Scan barcode
fatalisticshrug's review
adventurous
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
This book ends up raising much bigger questions than the ones hinted at in the blurb. Character wise it’s a bit flat, but it’s a good read over all.
rwrozell's review
5.0
This is first just plain fun, it keeps your attention, next this is a story about a person who really cares and wants to do the right thing, not for himself, but for the people around him. The third is a cautionary tale about making the right choices for the right reasons.
kotep's review
5.0
Really like it. Detailed first half and fast moving page turner the second half.
Even liked the epilogue!
Would be a cool movie
Even liked the epilogue!
Would be a cool movie
ja_hopkins's review
4.0
First off, I quite enjoyed the concept of the book and thought the story itself was pretty good, although it is almost two separate stories. Comparisons to The Martian are obvious, and there is a bit of Interstellar in there as well.
The writing is fine, but is too repetetive and labourious. There is no way anyone reading this will ever forget that Mars has a thin atmosphere - it's mentioned on most pages. Similarly, NASA are very careful with astronauts and take safety seriously. There is also just too much explanation - orbits, suits, spacecraft design etc. are all described in incredible detail, multiple times. I don't dislike the explanation in some cases, but the constant attempt to inject a sense of wonder and amazement becomes irritating. Everything is amazing, weird, odd, counterintuitive and on ad infinitum.
This probably makes it sound like I did not enjoy reading the book, and it is fair to say that as I was reading it crossed my mind a few times that it was frustrating. I would say the second half did not work as well for me, but it was perfectly acceptable. But... I wanted to read on, especially in the first half. I wanted to know what happened, so from that perspective the author is successful.
I mentioned comparisons to The Martian - I think Andy Weir's book is superior, and the main reason, I suspect, is an editor. I think trimming some of the repetition to remove perhaps fifty pages or so of description might help. That said, I'd recommend it still, so that suggests the author is onto something.
The writing is fine, but is too repetetive and labourious. There is no way anyone reading this will ever forget that Mars has a thin atmosphere - it's mentioned on most pages. Similarly, NASA are very careful with astronauts and take safety seriously. There is also just too much explanation - orbits, suits, spacecraft design etc. are all described in incredible detail, multiple times. I don't dislike the explanation in some cases, but the constant attempt to inject a sense of wonder and amazement becomes irritating. Everything is amazing, weird, odd, counterintuitive and on ad infinitum.
This probably makes it sound like I did not enjoy reading the book, and it is fair to say that as I was reading it crossed my mind a few times that it was frustrating. I would say the second half did not work as well for me, but it was perfectly acceptable. But... I wanted to read on, especially in the first half. I wanted to know what happened, so from that perspective the author is successful.
I mentioned comparisons to The Martian - I think Andy Weir's book is superior, and the main reason, I suspect, is an editor. I think trimming some of the repetition to remove perhaps fifty pages or so of description might help. That said, I'd recommend it still, so that suggests the author is onto something.
wynnz's review
3.0
Not as good as his other books in this series, but still worth the time. Nothing really happened until about 60% into the book. This one didn’t grab me by the scruff of the neck and dragged me along, more of a gentle prod. 3.5 rating.
hardscifi's review
5.0
Wonderful novel
Was totally taken by surprise midway through the book owing to the author's cleverness. Great character and the plotting was driving rather than slow. It made the potential reality of the plot mire 'realistic' to me.
As for the moral issues mentioned by the author in the post-script, how can we ever deal with other lifeforms if we can't even deal with the diversity of humanity?
Thanks, Peter.
Was totally taken by surprise midway through the book owing to the author's cleverness. Great character and the plotting was driving rather than slow. It made the potential reality of the plot mire 'realistic' to me.
As for the moral issues mentioned by the author in the post-script, how can we ever deal with other lifeforms if we can't even deal with the diversity of humanity?
Thanks, Peter.
kayswear's review against another edition
5.0
This is not Andy Weir's The Martian. It starts out similarly and then it isn't any more. This book taps the wonder of Clarke and the deliberately smart action of Niven and the humanity of Robinson and rolls it up into very good science fiction.