupid and weak character development. (hide spoiler)]
Towards finishing this book I figured three stars would be a fair rating. but after writing all of this, I'm thinking no. On one hand I thought the idea was very creative and even though I wasn't sure if I was going to stick with at the 10% mark, before I knew it I was at 50%. There's something to be said for that. But I'm done with this series; I really don't care what happens next. Two stars for me. This may be a reflection of my age more than anything else, so your mileage may vary.
At the recommendation of a couple of Goodreads friends whose judgement I trust, I won't give up on Shusterman. I'm told that Unwind is far superior, so it is on my radar....more
Flowers for Algernon is one of those classics that, if you were lucky enough, managed to have a high school reading curriculum that included it. I wasnFlowers for Algernon is one of those classics that, if you were lucky enough, managed to have a high school reading curriculum that included it. I wasn't. Too bad, because I'm sure my high school mind would have enjoyed this one a lot, and maybe high school wouldn't have killed my interest in reading for four years after.
Forty years later, this crossed my path as I was looking up must-read sci-fi titles and I decided to read it.
From the page count it seems a really quick read, but due to the fact that there are no page spaces to separate the chapters (or progress reports), there are a lot of words to the pages. Not a problem, just an interesting titbit if you're thinking you'll knock this one off in one sitting.
Despite not reading it, nor seen the movie based on it, I was familiar with the concept of the story. It's about a mentally challenged man named Charlie, who undergoes a radical surgery, that up until now has only been done on mice, to not only cure his disability, but rocket his intelligence to genius proportions. The story is told via his progress reports, journals he writes for his doctors and analysts. It has a lot of heart, some adult themes (remarkable given this was sci-fi from 1967), and a great example of a writer showcasing his writing chops with the evolution of Charlie. There are also some pretty heartwrenching scenes that will stick with me for quite a while.
I was expecting a time travel story, with a good story. As it turns out, this started off exciting, then got frequentThis wasn't what I was expecting.
I was expecting a time travel story, with a good story. As it turns out, this started off exciting, then got frequently bogged down with discussions about paradoxes. Until it got to the sex. Which would have been awesome if the sex wasn't so dully described.
This was a very quick read, and I must admit to skimming the last half of it. It was obvious that this wasn't what I was after, so I just wanted to cut to the chase and have done with it. I get what he was doing here, and good for him. This book had a lot to do with homosexuality and being in a less open time about it. For what it is, it is good. Just not something that I was after.
This doesn't change my feelings about David Gerrold. I went absolutely nuts over his War Against the Chtorr series back in the 80s and early 90s. It's been almost 30 years and I am still waiting for the next book....more
Imagine a creative writing course that focuses on the styling of Stephen King.
Our prospective writers are encouraged to write stories as the grand maImagine a creative writing course that focuses on the styling of Stephen King.
Our prospective writers are encouraged to write stories as the grand master, and you, as the lucky instructor, are given the privilege of reading and marking these efforts. This is exactly as I felt (minus the lucky part) as I hit the 351 page mark of this submission and set the story down and graded it a D for DNF. This novel had every possible example of King's writing, but at the level of a very poor imitation. Unfortunately, from all accounts King did write this. As a Constant Reader, my impression is that he mailed this sucker in.
The one thing that always draws me to who is still one of my favourite authors is his character development. At 351 pages I cared very little about them. I discovered early on with King's writing, that there is one phrase that always strikes the heart, and it has always fallen into the perfect context and was used selectively. It is this: "He began to cry". This phase says so much about an emotion, doesn't it? It's a transition from one state to a very powerful one. When it was used a couple of times closely together, I had an early suspicion. I did a search on my Kindle and this phrase came up 12 times. This really started to lose its effectiveness after the 3rd or 4th time. Warning flags also went up when Avery started being referred to as the Avester for little reason other than cheap endearment. Another thing that King is quite adept at is plotline, but The Institute's story was plodding at best, not to mention a rehash of ideas we've seen before (Stranger Things, Firestarter). Each time I picked it up it seemed I was going through the motions as a reader. Not heavily engaged but forcing my way through. If it wasn't for the short chapters moving the page count quickly (and that was a sly move, Uncle Stevie), I would have given up long ago. And, despite the F bombs, this was very much a YA novel as far as I'm concerned.
