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3.51 AVERAGE
3.51 AVERAGE
I got about 1/3 in and still didn't see anything happening, I didn't finish it. Nice world-building but not much else.
This is a set of interlocking short stories that take place in Tel Aviv of the future. There is a space station above it so it is a hub of travel for people coming from the colonies to return home. The stories all are connected to one family that lives there. Most of the stories have been published before but a few are new to this collection. It isn’t all life and death stories some are quiet gems about birth, death, and religion. This isn’t a huge sprawling world you see, it is a close to home slice of the future and is rather fun to read how we will change as a society because of what we did when we fought wars, came up with new technologies and met new species. I did like that even in the far future there were still book collectors. And enjoyable read and makes me want to pick up more of the author’s stuff.
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley.
Digital review copy provided by the publisher through NetGalley.
The language is nice, and I especially like the way the characters all know and are comfortable with one another, but it's not so much a book as a series of vignettes. There's very little overarching plot -- instead, each character has a thread and a resolution that play out largely independently of one another.
Also, so many SF in-jokes. One robot church calls out the "Nine billion names of God" and there are sandworms mentioned.
Also, so many SF in-jokes. One robot church calls out the "Nine billion names of God" and there are sandworms mentioned.
Beautiful in every way - but it does suffer a tad from being a collection of previously published short stories - some of which I had read in their original form. Kept waiting for a 'payoff' but none came. Some of the stories are among the most wonderful sf I've read in years - thoughtful and intelligent.
What is this? Evelina is giving you another 5 reasons to read something space related? What are all these reasons all about lately?? (*faints*) This time I'm going to talk about yet another non-American sci-fi. If you want nicer formatting read it on my blog. Enjoy!
★★★✬☆ 3.5 stars
Reason #1.
IT'S A SLICE OF LIFE, BUT THAT LIFE IS SEVERAL HUNDRED YEARS LATER AND MUCH WEIRDER THAN YOURS.
If you can still imagine that as a slice of life? Granted, there are no aliens (any I can think of, at least...), but there are robots, half-robots, computer generated life forms... Basically, anything on the spectrum of human and machine. The ways this society meshes are pretty amazing!
Reason #2.
#DIVERSITY IS ALL AROUND, BUT IT'S ALSO COMPLETELY NATURAL
You know how diversity is almost always forced in books these days? It's because it has to 'fit a quota'. We all know how much fun that is. And want to know why this isn't like that? Because it's actually written by a non-American. (Here she goes again with her "Read A Non-American Sci-Fi For Once™" stuff...) First of all, the story is based in Israel. How many other scifis can you think of with that setting? Second, there are just so many lifeforms – like I mentioned earlier, there's basically anything from natural to synthetic life, even life that's purely computerized and has no body. Third – society is formed from many nationalities of people who moved there as immigrants centuries ago. None of them are Western. Simply speaking? LGBT in this book is the smallest and most natural kind of diversity, because the rest of... the diversity... is so diverse you can't even. (Way to go with that sentence.)
Reason #3.
THE STRIGOI
So basically... The Strigoi is pretty much the best thing in the book! It's a kind of space vampire..? That feeds on data, not on blood. It will erase a person's memory only to gorge itself up on it. Nobody really knows what they are or why they're here. Either it's a former bioweapon... Or it's a means for other lifeforms to coexist. I won't spoil it for you.
Reason #4.
ALL THE SCIFI AND CULTURAL REFERENCES!
I barely caught half of them. If you've read a lot of scifi or are familiar with the smart pop of this and the last century, you'll be pleasantly surprised. The book is full of words like ubicked, Urbonas death machine, Shambleau, etc. There's even an invented Asteroid pidgin which I thought was pretty amazing.
Reason #5.
THE WORLD ACTUALLY WENT INTO A NON-WESTERN DIRECTION
There's just something so cool about scifi going there. I live in a Western society. That's not what I want to see in my books. I want something outlandish. I want to see something that makes me ponder diffferent possibilities. I'm so tired of the world being only America! Write about the rest of the world please! Yes, we exist too!
However...
Admittedly, nothing really happens. It feels like what it is – a lot of different novelletes or even short stories, welded together into a book. It tells about a world that is very different from yours, but also strikingly similar. It doesn't tell of a plot though. And I felt like that's where the story lost some of its charm. That's why only 3.5 stars!
I thank Tachyon Publications and Edelweiss for giving me a free copy in exchange to my honest review.
Read Post On My Blog | My Bookstagram | Bookish Twitter
★★★✬☆ 3.5 stars
Reason #1.
