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perilous1's review against another edition
3.0
Originally reviewed for Young Adult Books Central: http://www.yabookscentral.com/yafiction/18120-crashland
"A body is just a body. It's what's inside that counts."
I regret that I read this, the second book in the series, without ever reading the first book. I found the continued story difficult to follow. It seems unfair to judge it on its own merits when it apparently wasn't meant to be read as a stand-alone, but I’ll do the best I can.
Crashland is a sci-fi fantasy, set in the indeterminate future where technology has reached levels that seem to blend elements of Star Trek (i.e. transporters and replicators) with the capabilities—and ethical conundrums--of Altered Carbon (i.e. swapping people’s consciousnesses into other people’s bodies). The abuses of this tech is the basis for the plot and ongoing conflict readers are dropped into, immediately following the events in Twinmaker. What exactly those events were wasn't clear to this reader throughout most of the book, unfortunately.
The Gist:
We open with the heroine (and sole third-person POV), Clair, being detained and questioned by two peacekeepers (PKs)—the law enforcement arm of the singular world government. Somehow she is responsible for the entire world’s network of transportation (teleportation?) crashing after she foiled the plans of someone named Wallace—who may or may not be dead, along with her friends Zep and Libby. Clair hopes to restore the d-mat (which I am guessing is slang for de-materializer?) so she can get to the saved patterns of her friends and essentially resurrect them. Clair herself is not actually the original version of herself, having been brought back from the pattern saved by a mysterious Artificial Intelligent entity called ‘Q.’ Q is the wild card amid the worldwide chaos. Everyone wants to get a hold of the A.I., and everyone—regardless of affiliation—seems to assume that Clair can somehow facilitate that. From there the vast majority of our journey with Clair involves her and her entourage almost constantly fleeing.
My Thoughts:
I’m certainly not one for pace-dragging info dumping, but the lack of comprehensive recap and background information made it difficult to track and/or feel engaged with the story. The assumption seems to be that the reader has read the first book, and recently enough that they still grasp the politics, fantastical tech, and world-building minutia. The cast of existing and mentioned characters is quite extensive, and factional names like WHOLE, VIA, and RADICAL (along with an array of slang terms) are thrown out with little or no explanation. It’s also asserted early on that there is no way of telling a “real” person apart from their duplicate, yet it becomes clear that ‘Dupes’ aren't at all identical to their original versions. Some can apparently contain multi-detonation bombs within them (that for some reason can’t be detected), and by the end it turns out that fabricated matter does indeed differ from “real” matter in a known and critical way.
Beyond the general plot confusion, the relational interactions fell a bit flat—largely, I suspect, because readers are given little basis for both the romantic and platonic bonds Clair had formed in the previous installment. I think this quote adequately sums up the issue:
"She didn't clearly remember their faces, of their voices, or anything they had done together. They had become holes in her life where real people had once been. Absences rather than presences."
Therein lies much of the trouble I had with this story. Clair references back to these dead people she wants to bring back and a mother she wants to protect, but I had no emotional sense for what they meant to her. Add to that an ending that pulls a reverse Deus ex machina (Diabolus ex machina? Whatever you’d call it when a catastrophic incident comes out of nowhere to cause an apocalypse-level cliffhanger.)
On The Upside:
Clair does present as a strong and sufficiently introspective heroine. The author portrays the frequent action sequences with vivid ease, and a distinctly pleasing literary voice. The twist toward the end was both interesting and satisfying. And this reviewer particularly appreciated the idea of the Abstainers (Stainers)—people who refused to use the artificial matter-making/matter-transporting technology—who are shunned and persecuted for their simplicity of lifestyle.
While I don’t think this series is for me, I would be interested to pick up something else by this author.
"A body is just a body. It's what's inside that counts."
I regret that I read this, the second book in the series, without ever reading the first book. I found the continued story difficult to follow. It seems unfair to judge it on its own merits when it apparently wasn't meant to be read as a stand-alone, but I’ll do the best I can.
Crashland is a sci-fi fantasy, set in the indeterminate future where technology has reached levels that seem to blend elements of Star Trek (i.e. transporters and replicators) with the capabilities—and ethical conundrums--of Altered Carbon (i.e. swapping people’s consciousnesses into other people’s bodies). The abuses of this tech is the basis for the plot and ongoing conflict readers are dropped into, immediately following the events in Twinmaker. What exactly those events were wasn't clear to this reader throughout most of the book, unfortunately.
