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machewson's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
Truly tremendous work of science fiction. Anti authoritarian if you are like me, but potentially pro military if you have a different world view. No matter what you come into the book thinking Heinlein does a masterful job of conveying the thoughts and feelings of a young boy becoming a soldier. Perfectly executed in every way.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Colonisation, Police brutality, Genocide, Violence, and War
Moderate: Classism, Torture, Blood, and Mass/school shootings
Minor: Sexual violence
touchegiantsquid's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
This cosmopolitan future includes some casual racism, erasure of queerness, and objectification of women, even as it imagines an integrated military. Good craft makes the slow pacing easy to digest. The protagonist craved the approval of authority but wanted to believe he was self-actualizing. I'm not sure I buy the read that this is a world the author actually wanted so much as it may have been a way to talk about his real experiences in the military. The only way to justify that in a science fiction setting requires all the rest of the arguments for the world. But every world justifies its existence, that doesn't mean their all correct.
Content Warnings
Graphic: War
Minor: Sexism, Homophobia, Ableism, Colonisation, Death, Death of parent, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Bullying, and Racism
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