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3.59 AVERAGE
3.59 AVERAGE
Easy quick read and surprisingly enjoyable. Based on the blurb it seemed like it was going to be a bit too sci-fi for my liking, but that was not the case; really more a study of humans, and essential desires to survive and love/be loved.
Based on the fact that Tom Rob Smith had previously been longlisted for the Booker Prize, I expected a more philosophical novel--more literary than sci-fi, despite the premise. I imagined something more in the vein of Emily St. John Mandel, but Smith's story crossed deep into science fiction territory. It's not just some allegorical backdrop to put pressure on the characters. Really, its transhumanist themes reminded me of Appleseed. But where that book felt like a pretty bleak vision of human nature, Smith seems much more optimistic. When humanity is forced into a dire survival situation en masse, the best comes out of us and we bind together, erasing strife and national boundaries to bind together and survive on the ice. What comes after that, though, is the crux of the book and I wouldn't want to spoil it...
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
bro Echo and Eitan. Beautiful names. the book was so perfect. loved yotan too
3.5 out of 4. I liked this storyline and was interested in the plot, but there was a lot of detail, maybe unnecessary, and at times I was unsure where the storyline was going. With that said, I was drawn along, engaged, and didn't want to stop reading it! Seems like there could be a sequel??
Okay beach read.
Not great. Lazy writing. UFOs suddenly appear throughout the sky and everyone — everyone! — feels this way or that way. People fall in love in half-sketched-out ways that seem to exist solely to advance the plot. A creature dies and all of the other creatures suddenly are overcome because one of their own has died and for the first time they know mortality. Despite many of their number having just died, several pages previously.
Psychological depth in the characters is largely missing in action. The ‘show don’t tell’ rule too often gets broken.
Some of the characters are rendered well. Many aren’t.
Errors abound. An American Harvard Medical Student is described as being 20 years old and in her second year, and having shadowed doctors and already learned some practical medicine. But US medical schools are graduate-level (post-grad) programs, not undergraduate (as in UK). She’d be at least 24 or 25. The first three years are largely just book learning.
Her suitcase, she says, is made of aluminium. But for Americans, that word doesn’t exist.
Many characters are empty vessels meant to fulfil plot points. There are some interesting plot twists. But then, for example, crazy numbers of ships get scuttled on the coast of Antarctica, including an aircraft carrier (most of which would be nuclear-powered), and overnight it turns into a place of ecological wonder, with underwater life flourishing. Really? All that oil and diesel and who knows what are suddenly released into the seas upon which everyone depends for food, and life goes merrily on? Or a flotilla of ships is docked to the edge of Antarctica, including a nuclear sub? When edges of the continent have a habit of coming away unexpectedly, and sea ice or freezing?
Much is this book feels like a sketch for what could have been much more. Or the basis for a script, except the characters mostly aren’t believable.
Finally, for a book so hung up on love, its portrayal especially in the end is excruciatingly anodyne.
Not great. Lazy writing. UFOs suddenly appear throughout the sky and everyone — everyone! — feels this way or that way. People fall in love in half-sketched-out ways that seem to exist solely to advance the plot. A creature dies and all of the other creatures suddenly are overcome because one of their own has died and for the first time they know mortality. Despite many of their number having just died, several pages previously.
Psychological depth in the characters is largely missing in action. The ‘show don’t tell’ rule too often gets broken.
Some of the characters are rendered well. Many aren’t.
Errors abound. An American Harvard Medical Student is described as being 20 years old and in her second year, and having shadowed doctors and already learned some practical medicine. But US medical schools are graduate-level (post-grad) programs, not undergraduate (as in UK). She’d be at least 24 or 25. The first three years are largely just book learning.
Her suitcase, she says, is made of aluminium. But for Americans, that word doesn’t exist.
Many characters are empty vessels meant to fulfil plot points. There are some interesting plot twists. But then, for example, crazy numbers of ships get scuttled on the coast of Antarctica, including an aircraft carrier (most of which would be nuclear-powered), and overnight it turns into a place of ecological wonder, with underwater life flourishing. Really? All that oil and diesel and who knows what are suddenly released into the seas upon which everyone depends for food, and life goes merrily on? Or a flotilla of ships is docked to the edge of Antarctica, including a nuclear sub? When edges of the continent have a habit of coming away unexpectedly, and sea ice or freezing?
Much is this book feels like a sketch for what could have been much more. Or the basis for a script, except the characters mostly aren’t believable.
Finally, for a book so hung up on love, its portrayal especially in the end is excruciatingly anodyne.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Imaginative and suspenseful. Much food for thought here about colonialism;
Spoiler
as those who were banished and forced to emigrate to an inhospitable place try to adapt and ironically end up creating a version of ourselves that in turn banishes .... us. At its core is an exploration of "survival of the fittest" versus "no man left behind."
Thoroughly enjoyable inventive Sci Fi / dystopian fiction .i wasn’t sure to begin with what was going to happen in this book and found the first few chapters rather confusing because of this .From the moment the aliens arrive and the worlds population has to move to the South Pole to escape destruction I was caught up in the story and didn’t want to put it down
The initial story of the worlds’s destruction and mass exodus was exciting and inventive I wanted to know more about the lives of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary circumstances ,the book however went even further than I was expecting with the addition of a new race of people who had had their genetics altered to become more adapted to the cold .I have to admit to finding these sections rather less engrossing as they became more and more far fetched and speculative .somehow it was a step too far for me
As so much happens there is less time for the emotional relationships of characters to be given as much time to develop and I missed this element in the story .
The author has an easily real accessible prose style and I’m sure this book will do very well
I read an early copy on NetGalley Uk the book is published in the Uk 1st March 2023 by Simon and Schuster Uk
The initial story of the worlds’s destruction and mass exodus was exciting and inventive I wanted to know more about the lives of ordinary people caught up in extraordinary circumstances ,the book however went even further than I was expecting with the addition of a new race of people who had had their genetics altered to become more adapted to the cold .I have to admit to finding these sections rather less engrossing as they became more and more far fetched and speculative .somehow it was a step too far for me
As so much happens there is less time for the emotional relationships of characters to be given as much time to develop and I missed this element in the story .
The author has an easily real accessible prose style and I’m sure this book will do very well
I read an early copy on NetGalley Uk the book is published in the Uk 1st March 2023 by Simon and Schuster Uk
Aliens have invaded and humanity is ordered to get to Antarctica. Anyone who can make it to Antarctica in 30 days will live, everyone else, not so much. It’s a good premise and the book delivers in unexpected ways. There were a few puzzling elements, such as a new character and her entire backstory introduced in the last quarter of the book, only for the character to die off before the end of the chapter. It felt unnecessary and odd.
WOW!! What an unbelievable book. Imagine all the humans of the earth must suddenly move to Antarctica. This story blends science with compelling characters in an impossible situation. I was completely fascinated the entire ride. Will be thinking about this one for a LONG time. Thanks to Meredith Monday Schwartz from Currently Reading podcast for the recommendation.