Reviews with content warning for Kidnapping - Sáu đợt thức tỉnh

A perfectly-paced murder mystery on a spaceship full of clones. I was in the mood for a page-turner and this delivered. It’s the kind of mystery that’s technically possible for the reader to figure out on their own, but challenging enough that I didn’t get it entirely right. It’s also solid sci-fi, thoughtfully exploring themes around ethics and morality in a future where real death is no longer an issue for many people. Lafferty does a great job reimagining what character development might look like when the characters in question are more or less immortal. Finished it in 2 days and enjoyed every second.

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e_flah's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense fast-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

Six Wakes was a fast-paced, engrossing read that hooked me from the first page. I really loved how it balanced a propulsive plot with great character development. I loved slowly learning more about the crew of the Dormire as they tried to figure out who killed their previous clones.

Sometimes with large ensemble casts, it can be tough to feel like I have a good sense of who all the characters are; this was not at all the case with Six Wakes. With the exception of Paul -- which I think was the point -- I found the crew all lovable and fascinating in their own, complicated ways. The tension between the crew members left lots of room for me to theorize about potential motivations for the crime, which was a ton of fun.

I found the fact that

so much of the events on the Dormire were blamed on Maria's actions in the past, particularly due to the fact that they were under threat of torture, a bit frustrating. It seemed like too clean of a solution to a web of conflict that had otherwise been delightfully messy.

This is the main reason I'm giving Six Wakes 4 stars instead of 5.

On the whole, Six Wakes is a gripping read that does an excellent job balancing an action-packed plot with strong character development.

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emallovesreading's review against another edition

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dark mysterious fast-paced

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? Yes

4.5

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3frenchtoast's review against another edition

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adventurous dark mysterious tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

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jselliot's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

A one-sentence summary of this book: Six Wakes is a closed circle scifi murder mystery with clones in deep space.

I started reading this book around 11:30am, and finished at around 11pm after breaks for food/chores/etc. It's very compelling, bingeable, even in spite of all the dark concepts that get rained down on you in what is essentially a biopunk future. While I wouldn't have minded just a little more length to the story, it was still ultimately pretty satisfying. Would have liked more information on Sallie, though, and just what she was doing that she felt the need to expel all of the people that she had successfully used for hundreds of years from the atmosphere. That was one question that just never got answered.

That being said, the world building in this book - for being told in flashbacks - is solid. It presents some excellent thoughts regarding moral/political issues in regards to cloning, and how that might be further refined. And once the twists start unfolding halfway in, they just keep coming and the momentum of the story picks up considerably.

5/5, would read again.

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