Reviews with content warning for Cannibalism - Walking to Aldebaran

After my success with Elder Race, I decided to give another short book by Tchaikovsky a try, and unfortunately this was more of a miss for me. This novella started out strong and I really enjoyed the voice of our main character throughout. It reminded me a lot of Mark Watney from The Martian if he had been transplanted into a dark and wacky alternative exoplanet. I chuckled out loud at a couple lines, so props to the good writing and the good line delivery by the audiobook narrator.

Apart from the fun protagonist and interesting first few chapters, this book sort of lost me about halfway in. This book kind of had a hard time keeping my attention, but I'll admit that that might be on me for listening to an audiobook during a stressful time of year. Going to leave my rating where it is right now but could be convinced to give this one another go.

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pacifickat's review against another edition

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adventurous dark funny reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

"His alien spirit would travel far, into the Fiend's keeping." -Beowulf

Thoroghly enjoyed the author-narrated audiobook. Sci-Fi short fiction is truly one of my favorite sub-genres, and this didn't disappoint. It's witty, smart, and irreverent even as it plays with great literary stories and tropes.

The twist was fun and horrible, even if I saw it coming a long way off. I love a well executed use of an unreliable narrator!

I know Tchaikovsky is a smart dude, and was trying to figure out how

monster horror

fit into a more clever overarching story. The novella feels like part twisted hero quest, meets Alice In Wonderland, Howl's Moving Case, The Martian, Frankenstein, and Shaun of the Dead. He sprinkles on references to other literary works, as well as forboding mentions of "intelligent design" and the theory of relativity. I knew I was missing some obvious point. In the end, it was another reviewer who mentioned

his name being G. Rendell, his many references to Mother, and his arm being torn off: Beowulf.

Duh. This is a play on that ancient tale. I'd like to think that given enough time and patience, I would have figured that out myself.

Now I want to re-read it and pick out all the references and easter eggs.

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iono's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

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supertursas's review

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adventurous dark funny mysterious sad fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.0

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surdiablo's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny mysterious tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Okay, I am at a loss for words as it left quite a stunning impression on me. It's one of those books that's best experienced if you go in completely blind, but for the sake of me having to write something, we basically follow the first-person narrative of an

astronaut stuck in an alien crypt.

The pacing is good, atmospheric dread is impressive, flashbacks are intertwined without ruining the flow much, and the book is even funny/wholesome at certain points regardless of the subject matter, since the narrator doesn't take himself seriously. I didn't have many problems with the story except that it could have used more 'creative' moments perhaps, considering the setting. Perhaps it's not as well-written as Elder Race, and you may not find it as impressive as I did if you have read much sci-fi before, but I had a great time overall and the ending left me feeling

disturbed

. I wasn't aware of the whole

Beowulf

retelling part, and I think it worked out very well for me since I had no idea what to expect.

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