IT'S A SLICE OF LIFE, BUT THAT LIFE IS SEVERAL HUNDRED YEARS LATER AND MUCH WEIRDER THAN YOURS.
If you can still imagine that as a slice of life? Granted, there are no aliens (any I can think of, at least...), but there are robots, half-robots, computer generated life forms... Basically, anything on the spectrum of human and machine. The ways this society meshes are pretty amazing!
Reason #2.
#DIVERSITY IS ALL AROUND, BUT IT'S ALSO COMPLETELY NATURAL
You know how diversity is almost always forced in books these days? It's because it has to 'fit a quota'. We all know how much fun that is. And want to know why this isn't like that? Because it's actually written by a non-American. (Here she goes again with her "Read A Non-American Sci-Fi For Once™" stuff...) First of all, the story is based in Israel. How many other scifis can you think of with that setting? Second, there are just so many lifeforms – like I mentioned earlier, there's basically anything from natural to synthetic life, even life that's purely computerized and has no body. Third – society is formed from many nationalities of people who moved there as immigrants centuries ago. None of them are Western. Simply speaking? LGBT in this book is the smallest and most natural kind of diversity, because the rest of... the diversity... is so diverse you can't even. (Way to go with that sentence.)
Reason #3.
THE STRIGOI
So basically... The Strigoi is pretty much the best thing in the book! It's a kind of space vampire..? That feeds on data, not on blood. It will erase a person's memory only to gorge itself up on it. Nobody really knows what they are or why they're here. Either it's a former bioweapon... Or it's a means for other lifeforms to coexist. I won't spoil it for you.
Reason #4.
ALL THE SCIFI AND CULTURAL REFERENCES!
I barely caught half of them. If you've read a lot of scifi or are familiar with the smart pop of this and the last century, you'll be pleasantly surprised. The book is full of words like ubicked, Urbonas death machine, Shambleau, etc. There's even an invented Asteroid pidgin which I thought was pretty amazing.
Reason #5.
THE WORLD ACTUALLY WENT INTO A NON-WESTERN DIRECTION
There's just something so cool about scifi going there. I live in a Western society. That's not what I want to see in my books. I want something outlandish. I want to see something that makes me ponder diffferent possibilities. I'm so tired of the world being only America! Write about the rest of the world please! Yes, we exist too!
However...
Admittedly, nothing really happens. It feels like what it is – a lot of different novelletes or even short stories, welded together into a book. It tells about a world that is very different from yours, but also strikingly similar. It doesn't tell of a plot though. And I felt like that's where the story lost some of its charm. That's why only 3.5 stars!
I thank Tachyon Publications and Edelweiss for giving me a free copy in exchange to my honest review.
Read Post On My Blog | My Bookstagram | Bookish Twitter
Central Station is a thoughtful, poignant, human take on a possible future. For the most part Central Station occurs at the titular port on planet earth. This space resides in what we know today as Tel Aviv, but in the distant future it has gone through many names and many people. Everything seems to begin in earnest when Boris Chong arrives in Central Station after spending a great deal of time away — some of which on Mars. Central Station, the place, is a half-thought meeting of a variety of worlds. Central Station the book is more thoughtful than I think I know how to express, but I’ll give it a try.
Central Station occurs in the very spot where humans expanded from our first planet throughout the solar system. Humans, robotniks, children who live and breathe the virtuality known as The Conversation, and the Others all coexist at the hub of the known universe. Lines between humanity and technology blur as advances continue and people are ‘noded’ into The Conversation at birth. In the chaos of so many people and ideas together at once Central Station explores a richness of culture that doesn’t even exist yet. The depth to which this book seems to go is no less than breathtaking. How beings interact, their customs and beliefs, their superstitions and mysteries — Central Station provides a world in which plurality is the norm and nothing is normal. Lavie Tidhar has created a world here that is heart-achingly our own and at the same time bewilderingly other.
Central Station spends the vast majority of its time following a cast of characters as unique, broken, strange, and complex as anyone who has ever existed. I say it often, but for me characters are absolutely essential to good reading. Central Station has deep characters in spades. Tidhar has expertly navigated the space between presenting the reader with characters to empathize with and providing ample reason to want to always continue reading their lives.
Central Station may have space travel and cyborg technology at its disposal, but this is not a story about alien tech or technological marvels. Central Station, to me, is very much a moment in time. Central Station gives the feeling that at any second there are over 7 billion people alive right now, and it is just focussing on a few. It looks at the life Boris has lead as he tries to reconcile with his family’s curse. It looks at Marion as both a young lover and an indomitable business owner. It looks at what it means to be an outcast from a few distinct angles. It lays bare the prejudices held and values lost by a future that has robotniks to fight its wars. I could go on but I think I can’t say it all better than this book does.
