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4.04 AVERAGE
4.04 AVERAGE
Pointless brutality, no real payoff. I’m done with this series as of now. Could’ve probably done without any past the first. 2.51 stars.
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I tried to like this book, and it's not bad. But it strays so far from the Culture settings that I love, and it is so laser focused on the one character who I do not like and who I feel I am being pushed to care about without having reasons to, and it is so slow, that I couldn't finish it. For me, at 60% a book should deliver something cool and be done building up.
This book really does hit home on how immoral and sorta imperialistic special circumstances is. There is a fine line to be walked between imperialism and benevolent interference, and I feel like special circumstances always ends up on the side of spreading their ideology to everyone regardless of the means it takes to get there. I think beychae's notes on that near the middle are pertinent to that.
I likely will revisit this and read again - I feel like I took too long to read this so the beginning wasn't too fresh in my mind while I was finishing it.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
There are two books I like best and I cannot decide which one I like better. This is one of them.
After reading "Player of Games" I wanted to check out some other books from the series.
This was a more difficult read with a chronologically jumping storyline, but I enjoyed it almost as much as P.o.G.
As with P.o.G, there's a lot to reflect to the real world in the book as well and the ending surprised me pants down.
This was a more difficult read with a chronologically jumping storyline, but I enjoyed it almost as much as P.o.G.
As with P.o.G, there's a lot to reflect to the real world in the book as well and the ending surprised me pants down.
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Use of Weapons, while interesting at points, is largely boring. Well, I thought it was boring, and I felt spellbound as I read page after page of Matter, I was absolutely enthralled when ensconced in the (too-short) Player of Games. Use of Weapons fails to develop a fully realized portion of the Culture universe, instead preferring a psychological thriller/mystery, a tale with a twist that, well, doesn't twist very hard. When you're entirely disengaged sympathetically or emotionally with a narrative, the assertion that one character's name has changed, or his identity (which is, I feel, nebulous to begin with) is less than impressive. Added to this the incongruity of form (novel) with content (narrative twists usually occur in the short story) realizes a story with little to work with and less to describe.
If I hadn't loved the other three Culture books I'd read, I would have DNFed this.
I got precious little out of either of the stories. The forward running story didn't go anywhere, there was no real explanation of what Special Circumstances plan was, or why they'd use this uncontrollable professional soldier to do them. And he ends up having so very little impact on the resolution.
The backwards running story I didn't care for. I wasn't interested in the characters at all so the big reveal did very little for me.
The only sections I enjoyed were where a non-Culture person experiences a GSV for the first time, and honestly I could have done with a full book of that. Many of the war sections, particularly the one near the end of the forwards running section were interesting, but it wasn't enough to save a story I wasn't interested in.
One of the main characters, Sma, just disappears for most of the book and it feels like she's only got one purpose, to be the person the big reveal is revealed to.
I feel like I might enjoy this book better the second time around when I can better place things on a time line.
But honestly so many parts of this story just feel like a worse version of Player Of Games, so if I was re-reading anything I'd do that book instead because it was incredible.
I got precious little out of either of the stories. The forward running story didn't go anywhere, there was no real explanation of what Special Circumstances plan was, or why they'd use this uncontrollable professional soldier to do them. And he ends up having so very little impact on the resolution.
The backwards running story I didn't care for. I wasn't interested in the characters at all so the big reveal did very little for me.
The only sections I enjoyed were where a non-Culture person experiences a GSV for the first time, and honestly I could have done with a full book of that. Many of the war sections, particularly the one near the end of the forwards running section were interesting, but it wasn't enough to save a story I wasn't interested in.
One of the main characters, Sma, just disappears for most of the book and it feels like she's only got one purpose, to be the person the big reveal is revealed to.
I feel like I might enjoy this book better the second time around when I can better place things on a time line.
But honestly so many parts of this story just feel like a worse version of Player Of Games, so if I was re-reading anything I'd do that book instead because it was incredible.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Like many other reviewers I didn't pick up on the chapter headers until I was well into the story. It helps if you do (just goes to show how conditioned we all are when it comes to a books structure!). I found this book fascinating. Really strong character development and interesting themes with some extremely dark moments. As the story came together at the end I found myself completely engrossed. Well worth reading.