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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
fast-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
Well, this was a comingling of Arthur C. Clarke's
"Rendezvous with Rama"; the Tardis from Dr. Who;
and Marvel Comics character The Watcher. You'll have
to read it to see what I mean.
The story was entertaining enough, and the
characters fleshed out pretty good (including the
Carnivore-class space ship), but the ending is a
bit too vague for my taste. I am thinking this may
become clearer in the next book, however ("Fleet
of Knives") so I will continue with the trilogy.
Recommended for space opera lovers.
"Rendezvous with Rama"; the Tardis from Dr. Who;
and Marvel Comics character The Watcher. You'll have
to read it to see what I mean.
The story was entertaining enough, and the
characters fleshed out pretty good (including the
Carnivore-class space ship), but the ending is a
bit too vague for my taste. I am thinking this may
become clearer in the next book, however ("Fleet
of Knives") so I will continue with the trilogy.
Recommended for space opera lovers.
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is a military SF with a twist that won British Science Fiction Association Award for Best Novel in 2018. Currently I prefer British SF to the USA one and therefore decided to read it. I read is as a Buddy read for April 2020 at SFF Hot from Printers: New Releases group.
The story starts with a bang: there is some space battle and one of the sides to speed up capitulation of the other orders bombing of a planet with a sentient forest.
Then we are brought a few years forward, the war is over and one of the ships that did the bombing, named Trouble Dog defected from the Navy (for it/she is sentient) and joined an organization that helps people in distress across the galaxy. The ship’s captain is Sal Konstanz, who was a medical officer of the losing side during the war. Together with the saved marine Alva Clay and spider-like hermaphrodite alien technician/mechanic Nod they try to save lives. The space liner is torpedoed by unknown hostiles at a peculiar star system, where planets are carved into abstract sculptures. One of the passengers on the liner was a poet Ona Sudak, who harbors a secret for which possibly the liner was shot. On the way to the crash site Trouble Dog acquires more passengers with own agendas.
The setting is interesting, characters are diverse and there story more or less flows. At the same time, changing point of view every single chapter is a bit disorienting at the beginning because a reader (at least me) isn’t invested enough in character to recall them instantly. A very idea of post-war mil-SF with characters, who try to atone for their sins is quite strong.
What makes this book less than great is that the idea isn’t followed through by the author: repentant characters have no qualms of conscience for killing others whom they see as ‘bad’, just like they did during the war. The social issues are also quite one sided, as one of the characters states:
“The Conglomeration despised us because they thought we cared nothing for the traditions of Old Earth. They thought we were reckless and naïve in our openness to alien ideas and influence, and the way we embraced new philosophies, new arts and new gods. We believed in universal healthcare and common ownership of resources and infrastructure, while they worshipped the free market and the individual accumulation of wealth and power for its own sake.”
So, there are clearly good socialists, who lost to bad capitalists, described as two-dimensional cartoons.
An interesting but not groundbreaking novel in the tradition of Culture series by [a:Iain M. Banks|5807106|Iain M. Banks|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1352410520p2/5807106.jpg], which hasn’t lived to its full potential.
The story starts with a bang: there is some space battle and one of the sides to speed up capitulation of the other orders bombing of a planet with a sentient forest.
Then we are brought a few years forward, the war is over and one of the ships that did the bombing, named Trouble Dog defected from the Navy (for it/she is sentient) and joined an organization that helps people in distress across the galaxy. The ship’s captain is Sal Konstanz, who was a medical officer of the losing side during the war. Together with the saved marine Alva Clay and spider-like hermaphrodite alien technician/mechanic Nod they try to save lives. The space liner is torpedoed by unknown hostiles at a peculiar star system, where planets are carved into abstract sculptures. One of the passengers on the liner was a poet Ona Sudak, who harbors a secret for which possibly the liner was shot. On the way to the crash site Trouble Dog acquires more passengers with own agendas.
The setting is interesting, characters are diverse and there story more or less flows. At the same time, changing point of view every single chapter is a bit disorienting at the beginning because a reader (at least me) isn’t invested enough in character to recall them instantly. A very idea of post-war mil-SF with characters, who try to atone for their sins is quite strong.
What makes this book less than great is that the idea isn’t followed through by the author: repentant characters have no qualms of conscience for killing others whom they see as ‘bad’, just like they did during the war. The social issues are also quite one sided, as one of the characters states:
“The Conglomeration despised us because they thought we cared nothing for the traditions of Old Earth. They thought we were reckless and naïve in our openness to alien ideas and influence, and the way we embraced new philosophies, new arts and new gods. We believed in universal healthcare and common ownership of resources and infrastructure, while they worshipped the free market and the individual accumulation of wealth and power for its own sake.”
So, there are clearly good socialists, who lost to bad capitalists, described as two-dimensional cartoons.
An interesting but not groundbreaking novel in the tradition of Culture series by [a:Iain M. Banks|5807106|Iain M. Banks|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1352410520p2/5807106.jpg], which hasn’t lived to its full potential.
adventurous
emotional
fast-paced
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
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:
No
Intelligent, well written, adult space opera. Fans of The Expanse series would enjoy this book full of complex characters, space battles, political machinations and aliens.
Boring, weak characters. I mostly skimmed it the farther into the book I got. I just couldn’t care about the characters or the plot.