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fortunatesam52's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
ndr99's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.5
berkough's review
4.0
Short but entertaining. I picked this up because I was curious about the story that is widely considered the first piece of science fiction ever written.
tocy777's review against another edition
2.0
This was hardly a coherent story, more like a jumble of ideas - from which some were great - but never exploring them, by the 4th page we were already on the Moon with a sailboat already going in battle with the population of Sun...
adam_nie's review against another edition
2.75
An interesting precursor to science fiction. Somewhat dry in translation to the modern reader.
heidenkind's review against another edition
3.0
The more things change, the more elitist d-bags stay the same. Apparently.
bupdaddy's review
2.0
More than half the edition of this book translated by Francklin is meta - it's about the book, rather than the book itself.
This is worth reading if only because it does deliver what the title promises. Also because the protagonist makes a trip to the land of the dead, as well, where he meets "all the philosophers except Plato," because Plato, he explained, got his own special afterlife where he lived in a nation he devised and in which he was the only citizen. There were probably like 500 other equally funny bits of snark that flew right over my head.
2000 year old snark, though,. Gotta love it.
This is worth reading if only because it does deliver what the title promises. Also because the protagonist makes a trip to the land of the dead, as well, where he meets "all the philosophers except Plato," because Plato, he explained, got his own special afterlife where he lived in a nation he devised and in which he was the only citizen. There were probably like 500 other equally funny bits of snark that flew right over my head.
2000 year old snark, though,. Gotta love it.
goblinscribe's review against another edition
5.0
I ended up originally reading this because of an article saying it was the fisrt sci fi. And while that is not true, it was one of the funniest satires I've ever read. You can tell how completely done Lucian was with everyone's crap back then. If you get a version with annotations to help you know exactly what he's making fun of, it makes it even better. This book is fantastic if you know what you're getting into before reading it. It's a terrible sci fi, though.
mercedeshowie's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
trouvaille21's review against another edition
3.0
the best way to criticize slavery that i've ever seen
everything else sounds like a drug trip but i'm willing to look past that and give this guy 3 stars
everything else sounds like a drug trip but i'm willing to look past that and give this guy 3 stars