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the_original_shelf_monkey's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
sarahbmack's review
4.0
The first page turner I’ve read in a while, and a satisfying end to the series. It was a bit rushed and chaotic in places, but the story was too fast-paced to get hung up on those issues.
crofteereader's review
2.0
It should be no surprise when I say that I hate villains. I do. Their narrow, selfish, predictable world-view gets very boring very quickly. The biggest handicap this book has is in choosing to have a villain be its primary point of view. Portia is the most stereotypical villain character ever - whenever she's frustrated, she kills random people / creates chaos somewhere else as kind of an afterthought, a distraction, a release. I mean, it was consistent with her character, but it got old very quickly.
The story is also told in these weird jumping pieces, with a whole big chunk dedicated to a random flashback whose payoff is one tiny moment that gets glossed over for the sake of moving the plot forward. Also, this book contradicts several things that happened in the previous book, iD, lifting an entire "radio show" verbatim but playing it months later in a completely different context, referencing a character who was dead in the previous book and killing him again.
Based on some weird interludes, part of me was guessing that this story was assembled (in-world) from pieces of data, which is why it felt so scattered, but that concept wasn't fleshed out nearly enough.
{Thank you again to Angry Robot for the free copies of this series! All thoughts are my own}
The story is also told in these weird jumping pieces, with a whole big chunk dedicated to a random flashback whose payoff is one tiny moment that gets glossed over for the sake of moving the plot forward. Also, this book contradicts several things that happened in the previous book, iD, lifting an entire "radio show" verbatim but playing it months later in a completely different context, referencing a character who was dead in the previous book and killing him again.
Based on some weird interludes, part of me was guessing that this story was assembled (in-world) from pieces of data, which is why it felt so scattered, but that concept wasn't fleshed out nearly enough.
{Thank you again to Angry Robot for the free copies of this series! All thoughts are my own}
annarella's review
4.0
A cerebral, complex and well written book.
I was fascinated by the world building and terrified by the AI.
It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine
I was fascinated by the world building and terrified by the AI.
It's the first book I read by this author and won't surely be the last.
Highly recommended.
Many thanks to the publisher and Edelweiss for this ARC, all opinions are mine
jaybatson's review
2.0
I am sooo sad to have experienced this unfulfilling end to the trilogy. What started out as a novel immersion in the possible outcome of a “conscious robot” descended into the unrewarding imaginings of a sociopath that I (for one) did not want to read.
This final book of the vN trilogy follows the trajectory of Portia’s mind, which (as we know by now) lives in the cloud. Lacking a physical body, but saddled by her constrained, human-disparaging psyche, this book is written principally from her disturbed mind. It gives full rein to her human-bashing, her reactions, actions, judgements, her love of treating humans as ants, and her focus on eventually wiping them off the earth.
Amy, her granddaughter, provides the possible path out of hades. You’ll have to read to find out if that happens.
Regardless, though, this book-long descent into a sociopathic mind is depressing, unrewarding, and reading time I wish I could have back to read something I enjoyed. I did not enjoy this, despite enjoying the first two quite a lot. I just do not want to descend into a depraved mind like this.
This final book of the vN trilogy follows the trajectory of Portia’s mind, which (as we know by now) lives in the cloud. Lacking a physical body, but saddled by her constrained, human-disparaging psyche, this book is written principally from her disturbed mind. It gives full rein to her human-bashing, her reactions, actions, judgements, her love of treating humans as ants, and her focus on eventually wiping them off the earth.
Amy, her granddaughter, provides the possible path out of hades. You’ll have to read to find out if that happens.
Regardless, though, this book-long descent into a sociopathic mind is depressing, unrewarding, and reading time I wish I could have back to read something I enjoyed. I did not enjoy this, despite enjoying the first two quite a lot. I just do not want to descend into a depraved mind like this.
maxm's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
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