Central Station is about humanity in every form it may take. It’s about yearning and hopes and frustrations. Its intricate design of life, love, and happenstance in a distant future isn’t so much grounded in a forced humanity as revelling in it. It’s also about mysteries never to be solved. There are a fair few things in Central Station that I continue to wonder about. In most stories without a foreseeable continuation these kinds of loose ends would bother me. In the case of Central Station they lend to the idea that what I read was just a moment. There was time in the lives of the characters before the story began, and there is life after. Central Station is written like a segment of history, except that it’s set in the future.
If you’re looking for a plot-heavy sci-fi narrative you may want to look elsewhere. If you’re looking for a deeply complex comment on humanity in a future where many lines are blurred, this is the right pick for you.
This review first appeared at Fantasy Literature.
Central Station occurs in the very spot where humans expanded from our first planet throughout the solar system. Humans, robotniks, children who live and breathe the virtuality known as The Conversation, and the Others all coexist at the hub of the known universe. Lines between humanity and technology blur as advances continue and people are ‘noded’ into The Conversation at birth. In the chaos of so many people and ideas together at once Central Station explores a richness of culture that doesn’t even exist yet. The depth to which this book seems to go is no less than breathtaking. How beings interact, their customs and beliefs, their superstitions and mysteries — Central Station provides a world in which plurality is the norm and nothing is normal. Lavie Tidhar has created a world here that is heart-achingly our own and at the same time bewilderingly other.
Central Station spends the vast majority of its time following a cast of characters as unique, broken, strange, and complex as anyone who has ever existed. I say it often, but for me characters are absolutely essential to good reading. Central Station has deep characters in spades. Tidhar has expertly navigated the space between presenting the reader with characters to empathize with and providing ample reason to want to always continue reading their lives.
Central Station may have space travel and cyborg technology at its disposal, but this is not a story about alien tech or technological marvels. Central Station, to me, is very much a moment in time. Central Station gives the feeling that at any second there are over 7 billion people alive right now, and it is just focussing on a few. It looks at the life Boris has lead as he tries to reconcile with his family’s curse. It looks at Marion as both a young lover and an indomitable business owner. It looks at what it means to be an outcast from a few distinct angles. It lays bare the prejudices held and values lost by a future that has robotniks to fight its wars. I could go on but I think I can’t say it all better than this book does.
Central Station is about humanity in every form it may take. It’s about yearning and hopes and frustrations. Its intricate design of life, love, and happenstance in a distant future isn’t so much grounded in a forced humanity as revelling in it. It’s also about mysteries never to be solved. There are a fair few things in Central Station that I continue to wonder about. In most stories without a foreseeable continuation these kinds of loose ends would bother me. In the case of Central Station they lend to the idea that what I read was just a moment. There was time in the lives of the characters before the story began, and there is life after. Central Station is written like a segment of history, except that it’s set in the future.
If you’re looking for a plot-heavy sci-fi narrative you may want to look elsewhere. If you’re looking for a deeply complex comment on humanity in a future where many lines are blurred, this is the right pick for you.
This review first appeared at Fantasy Literature.
I probably never would have read Central Station at all if not for the fact that this year's r/Fantasy Bingo had a cyberpunk square. I hate the very thought of cyberpunk. Oppressive high tech societies? No thanks. So in the oldest tradition of Bingo, I went out in search of edge cases. Oddities. This was one of the candidates I couldn't quite choose between - then I saw it in a bookstore and it was decided. And I couldn't be more glad I did.
I usually try to do a quick summary of the plot and what the book is about, but this is true slice of life in that there's no real plot, no real stakes. Each chapter follows another character as they go about their day. Structurally, it's much like a mosaic, or a tapestry - while everything is very interconnected, there's a lot of fragments and no arc the story would work towards. It just gently meanders along. I found it extremely relaxing to read. The general tone is calm and optimistic, and I liked pretty much all of the characters.
The real star of the book, however, is the worldbuilding. Even though it takes place in Tel Aviv, it's an obviously far-future world, very different from ours.
The general approach is of the surrealist, kitchen sink, throw-it-in kind with everything from robo-priests, vampires that feed on data, children with strange powers, oracles, drugs that induce a religious experience, completely mundane booksellers, artists that create gods, talking elevators...so many strange concepts that you think there's no way this could work. No way it wouldn't feel gimmicky. And yet it does work - wonderfully. It probably helps how integrated and interwoven every single aspect is - nothing appears in just one chapter, but is perhaps mentioned in the first, and then mentioned again in the second, and finally explored more in-depth in the third. There's a lot of references to religion (especially Judaism) and mythology, a lot of which I probably missed, but for someone with more knowledge in those areas it could be a real treat.
