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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
Strong female characters, including ship captains and a sentient ship AI. This book is about war, the morality of war & just following orders, doing things one is ashamed of, and making amends. I was very concerned for awhile about how it was portraying the genocidal war criminal. But I think that this character was set up as a contrast to the very different captain, who makes different choices with different emotions. I think it was actually a more thought-provoking book because it took us inside the heads of characters on both sides of a terrible choice, rather than just presenting one side. Yep, war is bad. Genocide is evil. But humans are complicated.
I'm not sure about the end. Is a benign police state that saves us from ourselves our only hope? Can a police state ever actually be benign? Maybe, if they aren't human . . . In any event, I'll be interested to see where the author goes with this series.
I'm not sure about the end. Is a benign police state that saves us from ourselves our only hope? Can a police state ever actually be benign? Maybe, if they aren't human . . . In any event, I'll be interested to see where the author goes with this series.
How exited one can get about a space opera book? Very much!
To my taste, all was right: the characters were mostly engaging and human-like, especially curious the Trouble Dog ships is a personae of its own. The world constructed by the author quite interesting, but not pressed upon the reader at once.
The story went with a balanced pace and the chapters easily digestible. That is how it's supposed to be.
And, improtantly, this book has no meanningless violence and is not romanticising killing or destruction!
I've already ordered part 2 of the series.
To my taste, all was right: the characters were mostly engaging and human-like, especially curious the Trouble Dog ships is a personae of its own. The world constructed by the author quite interesting, but not pressed upon the reader at once.
The story went with a balanced pace and the chapters easily digestible. That is how it's supposed to be.
And, improtantly, this book has no meanningless violence and is not romanticising killing or destruction!
I've already ordered part 2 of the series.
There's a quiet intensity to Powell's storytelling. Maybe it's the AI voice of the ship Trouble Dog or the somewhat resigned airs from the ship's captain Sal Konstanz that provide a steady thread even through space combat. That's not to say the story isn't exciting; it absolutely is.
EMBERS OF WAR is the beginning of a trilogy and it does what any first in a series should do: it gets us ready. It's the bubbling just before coming to the surface. The story is told with multiple points of view, but it wasn't choppy or hard to follow. Each character's voice is different and the wants and needs are specific to him or her or it.
Sadly, I was surprised at how many women take center-stage--not disappointed, just surprised. That shouldn't be such a shock by now. Ultimately, it was a happy surprise and I found the female roles compelling. There was never a question as to their abilities, nor did any of them have to provide a justification for her station.
Mostly, I was intrigued by the character, Trouble Dog. She's a complicated ship. She's made choices, has a past, and is being judged by those who knew her from her time before. It's hard to not think of her as human, but that's part of the mystery and uniqueness of Powell's construct. Without giving too much away, I was holding my breath for the last few chapters wondering how the story would progress.
EMBERS OF WAR is the beginning of a trilogy and it does what any first in a series should do: it gets us ready. It's the bubbling just before coming to the surface. The story is told with multiple points of view, but it wasn't choppy or hard to follow. Each character's voice is different and the wants and needs are specific to him or her or it.
Sadly, I was surprised at how many women take center-stage--not disappointed, just surprised. That shouldn't be such a shock by now. Ultimately, it was a happy surprise and I found the female roles compelling. There was never a question as to their abilities, nor did any of them have to provide a justification for her station.
Mostly, I was intrigued by the character, Trouble Dog. She's a complicated ship. She's made choices, has a past, and is being judged by those who knew her from her time before. It's hard to not think of her as human, but that's part of the mystery and uniqueness of Powell's construct. Without giving too much away, I was holding my breath for the last few chapters wondering how the story would progress.
This was pretty fun. Lots of blood. It was hard to buy the captain / ship’s altruism when they were so violent on that one planet. Overall it was fast paced and exciting.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
tense
medium-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
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
American authoritarian apologist writes a sci-fi to defend the bombing of Japanese civilians, and to defend police-state style governance.
Trash. Do not read.
Trash. Do not read.
Disclosure: I received a copy of this book as the result of a contest on Tor.com.
I really wanted to love this book. On its surface, it seemed incredibly promising, but none of its potential really pans out. The setting was probably the most distracting. Part of the reason I love sf is because it always seems like every story is just one part of a greater world we don't get to see but understand is there. For this book, the world felt flat and limited to the places the story had to go, and nowhere else mattered.
The author tries hard in a few places to build out the universe, but it just comes across as names without texture. Other factions and worlds and events are mentioned, but there are no feelings attached to them. Each character feels adrift on the river of plot, just going where the current takes them.
And the characters never clicked for me. They never felt real until the very end. We're supposed to mourn with one of the viewpoint characters, but we don't get to feel the sharp grief of loss; instead, every so often we're stoically reminded of the absence of someone they once cared for. I understand that the reader does most of the emotional work in feeling what the characters feel, but the author still needs to guide us even if we're the ones walking the path.
By the end you care enough about the characters through their experiences in the book, and the central mystery if pretty compelling. But it takes too long for both things to get where they need to be, and I finished this book by force of will alone.
I really wanted to love this book. On its surface, it seemed incredibly promising, but none of its potential really pans out. The setting was probably the most distracting. Part of the reason I love sf is because it always seems like every story is just one part of a greater world we don't get to see but understand is there. For this book, the world felt flat and limited to the places the story had to go, and nowhere else mattered.
The author tries hard in a few places to build out the universe, but it just comes across as names without texture. Other factions and worlds and events are mentioned, but there are no feelings attached to them. Each character feels adrift on the river of plot, just going where the current takes them.
And the characters never clicked for me. They never felt real until the very end. We're supposed to mourn with one of the viewpoint characters, but we don't get to feel the sharp grief of loss; instead, every so often we're stoically reminded of the absence of someone they once cared for. I understand that the reader does most of the emotional work in feeling what the characters feel, but the author still needs to guide us even if we're the ones walking the path.
By the end you care enough about the characters through their experiences in the book, and the central mystery if pretty compelling. But it takes too long for both things to get where they need to be, and I finished this book by force of will alone.