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eachz's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
The only reason it wasn't a 5 was because I was ever so slightly disappointed by the "reveal". I wanted a juicier explanation!
Moderate: Gore, Violence, and Death
Minor: Fatphobia
mercerhanau's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Moderate: War
Minor: Classism, Confinement, Violence, Cannibalism, Fatphobia, Grief, Medical trauma, Panic attacks/disorders, Pregnancy, Alcohol, Blood, Suicide, and Torture
steveatwaywords's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Delany is at once a sharp-skilled writer on topics abstract and challenging (how a brain functions, social-psychological insights, what it means to be 'discorporate') and sometimes challenging on topics which might be sharply-defined (action sequences with unspoken narrative leaps, dialogue with subtext too subtle to follow). Nevertheless, what I thought first upon reading this book (and after it was over) was that I wanted more.
His characters, major and minor, are rich in backstory without needless exposition; the world is massive in variation and function with little space given for its history. From the first pages, readers are set deeply into it and left to founder, but we are never lose ourselves from the tautly-told story offered. At once a novel of espionage and murder, its answer is cleanly resolved in the premise: how might a language's structure alter who and what we are?
A reader today may have quibbles with the book: its worlds lean a bit heavily on the 1960s psychedelic scenes from when it was written. And, my personal trouble at times, the narrative dives into the languages themselves are fairly experimental and at times stream-of-consciousness, in keeping with the nature of those languages. However, these pages (not mere paragraphs) can become truly disorienting: but don't skip over them, because much of Delany's answers and vision lie in this very experimental text! (And to be sure, when I say that I wanted the novel to be longer, it was not to ask for more of this writing!)
What we are left with is a novel that pokes hard at a concept other writers have done far less successfully (Ayn Rand and Larry Niven each come to mind), but with stakes and consequences so high that we leave less worried for the future vision and more anxious for ourselves.
Graphic: War and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content and Drug use
The violence and war are high space action rather than realistic history.thessie_rby's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Graphic: Child death and Murder
Moderate: Suicide, Violence, Medical trauma, and War
Minor: Sexual content
roaming_ro's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
Graphic: Fatphobia, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Suicide
kbkbkbkbkb's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Graphic: Death and Violence
talonsontypewriters's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Violence, Body horror, Medical content, and Gore
Moderate: Alcohol, Gun violence, Suicide, Fatphobia, Ableism, Death, Murder, and Grief
Minor: Pregnancy and Animal death
Body horror refers mostly to cosmetic surgery taken on by many characters to grant them various physical attributes. Passing use of "oriental" and other dated derogatory terms/beliefs. Mild discrimination against polyamory early on. Nonsexual nudity.tachyondecay's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Originally posted at Kara.Reviews.
Graphic: Blood, Death, Confinement, and Violence
Minor: Racial slurs
morebedsidebooks's review against another edition
3.0
Moderate: Murder, Violence, and Death
Minor: Suicide and Fatphobia