Another aspect I want to highlight is the diversity. Central Station is a true melting pot. Out of all the human characters, I don't think a single one was white, or from the exact same cultural background as another (except if from the same family). There are also no references to America, or Europe at all, and England is referred to only as (paraphrased) "those barbarians who drink tea wrong," which gave me a good chuckle. And among the mass of SFF books written from an obviously Anglo cultural viewpoint, it's neat to read one that isn't.
But most of all, Central Station is a book that has to be read to be believed. I'm not sure any words can do it justice. It's strange, it's beautiful, it's different, and I'd most highly recommend it.
Enjoyment: 5/5
Execution: 5/5
Recommended to: slice of life fans, anyone who liked [b:City of Saints and Madmen|230852|City of Saints and Madmen (Ambergris, #1)|Jeff VanderMeer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1390260432l/230852._SY75_.jpg|522014] but wants something simpler, fans of weird literary SFF, anyone looking for a very chill book, those who want diverse settings
Not recommended to: those who require a plot
Content warnings: suicide
More reviews on my blog, To Other Worlds.
A group of disgruntled house appliances watched the sermon in the virtuality - coffee makers, cooling units, a couple of toilets - appliances, more than anyone else, needed the robots' guidance, yet they were often wilful, bitter, prone to petty arguments, both with their owners and themselves.The easiest way to describe it would be "gorgeous sci-fi fever dream." I have a long-standing love for weird, trippy books and for slice of life, so I could hardly have stumbled upon a more perfect match for my tastes. And before I scare anyone off: it's strange, yes, but never confusing.
I usually try to do a quick summary of the plot and what the book is about, but this is true slice of life in that there's no real plot, no real stakes. Each chapter follows another character as they go about their day. Structurally, it's much like a mosaic, or a tapestry - while everything is very interconnected, there's a lot of fragments and no arc the story would work towards. It just gently meanders along. I found it extremely relaxing to read. The general tone is calm and optimistic, and I liked pretty much all of the characters.
The real star of the book, however, is the worldbuilding. Even though it takes place in Tel Aviv, it's an obviously far-future world, very different from ours.
The general approach is of the surrealist, kitchen sink, throw-it-in kind with everything from robo-priests, vampires that feed on data, children with strange powers, oracles, drugs that induce a religious experience, completely mundane booksellers, artists that create gods, talking elevators...so many strange concepts that you think there's no way this could work. No way it wouldn't feel gimmicky. And yet it does work - wonderfully. It probably helps how integrated and interwoven every single aspect is - nothing appears in just one chapter, but is perhaps mentioned in the first, and then mentioned again in the second, and finally explored more in-depth in the third. There's a lot of references to religion (especially Judaism) and mythology, a lot of which I probably missed, but for someone with more knowledge in those areas it could be a real treat.
Another aspect I want to highlight is the diversity. Central Station is a true melting pot. Out of all the human characters, I don't think a single one was white, or from the exact same cultural background as another (except if from the same family). There are also no references to America, or Europe at all, and England is referred to only as (paraphrased) "those barbarians who drink tea wrong," which gave me a good chuckle. And among the mass of SFF books written from an obviously Anglo cultural viewpoint, it's neat to read one that isn't.
But most of all, Central Station is a book that has to be read to be believed. I'm not sure any words can do it justice. It's strange, it's beautiful, it's different, and I'd most highly recommend it.
Enjoyment: 5/5
Execution: 5/5
Recommended to: slice of life fans, anyone who liked [b:City of Saints and Madmen|230852|City of Saints and Madmen (Ambergris, #1)|Jeff VanderMeer|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1390260432l/230852._SY75_.jpg|522014] but wants something simpler, fans of weird literary SFF, anyone looking for a very chill book, those who want diverse settings
Not recommended to: those who require a plot
Content warnings: suicide
More reviews on my blog, To Other Worlds.
I am generally a fan of this kind of short story fix up, particularly when done with a range of characters in a single setting. So my enjoyment was in built.
I didn't think that it really became more than a series of short stories which would have made it great. Also it was a tad too ponderous for my tastes.
But it is still a good story if you are a fan of the style or thoughtful science fiction
I didn't think that it really became more than a series of short stories which would have made it great. Also it was a tad too ponderous for my tastes.
But it is still a good story if you are a fan of the style or thoughtful science fiction