Scan barcode
modeislodis's review against another edition
2.0
Not as engaging as Wool. In comparison, I felt like Half Way Home was silly.
zellm's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting premise and plot, as well as interesting world-building, but this somehow felt more like a halfway-fleshed-out thought experiment than a book. It could have either been shorter and more compressed of a story, or a longer more in depth exploration, but the length it is just felt a little unsatisfying.
the_peg's review against another edition
3.0
A little sci-fy, a little YA, a little action... overall good story.
shonari's review against another edition
5.0
Another great read by Hugh Howey. Hugh is the master of Dystopia/Science Fiction. Loved it!
meiko's review against another edition
3.0
I had a review almost finished on mobile at the hairdressers' and then I was called away for a rinse. I came back to a blank screen. Safe to say no auto-save functions on mobile.
Anyway. This might descent into a rant out of sheer frustration (this is the third review in a month where an incident similar to this has happened).
Reading this took longer than I expected, to be honest. At first it read like a teenaged, in space version of Lord of the Flies, the first third of the latter being so utterly frustrating and depressing the whole 'classic' is still in the limbo of 'having started but not yet finished and doubt it will be any time soon.'
But then they managed to escape, and that was something fascinating.
I had it pegged as science fiction, not knowing it was YA. But that was just the setting. Turns out it was more superficial existentialism, far more philosophical than I expected it to be.
But then I guess are all sci-fis are in one way or another.
The protagonist is gay. That's apparently a big deal. I keep thinking we should be at an age where one's sexuality no longer matters any more. It should be a trivia, a side note, but no longer a plot point. Sort of like he has green eyes, brown hair, olive skin.
Clearly, I was wrong.
By the way I think the above description is only possible in the case of mutation or engineering. (? do correct me if I'm wrong).
Apparently having moved on to colonising other planets, homosexuals are still cast as outsiders. Something of an anomaly. That was a 'geee, years and years of evolution and revolution and we are still labelling homosexuals and casting homosexuals out, thanks a lot humanity, you have utterly, utterly failed me' moment.
Also the fact that an AI spent time marvelling at the fact that the protagonist loved two people, a male and a female (his family, essentially) at the same time, and that they both loved him back something fierce was... I dunno. Disappointing.
Not to mention the space colonisation started off as a warring between countries instead of a joint effort of human as a species. It left me feel, dejected. I'm not sure that's the right word, but it was something of a very bleak and depressing future. As a species we haven't learned much, I guess.
Yes, I know it's fiction. But looking at the world at large, it's not surprising, just very disheartening.
So in comparison, the bugs, whether small, medium or large, weren't as jarring as they'd been for some others whose review I've read.
I guess it managed some sort of a happy ending. It was a hasty round up though, but reading the notes from the author I realise this was a NaNoWriMo thing, so it was less surprising.
Anyway. This might descent into a rant out of sheer frustration (this is the third review in a month where an incident similar to this has happened).
Reading this took longer than I expected, to be honest. At first it read like a teenaged, in space version of Lord of the Flies, the first third of the latter being so utterly frustrating and depressing the whole 'classic' is still in the limbo of 'having started but not yet finished and doubt it will be any time soon.'
But then they managed to escape, and that was something fascinating.
I had it pegged as science fiction, not knowing it was YA. But that was just the setting. Turns out it was more superficial existentialism, far more philosophical than I expected it to be.
But then I guess are all sci-fis are in one way or another.
The protagonist is gay. That's apparently a big deal. I keep thinking we should be at an age where one's sexuality no longer matters any more. It should be a trivia, a side note, but no longer a plot point. Sort of like he has green eyes, brown hair, olive skin.
Clearly, I was wrong.
By the way I think the above description is only possible in the case of mutation or engineering. (? do correct me if I'm wrong).
Apparently having moved on to colonising other planets, homosexuals are still cast as outsiders. Something of an anomaly. That was a 'geee, years and years of evolution and revolution and we are still labelling homosexuals and casting homosexuals out, thanks a lot humanity, you have utterly, utterly failed me' moment.
Also the fact that an AI spent time marvelling at the fact that the protagonist loved two people, a male and a female (his family, essentially) at the same time, and that they both loved him back something fierce was... I dunno. Disappointing.
Not to mention the space colonisation started off as a warring between countries instead of a joint effort of human as a species. It left me feel, dejected. I'm not sure that's the right word, but it was something of a very bleak and depressing future. As a species we haven't learned much, I guess.
Yes, I know it's fiction. But looking at the world at large, it's not surprising, just very disheartening.
