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peregrinwho's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
A classic in sci-fi, and one I wanted to try after falling in love with the world in the tv show. Boy is this different. It's such a departure in fact, that I don't think it's right to compare the two, so I will be judging this strictly on its own.
The world is hardly different from our own back when this was written. The story focuses less on sci-fi and more uses the genre as a conduit to cover large swathes of time. If you don't care about characters and just want to explore the idea of psychohistory/mob psychology then this is very focused on that. It will, however, be so focused that everything is delivered in a bunch of smug monologues explaining why everyone else in the story is stupid. Interesting at first, I became fatigued by it near the end and found myself wanting a moment to breathe to enjoy the world set up for us. We're hopped through decades at a time and thus have to have the state of things explained to us repeatedly. It's a hard task, and one that's done well, but something to keep in mind. I'm going to continue to see where this goes. Hopefully there's more than one woman in the next book (doubtful) and there will be at least one scene where the room isn't clouded with cigar smoke (doubtful).
The world is hardly different from our own back when this was written. The story focuses less on sci-fi and more uses the genre as a conduit to cover large swathes of time. If you don't care about characters and just want to explore the idea of psychohistory/mob psychology then this is very focused on that. It will, however, be so focused that everything is delivered in a bunch of smug monologues explaining why everyone else in the story is stupid. Interesting at first, I became fatigued by it near the end and found myself wanting a moment to breathe to enjoy the world set up for us. We're hopped through decades at a time and thus have to have the state of things explained to us repeatedly. It's a hard task, and one that's done well, but something to keep in mind. I'm going to continue to see where this goes. Hopefully there's more than one woman in the next book (doubtful) and there will be at least one scene where the room isn't clouded with cigar smoke (doubtful).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia
Minor: Racial slurs, Suicide, and Misogyny
obtoosegoose's review against another edition
reflective
fast-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
3.75
Content Warnings
Moderate: War
Minor: Racial slurs
ailsaod's review against another edition
hopeful
reflective
slow-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
My dad lent me his copy when I was a teenager and I got about three chapters in (the chapters in this book are tiny so that doesn't count for much!) before I gave it back! This time around I borrowed it from the library but really I shouldn't have bothered. There are two things that are not particularly obvious going into this book: 1. Despite being a short book this is basically a set of short stories in the same setting at different points in time and 2. This book is focused almost entirely on concept and barely any effort was devoted to the characters. These two things came as a rather nasty shock! Another thing that I had to get past was that this book was published in the fifties and features according treatment of women and even a rogue use of the n-word that appeared very much out of left field. Admittedly this came across as less openly sexist somehow than some books I've read that came out in this century - though this is mainly because if you actually have female characters with roles in the story there is much more room to write them badly. Overall, while I appreciate the concept behind this series as being very cool I doubt I will be reading any more of it as it is probably the worst thing I have read this year so far. There is however, a scene that has etched itself into my brain because I don't understand why it is there: why was the merchant guy at the end sunbathing naked with his pal indoors? Is this a euphemism?? Were the fifties just like that? Mr Asimov I have questions.
Content Warnings
Minor: Sexism, Misogyny, and Racial slurs
shieldbearer's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
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
Y'know I would have liked this a lot better if it was actually about the encyclopedia. For what it is it's well constructed.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism, Misogyny, and Racial slurs
Moderate: Violence, Colonisation, War, Murder, Gun violence, and Death
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