This release was met with raves. It won the Goodreads Horror category last year (wtf?). It is still raved about by many of my Goodreads friends. That's fine. Rave all you want.
I found this to be an extremely weak effort from the man. A ripoff of his own style, if you want a deep philosophical slant to it. I'm let down, but happy to pull the pin on this and move on....more
You really can't go wrong with Robert Silverberg. Look at Book of Skulls or Dying Inside; these are terrific stories with excellent character analysisYou really can't go wrong with Robert Silverberg. Look at Book of Skulls or Dying Inside; these are terrific stories with excellent character analysis at their cores.
I was in a minor reading slump, not feeling all that excited about recent books, when I saw a Reddit thread about stories with alien encounters with a horror bent to them and someone had mentioned this one with a few other posters enthusiastically backing him. So I immediately added it to my to-read list and began it as soon as I was done what I was reading at the time (DNF'd it, that is).
Again, here's a story with the main character's development a key focus. There is a recent forward to the edition I read, where Silverberg mentions that he drew heavily on Conrad's Heart of Darkness for this story. I had never read it, but of course saw Apocalypse Now, and you can certainly feel the similarities with this story. The tale is of a man who returns to a planet that mankind had relinquished back to the inhabitants (like that would ever happen!) once their intelligence is realized. The tale is this man's odyssey to discover one of the mysteries behind these inhabitants' culture.
These are the types of Science Fiction stories I love. There are no wars, battles or political weight to meander through. Just a mystery behind an alien race.
A very good read and a fast one, too. Four strong stars and a reminder to keep reading this guy!...more
If you've read my review for Planetfall, I went on about how recent science fiction has lost me, being more focused on sHaha! Well, the joke is on me!
If you've read my review for Planetfall, I went on about how recent science fiction has lost me, being more focused on societal issues, political structures and dystopian-ness. The reason I enjoyed Planetfall so much was because it gave me that sense of mystery and a bit of wonder that I had missed for so long.
Enter After Atlas, and it contained pretty much all those things that has driven me away from the genre! But I stayed with it, because I am very much hooked into the big picture here. I am dying for more revelations of Planetfall. Read as a standalone, or if this was the first in the series, I'm not sure I would have stuck with it. This novel had a very noir feel, not something I was in the mood for, and it was a crime mystery, something I was not looking for in a science fiction series. Having said that, I must say I enjoyed it, especially for the last 30% or so. It had a terrific ending, and it has fully baited me for the next book.
There is something that I did not enjoy, and this was not something present in the first book. At least I didn't notice it. But it's this: the novel was written with a noir flavor. The style Emma Newman went with here consisted of dialogue that was almost constantly interrupted with description or explanation. This jarred my reading momentum every time because I was so tuned to it early on.
However. This lady can tell a story and I'm still excited about the big picture she's painting here. The fact that I'm giving this 4.5 stars despite the things I just mentioned should say a lot about that....more
Apparently, this is the novel you have to "get through" before getting into the real meat of this series.
Stephen R. Donaldson has his fans, but those Apparently, this is the novel you have to "get through" before getting into the real meat of this series.
Stephen R. Donaldson has his fans, but those who aren't fans aren't for one particularly glaring reason: the rapes. A lot of people took severe outrage on his character Thomas Covenant in his fantasy series for having his way with a woman in a world he did not believe really existed. If I remember correctly, and this was a few decades ago, he committed rape because he believed this was all in his imagination and thus there were no moral boundaries crossed. I think. Anyways, Donaldson took a lot of flak for that, or rather, his character did, and there was a lot of hate and outrage. My problem with the book is that I just found it rather dull and didn't continue.
