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horchata's review against another edition
challenging
dark
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This book had some incredible highs and a low low or two. I was riveted for more than a week and was totally uninterested in listening to anything else. Such an intriguing premise, and the alien eating turtles in the pond in Central Park was striking from the start. I loved the idea of a universe organized by narrative rules. There’s so much there to explore.
A few other reviewers mentioned the math of it all, and they weren’t wrong! But Dickinson’s forays through said math were entirely followable; well-explained or otherwise handwaving the reader through anything more esoteric. What I could have used some more guidance on as a civilian?The positions of everybody in those atmospheric nuclear firefights. I mean, I get that this is combat that breaks the rules of physics and then giggles as it pours salt on the slugs of all the minds trying to parse what’s going on, but man my little mind slug was innocent, and also not trained to understand callsigns and tactical shit. Mercy, sir. Also! For me, the ending felt like watching someone set up a big domino run and it getting almost to the end and then the soft and satisfying clicky noises stop as one of those dominoes falls out of line. So she was Evil evil all along?? We don’t get a narratively satisfying ending despite the entire cosmology of this book built around seven essentially divine narratives? I have to say I was really ready for some “humanity tells these kinds of stories, asshole!” moments near the end, and everyone failing was deeply unsatisfying rather than a delicious twist of despair. Oof.
I’d recommend this book to people whose brains go brrr at the idea of exploring existential doom through the frantic, stubborn brilliance of humans racing the clock to stop it. Mind those content warnings. But just gorgeous imagery (when coherent) and fun games with language and the scientific existence of souls and meta-narratives will grab me every time. Another one of those books, though, where I’d have loved to get the syllabus in advance to check which philosophers, scientists, military campaigns, mathematicians, and other novels from The Sci-Fi Canon with which I should familiarize myself in order to really enjoy its intelligent references all the more. Thank goodness I at least got all the memes.
A few other reviewers mentioned the math of it all, and they weren’t wrong! But Dickinson’s forays through said math were entirely followable; well-explained or otherwise handwaving the reader through anything more esoteric. What I could have used some more guidance on as a civilian?
I’d recommend this book to people whose brains go brrr at the idea of exploring existential doom through the frantic, stubborn brilliance of humans racing the clock to stop it. Mind those content warnings. But just gorgeous imagery (when coherent) and fun games with language and the scientific existence of souls and meta-narratives will grab me every time. Another one of those books, though, where I’d have loved to get the syllabus in advance to check which philosophers, scientists, military campaigns, mathematicians, and other novels from The Sci-Fi Canon with which I should familiarize myself in order to really enjoy its intelligent references all the more. Thank goodness I at least got all the memes.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, Body horror, Death, Gore, Genocide, Murder, Violence, and War
Moderate: Grief, Gun violence, and Toxic friendship
Minor: Cannibalism, Confinement, Drug use, Excrement, and Gaslighting
firesolstice's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-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
3.75
I wanted to like it more but also the line "like a uterine contraction" exists so
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, and Murder
aileron's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
slow-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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Genocide, War, Gun violence, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Gore, Injury/Injury detail, Murder, and Violence
Moderate: Abandonment, Grief, Lesbophobia, Child death, and Animal death
Minor: Rape, Alcoholism, Racism, Cannibalism, Miscarriage, Excrement, and Suicidal thoughts
oceia's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
informative
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
What a strange and compelling book. I feel like I've never read a sci-fi book quite like it so I can't compare it. Except that I want more - which makes me have mixed feelings about the fact that it's not(?) a standalone. Every character is so compelling because of all of the trolley problems they are constantly facing.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder, Genocide, Body horror, and Gun violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Animal death, Medical content, and War
Minor: Death of parent, Cannibalism, Confinement, and Alcoholism
gilroi's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I would like to thank NetGalley for allowing me to read this ARC in return for an honest review:
This is an excellent novel, both thrilling and conceptual, literary and human, serious and fun.
It is also going to piss a lot of people off because it does not automatically reveal all the kinks and knots in its worldbuilding. This isn't to say the worldbuilding is particularly cryptic or difficult. It's just extremely detailed. Even then, it's structured in such a way that the important parts are almost always re-explained as soon as they become relevant. But a lot of readers, especially SFF ones, immediately break at the thought that something isn't immediately, transparently obvious. It's okay, guys. You're not supposed to understand everything. The people explaining are aliens and quantum physicists. Be at peace.
If you can get over that hurdle, you'll find a highly emotional and philosophical and fun story about humanity, colonialism, failure, pain, moral philosophy, and love. The moral philosophy part was a particular treat for me, because it slapped me in the face. I've said before that moral philosophy is 'the most useless' philosophy because its main purpose seems to be obfuscating theoretical models of behavior for the amusement of privileged old men who will never have to face those choices. This book gave me the finger. It points to the ways those theoretical models are in fact real and are faced by real people daily. I love it when books prove me wrong.
My only substantive complaint is the pacing, though I am personally extremely sensitive to pacing because my attention span hasn't been the greatest since COVID. The... second eighth of the book? There's a bit of a lag, when we're jumping between timelines, that feels a bit like this novel was at one point a novella or a novelette that was elongated. But I am also just personally not a fan of switching around in timelines and POVs too much. And it's a credit to this book that the switching POV didn't turn me off completely.
All and all, I'd love it if this became the new SF, especially MilSF. I want more morality in my space battles, more questioning the fabric of existence, more reckoning with America's seedy colonialist past and present and, let's be real, future. More military SF should question the military industrial complex. Shake the foundations of the genre! Feed me good food. This book was a feast.
This is an excellent novel, both thrilling and conceptual, literary and human, serious and fun.
It is also going to piss a lot of people off because it does not automatically reveal all the kinks and knots in its worldbuilding. This isn't to say the worldbuilding is particularly cryptic or difficult. It's just extremely detailed. Even then, it's structured in such a way that the important parts are almost always re-explained as soon as they become relevant. But a lot of readers, especially SFF ones, immediately break at the thought that something isn't immediately, transparently obvious. It's okay, guys. You're not supposed to understand everything. The people explaining are aliens and quantum physicists. Be at peace.
If you can get over that hurdle, you'll find a highly emotional and philosophical and fun story about humanity, colonialism, failure, pain, moral philosophy, and love. The moral philosophy part was a particular treat for me, because it slapped me in the face. I've said before that moral philosophy is 'the most useless' philosophy because its main purpose seems to be obfuscating theoretical models of behavior for the amusement of privileged old men who will never have to face those choices. This book gave me the finger. It points to the ways those theoretical models are in fact real and are faced by real people daily. I love it when books prove me wrong.
My only substantive complaint is the pacing, though I am personally extremely sensitive to pacing because my attention span hasn't been the greatest since COVID. The... second eighth of the book? There's a bit of a lag, when we're jumping between timelines, that feels a bit like this novel was at one point a novella or a novelette that was elongated. But I am also just personally not a fan of switching around in timelines and POVs too much. And it's a credit to this book that the switching POV didn't turn me off completely.
All and all, I'd love it if this became the new SF, especially MilSF. I want more morality in my space battles, more questioning the fabric of existence, more reckoning with America's seedy colonialist past and present and, let's be real, future. More military SF should question the military industrial complex. Shake the foundations of the genre! Feed me good food. This book was a feast.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Homophobia, Xenophobia, Lesbophobia, Genocide, Murder, and War
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