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qwerty88's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
jacalata's review against another edition
4.0
I very much enjoyed this book, with some nice unexpected turns. The central experiment setup was fascinating, especially given my current fascination with incentives/gamification, but most of the rest of the plot felt a little familiar. It was well written though - overall it seemed kind of like Heinlein's Friday, but better. Also with a really cool experimental setup :)
morninglightmountain's review against another edition
not my cup of tea
Content Warnings
avoid if you are turned off by trans ideas (it's not a major focus of the book, but there are some uncomfortable sexual situations that come up due to body swapping ) which could offend some.
jcovey's review against another edition
2.0
In the best Stross books the juvenile tone is more than made up for by the avalanche of fresh ideas. Accelerando being the prime example. Sadly, this one doesn't quite have enough ideas to sustain it's length and you're left with nothing but very grating characters for far too long.
novelinsights's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
This was a really good sci-fi dystopian novel about a far-future society and a science experiment that brings certain individuals right back to the lived experiences of people in the 1900s and 2000s. The world-building in this book is fascinating, and the premise offers opportunity for lots of cutting satire. The book also just hit a lot of things that I personally love in science fiction, and books in general.
There were a few specific writing decisions that I didn't agree with that led me to take a star away from my overall rating. For one, there is a flashback-esque component to the story, and there was a particular flashback that wasn't well-introduced, leading me to think it was happening in present day for a page or so and confusing the crap out of me. When I finally got to the part where we rejoined the events of the present, I figured out what was going on and was able to re-read it with the understanding that it was in the past, but in general, it pulled me out and could have been signaled a little better.
Additionally, I thought the way the author chose to present the climax was strange. A lot of the exciting ending of the book was distilled to summary in an epilogue, which was, quite literally, anti-climactic. (view spoiler)
Regardless, I still really enjoyed this book and want to read more by this author. I will say that this is a pretty tech-heavy science fiction, so I wouldn't recommend this to beginners in the genre, but if you're okay with getting lots of complex world-building and descriptions of technology while simultaneously enjoying satire, dystopian goodness, and a sometimes unreliable narrator, this is the book for you!
There were a few specific writing decisions that I didn't agree with that led me to take a star away from my overall rating. For one, there is a flashback-esque component to the story, and there was a particular flashback that wasn't well-introduced, leading me to think it was happening in present day for a page or so and confusing the crap out of me. When I finally got to the part where we rejoined the events of the present, I figured out what was going on and was able to re-read it with the understanding that it was in the past, but in general, it pulled me out and could have been signaled a little better.
Additionally, I thought the way the author chose to present the climax was strange. A lot of the exciting ending of the book was distilled to summary in an epilogue, which was, quite literally, anti-climactic. (view spoiler)
Regardless, I still really enjoyed this book and want to read more by this author. I will say that this is a pretty tech-heavy science fiction, so I wouldn't recommend this to beginners in the genre, but if you're okay with getting lots of complex world-building and descriptions of technology while simultaneously enjoying satire, dystopian goodness, and a sometimes unreliable narrator, this is the book for you!
Content Warnings
Graphic: War and Domestic abuse
Moderate: Rape
Minor: Suicide
conceptsoftime's review against another edition
5.0
A story about a nanotech world where identity theft is a crime more serious than murder. But also a story about our own cultures and norms. The protagonist flips among the dimensions of identity: gender, beliefs, values, and family. Stross does a brilliant job shifting these perspectives on you, and he is a clever neologist. The book reminds me of Perdido Street Station a bit, but I would say the genre is "singularity" if that exists.
A couple things annoyed me in his writing. I felt there were several redundant segments that could have been omitted. And his technique in this book is to explicitly state (in the first person) how the character is feeling and thinking; I would rather more of the showing and less of the repeatedly telling. But still well worth the read if you don't mind having your mind bent back bitingly - and then opened to new perspectives.
A couple things annoyed me in his writing. I felt there were several redundant segments that could have been omitted. And his technique in this book is to explicitly state (in the first person) how the character is feeling and thinking; I would rather more of the showing and less of the repeatedly telling. But still well worth the read if you don't mind having your mind bent back bitingly - and then opened to new perspectives.
amber_spark's review
4.0
While this is a fascinating study on the concept of gender roles as viewed in the distant future and definitely touches on a great many trans topics, the book is constantly hindered by using futurist terminologies that may confuse a lot of readers (especially when listening to the audiobook). I still love the moment of when it kicks into full unreliable narrator and seeing that slow slide to the other side, but considering how the main character is all too often in the dark on what's going on, the readers are often in the dark as well, and not always in a positive way.
I'm a very different person from when I first read this and it doesn't land quite as well as it did before (I have a thing for gender swaps, I wonder why. ;) ), it's still worth a read if you're familiar with far-future scifi.
I'm a very different person from when I first read this and it doesn't land quite as well as it did before (I have a thing for gender swaps, I wonder why. ;) ), it's still worth a read if you're familiar with far-future scifi.
bakudreamer's review
1.0
Only read half of this ~ Stross's blog is way more interesting than his books ~
nickfourtimes's review
3.0
''Ironically, the Invisible Republic is now the place where many people come in order to forget their pasts. We who remain human (while relying on A-gate redaction to save our bodies from senescence) sooner or later need to learn to forget. Time is a corrosive fluid, dissolving motivation, destroying novelty, and leaching the joy from life. But forgetting is a fraught process, one that is prone to transcription errors and personality flaws. Delete the wrong pattern, and you can end up becoming someone else. Memories exhibit dependencies, and their management is one of the highest medical art forms. Hence the high status and vast resources of the surgeon-confessors, into whose hands my earlier self delivered me. The surgeon-confessors learned their skills by forensic analysis of the damage done to the victims of the censorship wars. And thus, yesterday's high crime leads to today's medical treatment.''