I am always on the lookout for great science fiction. A little while ago I was searching various web articles for this, and there was a write up on this series that intrigued me. So I put it on the list and here we are. Now, here's another thing. I wasn't planning on reading this just now. It just so happened that after lunch at work last week I had decided to DNF the book I was reading. So that left me with nothing to read for my 50 minute commute home. Except for the sample of this novel. So I started this half-heartedly. Once I got home, I was 20 pages into this, and being a short novel I figured I might as well buy it and keep going. It had a pretty good start. Essentially, it's the story of Angus, a space pirate, his prisoner Morn, and how Nick, a heroic space pirate, rescued Morn from Angus. This is all revealed in the first chapter, but the rest of the novel is, "the real story" behind this.
Back to the "get through" part of this. The rapes again! Okay, our Stephen has a thing for rape, yes? There's a lot of rape here. But, it illustrates the abuse of technology and helps paint the complexity of these characters. Whether you agree this was necessary and can "get through" these passages is up to you. I can see how this can be upsetting to a lot of people, but I see what he's doing here and there is no denying how this upped the stakes and intensity of the story.
I liked the story, I really liked the world-building and what I think I can anticipate as that grows, and I liked his style of storytelling, and the characters. Considering I enjoyed something that I hadn't really felt like starting in the first place is saying something. I'm looking forward to the meat of the series to come....more
The Man from Pimrose Lane was such a fun read. That story had a plotline that took some very unexpected and crazy turns. I five starred it.
The Great FThe Man from Pimrose Lane was such a fun read. That story had a plotline that took some very unexpected and crazy turns. I five starred it.
The Great Forgetting is not much different. Oh man, the ingredients that went into this one...like just about every conspiracy myth and unknown mysteries that have been part of our history. At times outlandish to the extreme and sometimes ridiculous, this one really went over the top. Of course, the less said about this the better. The reveals will make you laugh, groan, and maybe even think: what if?
On the plot and reveals alone I would give this novel 5 stars easy. But I was a bit annoyed at how, at every dangerous turn, our heroes didn't need to use one iota of coercion to get information on all the secrets here. Information was served up on a golden platter to them, and the fact that this was such a heavily guarded secret that no qualms were given over killing to preserve the secrets, except for these people, was a bit of a joke. The villains sang like canaries! But, it was a device to move the plot along quickly, so there's that. However, this pretty much took the cake: (view spoiler)[ The hotline for the Maestro to rewrite world history is on a telemarketer's list? (hide spoiler)] OK, he's clearly having fun here, I imagine he was deliberately causing reader eyeroll.
Outlandish, clever, outrageous, you've got it all here. I can't not recommended it despite my little issues with it. Just a hair over 4 stars, and all sorts of "what ifs" you'll want to blab about to all your friends....more
Back in my 20s and 30s Science Fiction was my thing. And when it was good, wow, was it ever. Giants like Arthur C. Clarke, Orson Scott Card, Dan SimmonBack in my 20s and 30s Science Fiction was my thing. And when it was good, wow, was it ever. Giants like Arthur C. Clarke, Orson Scott Card, Dan Simmons, and John Varley gave me the escapism I was looking for: that sense of wonder and mystery. Other worlds.
Unfortunately, the genre has changed over the past twenty years or so. Nowadays the new stuff coming out seem to be focused more on cautionary tales, allegories to the world as we know it and how things will evolve socially and politically.
Phooey, I say. It's escapism I have always sought with this genre (all fiction in general, really), so if there isn't a sense of wonder and mystery and good characters, I will look elsewhere.
But even amid the drought for what I like, still there is hope that something will come out that harkens back to those wonderous older books. And it did. Planetfall.
Finally, an engaging read about humankind's first visit to an alien world, rife with mystery, and as a bonus some mild mental illness to contend with. I was racing to the end of this one to see what was going to happen. Emma Newman does a great job of luring the reader along, disclosing revelations along the way. The narrative doesn't get bogged down with over-descriptiveness, and yet I could totally picture and feel what our main protagonist was going through.
This is part of a series, but having said that, there is a lot revealed by the end of the book. Yet, there is enough unknown to entice me to read the next one really soon.
If I was to nitpick on one thing, it might be the repetitiveness of what was going through Ren's mind at times. But, even though this may be a nuisance for the reader, this stream of consciousness is totally viable given her predicaments.
A strong 4.5 stars for this very fast read, and I'm very much looking forward to book 2. ...more
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