The Gist:
We open with the heroine (and sole third-person POV), Clair, being detained and questioned by two peacekeepers (PKs)—the law enforcement arm of the singular world government. Somehow she is responsible for the entire world’s network of transportation (teleportation?) crashing after she foiled the plans of someone named Wallace—who may or may not be dead, along with her friends Zep and Libby. Clair hopes to restore the d-mat (which I am guessing is slang for de-materializer?) so she can get to the saved patterns of her friends and essentially resurrect them. Clair herself is not actually the original version of herself, having been brought back from the pattern saved by a mysterious Artificial Intelligent entity called ‘Q.’ Q is the wild card amid the worldwide chaos. Everyone wants to get a hold of the A.I., and everyone—regardless of affiliation—seems to assume that Clair can somehow facilitate that. From there the vast majority of our journey with Clair involves her and her entourage almost constantly fleeing.
My Thoughts:
I’m certainly not one for pace-dragging info dumping, but the lack of comprehensive recap and background information made it difficult to track and/or feel engaged with the story. The assumption seems to be that the reader has read the first book, and recently enough that they still grasp the politics, fantastical tech, and world-building minutia. The cast of existing and mentioned characters is quite extensive, and factional names like WHOLE, VIA, and RADICAL (along with an array of slang terms) are thrown out with little or no explanation. It’s also asserted early on that there is no way of telling a “real” person apart from their duplicate, yet it becomes clear that ‘Dupes’ aren't at all identical to their original versions. Some can apparently contain multi-detonation bombs within them (that for some reason can’t be detected), and by the end it turns out that fabricated matter does indeed differ from “real” matter in a known and critical way.
Beyond the general plot confusion, the relational interactions fell a bit flat—largely, I suspect, because readers are given little basis for both the romantic and platonic bonds Clair had formed in the previous installment. I think this quote adequately sums up the issue:
"She didn't clearly remember their faces, of their voices, or anything they had done together. They had become holes in her life where real people had once been. Absences rather than presences."
Therein lies much of the trouble I had with this story. Clair references back to these dead people she wants to bring back and a mother she wants to protect, but I had no emotional sense for what they meant to her. Add to that an ending that pulls a reverse Deus ex machina (Diabolus ex machina? Whatever you’d call it when a catastrophic incident comes out of nowhere to cause an apocalypse-level cliffhanger.)
On The Upside:
Clair does present as a strong and sufficiently introspective heroine. The author portrays the frequent action sequences with vivid ease, and a distinctly pleasing literary voice. The twist toward the end was both interesting and satisfying. And this reviewer particularly appreciated the idea of the Abstainers (Stainers)—people who refused to use the artificial matter-making/matter-transporting technology—who are shunned and persecuted for their simplicity of lifestyle.
While I don’t think this series is for me, I would be interested to pick up something else by this author.
nwhyte's review against another edition
2.0
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3794666.html
Did not finish. Sequel to a book I haven't read and annoyed me with an exposition scene where detectives tell a suspect what has been going on
Did not finish. Sequel to a book I haven't read and annoyed me with an exposition scene where detectives tell a suspect what has been going on
lpcoolgirl's review against another edition
5.0
Oh, wow, this was such a great book! So much was going on, and I can't wait to read more of this amazing series! Because oh, that ending!
chichay_joaq's review
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
dilema's review
5.0
Thank goodness for technology--I finished Twinmaker and had Crashland on my kindle within five minutes. These books are addictive.
While I knew I had to read this, I was skeptical going into Crashland. I thought that Twinmaker could easily have been a stand alone book and been tied up quite simply. So often, trilogies geared towards young adults have very strong leads and very lucklaster sequels. However, Crashland kept me tense and on the edge of my seat the whole way through.
The world Williams has created is very complex. Though at times it can be difficult to understand, we're guided with relative ease through the various groups of people that emerge politically in this sequel. While it's not about politics at all, there's a small gleam that raises interesting points about governance and how society would work under one government.
Like Twinmaker, Crashland raises a lot of interesting philosophical questions. It builds on ones previously raised--just when we thought these moral dilemmas were complex, they get even more so.
Clair really grows as a character, as she observes herself. She doesn't change too drastically--she evolves in a logical progression. The characters in these books are very well developed, many of them having their own motives and staying unpredictable in a way that makes sense.
There really was no way to guess where this book would go--Crashland moves at a rapid pace and despite the complexities of the world it's set in, is definitely comprehensible, though at times the plot gets rather complex and various groups of people are hard to keep track of.
Twinmaker and Crashland are fantastic--but Crashland's cliffhanger is immense. I need Hollowgirl, and I need it now.
