Reviews tagging 'Body horror'

Revelation Space by Alastair Reynolds

2 reviews

glait's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

Gothic body horror in space. Cyborg pirates, Faustian scientists, blackmailed killers, bumping around in and old space ship to solve the mystery of long lost civilization.
Also, everyone is a douchebag.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror and Blood

Minor: Chronic illness, Confinement, Death, Genocide, Physical abuse, Suicide, Torture, Violence, Blood, Kidnapping, Medical trauma, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, Alcohol, Colonisation, War, and Pandemic/Epidemic

grey_goo's review against another edition

dark mysterious tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

2.5

The core mystery is cool, and the setting is inventive, but goddamn, I thoroughly detest almost all of the characters in this book, they act and speak incredibly unnaturally, and are almost all assholes to boot. I also dislike the writing style quite a bit, especially in the way it will pull out of the moment to gloss past really important and interesting stuff. There are way too many times where the literal POV character discovers some unique insight into the core mystery, and the narration just... elects not to share that information with the reader. 

The quality of the mystery and setting make this book just tip over the edge of worth reading for me, and the answers in the end are satisfying enough that I'm glad I finished it, but it was pretty tough to get through.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Body horror