You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
4.0 AVERAGE
4.0 AVERAGE
adventurous
challenging
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
dark
medium-paced
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Good, but really weird and complex, fresh sci-fi take on scientific development.
4.5 / 5 - messy at times, but stunning at its best.
Hughes paints a great sociological chronicle. This story spans theoretical physics. Superheroes. Philosophy. The rise and fall of civilizations. And once it got going it kept me on the edge of my seat.
The book does take some adjusting to early on; it's formatted as a series of vignettes that start off seemingly unrelated and a tad confusing, but which all tie together). I also found the characters themselves to be fairly flat (this is definitely a plot-driven story), though their challenges are very meaningful and human.
Hughes paints a great sociological chronicle. This story spans theoretical physics. Superheroes. Philosophy. The rise and fall of civilizations. And once it got going it kept me on the edge of my seat.
The book does take some adjusting to early on; it's formatted as a series of vignettes that start off seemingly unrelated and a tad confusing, but which all tie together). I also found the characters themselves to be fairly flat (this is definitely a plot-driven story), though their challenges are very meaningful and human.
challenging
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Densely packed science fiction that liberally jumps around across vast timescales, or why not universes. Full of interesting concepts, perhaps too many. It was published as a series of loose chapters over a long time, only tied together as time went on, and it shows, but it's still perfectly readable as a book although a little hard to follow. A slight criticism would be that all the characters speak in almost the same manner, and some of them even have a bit similar names, which makes it easy to forget who was who exactly.
The first thing that came to me as I started this novel is how [a:Greg Egan|32699|Greg Egan|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1375595103p2/32699.jpg]-esque it was. There's a big clue about whether one should even attempt this book. For me, that was an instant drawcard.
Yes, it is a novel - well edited - but it's also a book of short stories connected in a somewhat confusing manner by being set in universes that are similar to the one in which I'm writing this review, and that share a number of people with the same names.
The order of events is somewhat obscure; maybe it's sequential but it's hard to tell. It does finish at the end though, perhaps a little suddenly but then how do you slowly end a story that traverses some tens of thousands of years, or quite probably more.
I read it too quickly as I often do and I was caught out, like glancing at the Mona Lisa and thinking "nice smile". This isn't Star Wars fiction, it's a way out-there crazy speculative quasi-serious theory about how this universe, and the ones above and beside it, might work - or might not work
when certain characters mess with the underlying rules and be intensely frustrating to the scientists and engineers who expect it to behave.
I see reviews grumbling about the characters being flat. Come to think of it, I suppose they are but it's really the hard science fiction that's the point of this book
and the characters are ... well, I sort of didn't notice them in the way you wouldn't notice the characters in any book that's been marinated in the laws of physics and
information theory. Still, it's not dry, with a delightful smattering of a tongue-in-cheek geeky humour - which improves as the story progresses - suspense, and good vs evil once you can figure out who is which.
And now I'm going to read it again, slowly. And I'll savour every minute.
Yes, it is a novel - well edited - but it's also a book of short stories connected in a somewhat confusing manner by being set in universes that are similar to the one in which I'm writing this review, and that share a number of people with the same names.
The order of events is somewhat obscure; maybe it's sequential but it's hard to tell. It does finish at the end though, perhaps a little suddenly but then how do you slowly end a story that traverses some tens of thousands of years, or quite probably more.
I read it too quickly as I often do and I was caught out, like glancing at the Mona Lisa and thinking "nice smile". This isn't Star Wars fiction, it's a way out-there crazy speculative quasi-serious theory about how this universe, and the ones above and beside it, might work - or might not work
when certain characters mess with the underlying rules and be intensely frustrating to the scientists and engineers who expect it to behave.
I see reviews grumbling about the characters being flat. Come to think of it, I suppose they are but it's really the hard science fiction that's the point of this book
and the characters are ... well, I sort of didn't notice them in the way you wouldn't notice the characters in any book that's been marinated in the laws of physics and
information theory. Still, it's not dry, with a delightful smattering of a tongue-in-cheek geeky humour - which improves as the story progresses - suspense, and good vs evil once you can figure out who is which.
And now I'm going to read it again, slowly. And I'll savour every minute.
Good story about super physics and the scientists have enough attitude to make them interesting. It is essentially Ra with science words though.
4.5 / 5 - messy at times, but stunning at its best.
Hughes paints a great sociological chronicle. This story spans theoretical physics. Superheroes. Philosophy. The rise and fall of civilizations. And once it got going it kept me on the edge of my seat.
The book does take some adjusting to early on; it's formatted as a series of vignettes that start off seemingly unrelated and a tad confusing, but which all tie together). I also found the characters themselves to be fairly flat (this is definitely a plot-driven story), though their challenges are very meaningful and human.
Hughes paints a great sociological chronicle. This story spans theoretical physics. Superheroes. Philosophy. The rise and fall of civilizations. And once it got going it kept me on the edge of my seat.
The book does take some adjusting to early on; it's formatted as a series of vignettes that start off seemingly unrelated and a tad confusing, but which all tie together). I also found the characters themselves to be fairly flat (this is definitely a plot-driven story), though their challenges are very meaningful and human.