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3.74 AVERAGE
3.74 AVERAGE
I thought this was a great read. Most of the book was a leisurely story that was fun and kept my attention. The premise was believable and really interesting, and the dual storylines of King Kalidassa and Dr. Morgan as ambitious and arrogant men was a fun parallel. The last part of the book changed things up, leading to a race-against-time mission to save lives that kept me on the edge of my seat until I blazed through to the finish. Artie Clarke does it again!!
A nice, modern take on the Icarus myth that's easy to read, fairly charming, aaaand which needs a serious trim.
Excellent story. Clarke is a unique voice in science fiction, and while his stories unfold at a different pace to most, they are never boring and never require significant suspension of disbelief.
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
adventurous
informative
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Just kind of boring. Read if you are excited by engineering otherwise skippable.
An engineer, credited with designing a successful Gibraltar Bridge, wants to build a space elevator. The entire plot explores his plans to build it, and all the obstacles surrounding building it, from geopolitics, to economics, to land rights, to engineering, to public opinion.
This style of sci-fi, where the author explores a technical idea, I find pretty boring. It doesn't help that there is no character development. I much prefer sci-fi novels that have interesting ideas at their core rather than interesting technology.
There were a few interesting ideas thrown in about religion, in a completely unconnected plot line that felt like a totally different story spliced in the main narrative at intervals.
This style of sci-fi, where the author explores a technical idea, I find pretty boring. It doesn't help that there is no character development. I much prefer sci-fi novels that have interesting ideas at their core rather than interesting technology.
There were a few interesting ideas thrown in about religion, in a completely unconnected plot line that felt like a totally different story spliced in the main narrative at intervals.
inspiring
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Solid hard sci-fi book.
The first third was alright. Established the main characters and their goals so the rest of the book could just "go."
Second third was a little slow, but it never reached a point of being unreadable.
Last third...Holy weh! Good thing I wasn' wearing a CORA monitor (in-story heart monitor) because I most certainly would have been on the receiving end of a lecture from it. Stress-inducing page turner, I blew through it in only a couple hours.
That epilogue though...???...WTF was that?! Will skip it if I read it again.
Overall, I enjoyed my time with this book. I might read it again and I'll definitely be checking out more of Clarke's books.
The first third was alright. Established the main characters and their goals so the rest of the book could just "go."
Second third was a little slow, but it never reached a point of being unreadable.
Last third...Holy weh! Good thing I wasn' wearing a CORA monitor (in-story heart monitor) because I most certainly would have been on the receiving end of a lecture from it. Stress-inducing page turner, I blew through it in only a couple hours.
That epilogue though...???...WTF was that?! Will skip it if I read it again.
Overall, I enjoyed my time with this book. I might read it again and I'll definitely be checking out more of Clarke's books.
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Classic Clarke-style "big dumb object" book that recounts the building of the big dumb object. Documentary-style. As usual for BDO stories, characters are not the main focus.