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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
It was "good", but it really didn't grab me for some reason. Got about halfway through and gave up. A lot of cool ideas, but the characters didn't grab me.
Just started reading it but already very impressed. It has some of the best realised aliens that I've encountered in sci-fi.
I love this book and re-read it every few years. For those who don't know, Vernor Vinge is a well known computer scientist who did some ground-breaking thinking about the future of the Net decades ago. This book is a fast-paced, far far future galactic adventure. It asks what a universe with massive intelligences would look like to the mere mortals left behind, and answers this in remarkable ways.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-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
One of the densest but most rewarding sci fi novels ever written. This book is bursting with originality.
I loved this book. It took a hundred or so pages for me to get my bearings and figure out what everything was, but, when I did, the next five hundred were awesome. All said, an excellent read for anyone looking for a space opera that stands out from the rest of the crowd.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Sprawling space opera with big ideas
I love this book (and series); it's what got me reading science fiction again after a long period of disinterest. I became attached to the characters; the setting and ideas are interesting; the story's universe sucked me right in.
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
An interesting book with a very strange and unique sense of physics that is easily 100 pages too long. If you can withstand the clumsy, almost indecipherable beginning, you’ll eventually break through and understand what’s going on.
Here’s a fun made up example of what to expect when starting the story:
“He reached for the zyglophon. It was humming amid the convergence. Somewhere in the other ship the ablonter extended into the dooplefonger, which could only mean one thing.”
You just have to push through the introduction of what seems like complete nonsense until it finally makes some sense. Even then there’s some vagueness in the book surrounding a lot of the concepts introduced and some conveniently tidy plot devices that felt a little lazy.
Nonetheless, the best part of the story takes place with the interpersonal relationships of the characters. Most notably between the alien races. While their seeming commonality of thought and willingness to accept one another at face value comes across as another plot convenience it does make it easier to witness those relationships.
Here’s a fun made up example of what to expect when starting the story:
“He reached for the zyglophon. It was humming amid the convergence. Somewhere in the other ship the ablonter extended into the dooplefonger, which could only mean one thing.”
You just have to push through the introduction of what seems like complete nonsense until it finally makes some sense. Even then there’s some vagueness in the book surrounding a lot of the concepts introduced and some conveniently tidy plot devices that felt a little lazy.
Nonetheless, the best part of the story takes place with the interpersonal relationships of the characters. Most notably between the alien races. While their seeming commonality of thought and willingness to accept one another at face value comes across as another plot convenience it does make it easier to witness those relationships.