While I knew I had to read this, I was skeptical going into Crashland. I thought that Twinmaker could easily have been a stand alone book and been tied up quite simply. So often, trilogies geared towards young adults have very strong leads and very lucklaster sequels. However, Crashland kept me tense and on the edge of my seat the whole way through.
The world Williams has created is very complex. Though at times it can be difficult to understand, we're guided with relative ease through the various groups of people that emerge politically in this sequel. While it's not about politics at all, there's a small gleam that raises interesting points about governance and how society would work under one government.
Like Twinmaker, Crashland raises a lot of interesting philosophical questions. It builds on ones previously raised--just when we thought these moral dilemmas were complex, they get even more so.
Clair really grows as a character, as she observes herself. She doesn't change too drastically--she evolves in a logical progression. The characters in these books are very well developed, many of them having their own motives and staying unpredictable in a way that makes sense.
There really was no way to guess where this book would go--Crashland moves at a rapid pace and despite the complexities of the world it's set in, is definitely comprehensible, though at times the plot gets rather complex and various groups of people are hard to keep track of.
Twinmaker and Crashland are fantastic--but Crashland's cliffhanger is immense. I need Hollowgirl, and I need it now.
tsana's review
4.0
Crash by Sean Williams is the sequel to Jump, which I read a year and a half ago. The long gap between reading was a bit annoying because the events of book one had become a bit of a hazy memory. While I remembered the key characters, some of the details had become rather vague. However, I didn't find this an impediment to getting back into the story. There wasn't a huge amount of recapping, but there was enough to know what was going on. I'm pretty sure this review will contain spoilers for the first book.
This middle instalment of the trilogy follows Clair and her unusual band of friends as they mostly run away from things and try to survive. D-mat is broken and the world is in chaos from their sudden inability to travel anywhere further than walking distance (more or less). Clair, having contributed to the developing apocalypse, wants to do something about it. In particular, she wants to find Q who has disappeared and, with increasing urgency, deal with the new problems that arise like all the people trying to kill her.
This was actually a surprisingly violent book. It fit and made sense in the context, but a lot of people died, many of them off-page, but a lot of them also in proximity to Clair. Admittedly, many of these people weren't "proper" people, being dupes — clones controlled by someone else, loosely speaking — but there were still a lot of blood and guts. A warning for those who may not be in the mood for such things.
For Clair and friends the story was a string of disasters, moving from the frying pan into the fire and then the next frying pan several times. It was an entertaining read that had me keen to return to it every time I put the book down. I might have guessed one of the twists before it was revealed, but unlike with some other books I've read, it didn't annoy me that Clair didn't make the same connection until much later. There was a lot of evidence pointing both ways and I wasn't completely sure until it was confirmed.
If you enjoyed Jump (or Twinmaker in the US) I definitely recommend reading Crash (or Crashland in the US). If you haven't read any of this series, this is not the book to start with. It's very much a continuation of the story started in Jump. In general, I would definitely recommend this series to fans of YA and SF, especially to anyone that likes philosophical questions brought into their stories.
4.5 / 5 stars
Read more reviews on my blog.
This middle instalment of the trilogy follows Clair and her unusual band of friends as they mostly run away from things and try to survive. D-mat is broken and the world is in chaos from their sudden inability to travel anywhere further than walking distance (more or less). Clair, having contributed to the developing apocalypse, wants to do something about it. In particular, she wants to find Q who has disappeared and, with increasing urgency, deal with the new problems that arise like all the people trying to kill her.
This was actually a surprisingly violent book. It fit and made sense in the context, but a lot of people died, many of them off-page, but a lot of them also in proximity to Clair. Admittedly, many of these people weren't "proper" people, being dupes — clones controlled by someone else, loosely speaking — but there were still a lot of blood and guts. A warning for those who may not be in the mood for such things.
For Clair and friends the story was a string of disasters, moving from the frying pan into the fire and then the next frying pan several times. It was an entertaining read that had me keen to return to it every time I put the book down. I might have guessed one of the twists before it was revealed, but unlike with some other books I've read, it didn't annoy me that Clair didn't make the same connection until much later. There was a lot of evidence pointing both ways and I wasn't completely sure until it was confirmed.
If you enjoyed Jump (or Twinmaker in the US) I definitely recommend reading Crash (or Crashland in the US). If you haven't read any of this series, this is not the book to start with. It's very much a continuation of the story started in Jump. In general, I would definitely recommend this series to fans of YA and SF, especially to anyone that likes philosophical questions brought into their stories.
4.5 / 5 stars
Read more reviews on my blog.
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