Reviews

Aikatunneli by Greg Bear

erichealdwebb's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging mysterious medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? It's complicated
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

ferencb's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging reflective medium-paced

3.5

pangalactics's review against another edition

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3.0

Starts off very interesting, loses itself in the middle with some space politics ( not the fun kind, the tedious kind) and finishes on an interesting note again.

ginnikin's review against another edition

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I kept trying, but 100 pages in, I still wasn't engaged. The outdated politics were a stumbling block, as was the prostitute. Why?

Also, "he looked more Irish than German"--wut?

tinzy's review against another edition

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adventurous hopeful informative inspiring reflective relaxing slow-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Plot
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

corymojojojo's review against another edition

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4.0

I really enjoyed Eon but I’ve gotta admit that it was VERY hard to visualize what was going on most of the time. Probably one of the more difficult books to visualize that I’ve read. It was way more complex and multi-layered than I was expecting, which was actually a nice surprise, even if a lot of it went over my head. I mean not only is there a big dumb object to explore, but it’s also from the future, and from an alternate universe, and has a futuristic society, and the space-time continuum is all wacky and confusing... there was a lot going on. That being said it was easy enough to follow even without fully understanding what everything looked like, and I thought it was fun and certainly unique.

titusfortner's review against another edition

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3.0

The ideas were fascinating, and it had a lot of promise. It kind of fell apart for me at the end, and the pacing wasn't good enough to make me interested in reading the sequels.

danilanglie's review against another edition

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3.0

I would definitely give this 3.5 stars if I could. I really liked the ideas that this book had to offer, much more so than I liked the actual story it was telling, if that makes sense. The best thing about the book is the way that each new revelation broadens the scope. First, we're talking about a mysterious stone in space. Then we're talking about nuclear war between Russia and the U.S. But just when you think the stakes can't get any higher, we're talking about the future of mankind, and infinity and space travel and all sorts of funky stuff. And then you get an ending that throws everything for yet another loop.

As for the characters, I liked them alright. But this is where the story maybe fell a little flat for me. I would have liked more time with some of the characters, and could have done with less of others. This novel has a very large ensemble cast, and honestly I'm not sure it needed it. The consequence is that some of the characters stand out to me, and others were confusingly similar and probably could have been squished together. This is particularly true for the Russian political officers, who I kept getting mixed up, and some of the players in the Thistledown. Other than Olmy and the advocate, I kept getting everybody mixed up.

Another flaw is perhaps a slight over-use of scientific explanations. I really liked the majority of them, particularly the stuff that imagined how the distant future of human technology would operate. Other times, I felt my attention wandering as I was treated to long explanations as to how the Way would work, and opening gates, etc. etc. Maybe others find this stuff more interesting, but I didn't.

In all, I'm glad I read this book, and in particular I enjoyed the way it ended. Definitely not what I was expecting. I'll be glad to see how things shake out in the next book in the series.

taseenmuhtadi's review against another edition

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

3.0

This book went through several sub-genres as it progressed. It started out looking like a Big Dumb Object book, but then became a Military SF for a quite a while before morphing into a Generation Ship story with serious transhuman vibes. However, these changes don't feel forced. They happen as part of a natural progression of the narrative. The book started out very strong, The central premise was great. The initial world building was fairly good as well. The ending was a bit muddled; the authour seemed to be trying too hard to give everyone a happy ending. The second half of the book introduced a batch of new characters who played major roles towards the end; along with a ones from the first half of the book made for a cast that felt too large. A significant issue for me were the changes of POV, those felt a bit jarring at times, forcing me to go back and reread some conversations, which hampered the flow of the story for me. The authour's political leanings shone through a bit too much, with several characters acting as mouthpieces at different times. Overall, a passable book around a great central idea.

acrisalves's review against another edition

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3.0

Infelizmente, datado