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routergirl's review against another edition
3.0
What a strange book this was. I found this through a thread on metafilter from someone looking for books with "likeable bastards." Ziani, the main character, is almost a likeable bastard. He's an engineer who is sentenced to death for creating an abomination: a toy for his daughter with pieces that fall (GASP) outside of official Specifications.
The engineering aspect I found interesting, but not as interesting as K.J. Parker, who went on for entirely too long about measurements and mechanisms. Seriously, K.J., give it a rest. We get it, you love this stuff, but some of us would prefer the plot advanced!
What a plot it is, too! Deceit, extraordinary planning, a little bit of intrigue. The problem is, as other reviewers have stated, how incredibly unbelievable it is. I mean, Ziani is engineering people soon enough, and somehow he always escapes notice, somehow he is left as the SMARTEST MAN IN THE WORLD, considered the least threat, given ridiculous advantages. I hesitated to even call him the main character - it's like saying the main character in Twister was a tornado. The main character in Arachnophobia was a spider. You get it, right?
If you read this on its own, you'll be disappointed if you're hoping to ever figure out what in the hell happened. I picked up the second one because I had some free time and I wanted to see if anything was revealed, and it's a bit better. Much more humanity in that one. And well, I guess I'm a sucker for trilogies.
Bastard he is, though I don't know about likeable.
The engineering aspect I found interesting, but not as interesting as K.J. Parker, who went on for entirely too long about measurements and mechanisms. Seriously, K.J., give it a rest. We get it, you love this stuff, but some of us would prefer the plot advanced!
What a plot it is, too! Deceit, extraordinary planning, a little bit of intrigue. The problem is, as other reviewers have stated, how incredibly unbelievable it is. I mean, Ziani is engineering people soon enough, and somehow he always escapes notice, somehow he is left as the SMARTEST MAN IN THE WORLD, considered the least threat, given ridiculous advantages. I hesitated to even call him the main character - it's like saying the main character in Twister was a tornado. The main character in Arachnophobia was a spider. You get it, right?
If you read this on its own, you'll be disappointed if you're hoping to ever figure out what in the hell happened. I picked up the second one because I had some free time and I wanted to see if anything was revealed, and it's a bit better. Much more humanity in that one. And well, I guess I'm a sucker for trilogies.
Bastard he is, though I don't know about likeable.
mellomorissa's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
fantastiskfiktion's review against another edition
4.0
https://fantastiskfiktion.wordpress.com/2015/08/01/devices-and-desires/
_b_a_l_'s review against another edition
3.0
I've been doing a bit of a K J Parker binge. This is a fantasy story bereft of heroes with a melancholy thread. Not quite as beautiful as Academic Exercises - but a solid read.
eacolgan's review
2.0
i was intrigued by the premise of this book, and really excited to get my hands on it finally. however once i'd begun i found that the story was slow moving, and bogged down by a lot of meandering description. the author was clearly drawing many parallels between the strictures of the mechanical guild and the rules by which the various societies lived, but it was clunky and overworked, and after a while got rather boring. chapters from the POV of random throwaway characters took me out of the story, and ultimately there were only three of the main characters whose storylines i cared about. i won't be finishing this trilogy, sadly; it's based on a great idea, but ultimately not worth the time it would take to work through it.
ohio_enthusiast's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
3.75
tempse's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
aryaxo's review against another edition
literally said "he looked like he wanted to ask to see the manager" in a feudal fantasy novel