So in comparison, the bugs, whether small, medium or large, weren't as jarring as they'd been for some others whose review I've read.
I guess it managed some sort of a happy ending. It was a hasty round up though, but reading the notes from the author I realise this was a NaNoWriMo thing, so it was less surprising.
spiderkitten's review against another edition
3.0
I actually kind of enjoyed this, but found several plot points problematic.
One such problem was at one point just after the escape when the main character observed that there might be satellites in orbit and that the colonists could probably be "seen" by The Colony though the holes in the canopy. A fair point, but then it was completely ignored when the colonists broke through the canopy and were walking out in the open above it where anyone with satellite technology could see them!
Another was that the main character was supposed to be training as a psychologist and we saw that mentioned a lot, and he did reflect inwardly about these things, but there seemed to be a general lack of him helping anyone else. I suppose we could credit that to his training not being finished, but even so...
Then at the end when they decided to launch the rocket with the story, and they were all being mysterious about their location etc. I kept wondering why, because surely The Colony knew where they were? And why would they need to hide from anyone else? Why would it matter?
All told I think Half Way Home had great potential. I loved the writing, and there were elements of the story I thought were really good. But parts of it felt rushed or glossed over, and I feel like it lacked the depth that other Hugh Howey novels have.
One such problem was at one point just after the escape when the main character observed that there might be satellites in orbit and that the colonists could probably be "seen" by The Colony though the holes in the canopy. A fair point, but then it was completely ignored when the colonists broke through the canopy and were walking out in the open above it where anyone with satellite technology could see them!
Another was that the main character was supposed to be training as a psychologist and we saw that mentioned a lot, and he did reflect inwardly about these things, but there seemed to be a general lack of him helping anyone else. I suppose we could credit that to his training not being finished, but even so...
Then at the end when they decided to launch the rocket with the story, and they were all being mysterious about their location etc. I kept wondering why, because surely The Colony knew where they were? And why would they need to hide from anyone else? Why would it matter?
All told I think Half Way Home had great potential. I loved the writing, and there were elements of the story I thought were really good. But parts of it felt rushed or glossed over, and I feel like it lacked the depth that other Hugh Howey novels have.
brooke_review's review against another edition
2.0
I chose to read the re-release of Half Way Home solely based on the fact that it is written by Hugh Howey, author of the Wool series, which I loved. Science fiction is generally not my genre with the except of dystopia-type books, so Half Way Home is one of the first of its kind for me as a reader. Unfortunately, this story was not what I expected, although I tried to keep an open mind. Although I am not a typical reader of the genre, I feel like I could fall in love with the right science fiction story, but Half Way Home was unfortunately not it.
I felt lost for much of this tale about teenagers born into a space colony that was deemed unsuitable for life, and tasked with not only trying to survive the elements but also survive each other. Surprisingly, there was a significant lack of world-building in this novel, which is something that Howey excelled at with Wool. Relying more on telling than showing, Howey packs Half Way Home with action, not giving readers enough time to absorb, much less understand, this foreign world he is trying to create.
This book also suffers from too large of a cast, with characters being introduced without any significant defining characteristics, making them just another person readers have to struggle to remember, much less care about. The interactions between characters are shallow, and readers never really get to know them, which is disappointing in a book about survival. When characters are killed off and you feel nothing, it is often because the writer did not do enough to make you care.
Read Half Way Home if science fiction is a genre you enjoy and action-packed novels that focus more on the plot instead of the characters is your cup of tea.
I felt lost for much of this tale about teenagers born into a space colony that was deemed unsuitable for life, and tasked with not only trying to survive the elements but also survive each other. Surprisingly, there was a significant lack of world-building in this novel, which is something that Howey excelled at with Wool. Relying more on telling than showing, Howey packs Half Way Home with action, not giving readers enough time to absorb, much less understand, this foreign world he is trying to create.
This book also suffers from too large of a cast, with characters being introduced without any significant defining characteristics, making them just another person readers have to struggle to remember, much less care about. The interactions between characters are shallow, and readers never really get to know them, which is disappointing in a book about survival. When characters are killed off and you feel nothing, it is often because the writer did not do enough to make you care.
Read Half Way Home if science fiction is a genre you enjoy and action-packed novels that focus more on the plot instead of the characters is your cup of tea.
yatosuz's review against another edition
3.0
Intriguing premise. Started off and ended well, but didn't completely hold my interest "in the middle!" I appreciate the ideas explored, but didn't have a strong connection to the characters. Perhaps that's why I lost interest. However, as I've come to expect from Howey, great writing - clear, fluid.
madi_the_alien's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0