Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
If you’re a sci fi lover (and longing for the voices of more talented women writers), you absolutely must read this. It’s beautifully written, compelling, and unlike anything I’ve ever read. It is sci fi, but it’s so many other genres. Basically all my favorites woven together in a special way.
I found myself trying and mostly failing to explain this book to someone the other day. It's got its own personality, and its component parts, genre and story-wise, can't really be "gotten" individually – there were parts I loved, and parts I desperately wanted to skip, but I know exactly the friends I would recommend it to, and I know the scenes and observations that will stick with me in the future, so I think it accomplished its goal.
Every time I managed to pick this up, I enjoyed it. Fun to read, entertaining and interesting with an approach to its characters that is compassionate but at arms length. The problem was after I put it down, I wasn't burning to get back to it, which partly a problem of the state of the household. New house, new daycare for the Toddleman, and a slew of other real life distractions, concerns, considerations and worries. I am giving it the benefit of the doubt because of that. Solid pick if you're looking for a book you can sit and delve into over a weekend.
Like if Tiffany Aching and Cadel Piggot fell in love but boring. I seriously don't understand how Anders managed to mess up this book so badly. How did it get all this acclaim? There's no plot. The world building is trash. It's boring. I'd say it's anticlimactic, but since there wasn't any rising action, I'm not sure how anything could come to a head. This "war" between witches and techies is a few loose punches. Everybody is unlikeable. Even what should have been really cool--a witch school split between Trickster magic and Healer magic--was boring and mentioned only in an annoying flashback. The book started so good, but after part two, it became very clear that it was going nowhere. The whole Ch@ngM3 "plot twist" was so predictable that you start to think that Patricia and Laurence are idiots. Cool machines are built only to be destroyed in the next chapter. Spells make zero sense bc the world building is, as I mentioned, trash. There's something about how you have to trick people and heal them at the same time, but it's just not enough information. It's just boring. I've said that three times, and I'll say it again: it's boring. First History of Wolves, now this. I'm so annoyed.
Oh, and another thing: WE GET IT PATRICIA HAS BREASTS WE UNDERSTAND THEY'RE ROUND WE UNDERSTAND THEY'RE PERKY AND FUCKING LEVITATING OFF HER FUCKING CHEST WE FUCKING GET IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M GOING TO SCREAM!!!!!!!!!!!!! CHARLIE JANE ANDERS I'M SENDING YOU TO YOUR GODDAMN ROOM!!!!!!!!!!!!
Oh, and another thing: WE GET IT PATRICIA HAS BREASTS WE UNDERSTAND THEY'RE ROUND WE UNDERSTAND THEY'RE PERKY AND FUCKING LEVITATING OFF HER FUCKING CHEST WE FUCKING GET IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'M GOING TO SCREAM!!!!!!!!!!!!! CHARLIE JANE ANDERS I'M SENDING YOU TO YOUR GODDAMN ROOM!!!!!!!!!!!!
This was completely weird and completely wonderful. It was mind bending but in a 'wow I have no idea where this is going but I'm loving the journey' way, not in a 'what the heck is this nonsense make it stop' way.
Also, I read this straight through on a 14-hour flight so the book and I have formed an intense life-long bond now.
Also, I read this straight through on a 14-hour flight so the book and I have formed an intense life-long bond now.
On paper, this book should have been all that I adore: magic in our everyday world, technology coming together with magic, an exploration of the ethics that come with great power (magical or scientific), kids that are Special Friends, AIs that are people, etc etc. Unfortunately, and though Anders's writing is compelling and quite readable, the thing didn't really hold together for me. I think it was trying to be too many things, all at once, and to say something profound, and didn't quite achieve it.
Unfortunately, All The Birds In The Sky fails to deliver a sustainable rollercoaster read. I truly felt that the story would have fitted the graphic novel format better, and not only because I felt all major and secondary characters lacked depth to make them truly memorable. Why a graphic novel? Because after reading the book, I went to Ms Anders' website, and only then did I really get a feel what she was trying to do and write about by looking at her use of story-related images and pics. They were lively, colourful, intense. This translation of images to text did not set my heart alight in reading her debut. I so desperately wanted to like the story, the main and secondary characters, but it felt so unfinished that I could not be drawn in. Perhaps too there are some issues of pace and this is why I failed to be drawn in.
What was lacking? I felt that the characters did not make a major transition to adulthood as they got older. Their “hero’s journey” was fraught with teenage "Angst" through the entire story. Sure, sacrifices and compromises were made, but they felt haphazard and coincidental (at least to me), and could not reach me emotionally. I could not feel their pain. At least I was hoping that the ending would be worth it, and although there are some nice twists, it was (kind of) predictable.
All in all, the debut felt like a drinking a soft drink, without the fizz. There is some interesting taste, but it is stale. I trust that I will enjoy Ms Ander’s 2nd novel more.
What was lacking? I felt that the characters did not make a major transition to adulthood as they got older. Their “hero’s journey” was fraught with teenage "Angst" through the entire story. Sure, sacrifices and compromises were made, but they felt haphazard and coincidental (at least to me), and could not reach me emotionally. I could not feel their pain. At least I was hoping that the ending would be worth it, and although there are some nice twists, it was (kind of) predictable.
All in all, the debut felt like a drinking a soft drink, without the fizz. There is some interesting taste, but it is stale. I trust that I will enjoy Ms Ander’s 2nd novel more.
I ended up liking this book, and it had a very satisfying ending. But, it only gets three stars because it took me more than half of the story to actually get into it.
The main characters, Patricia and Laurence are completely different people who form an unlikely friendship. Patricia is bonded with nature and and the supernatural. Laurence is a man (teenager) of science. Both are prodigies in their interests and outcasts in school. The story follows them as they make and break and make the world. The world building of the novel is interesting, whimsical, and just this side of realistic. The tone is dry, and once you get into the flow of it, hilarious. Both the magic system and the science of the world are engaging and well done.
The trouble is, it took me so long to believe in the friendship of the two characters that I couldn't get into the book itself. For much of the novel, the two don't even seem to like each other. They are just stuck with each other because they don't have any better options at school. That might be a realistic (and cynical) portrayal of weirdo preteens trying to make it in school, but it doesn't do this book any service. Their relationship is the heart of the story. So when their relationship feels flat and forced, the book doesn't feel like it has any heart. When Patricia and Laurence start to feel more comfortable with each other, and more close, the book takes off, and is a delight to read. I just wish it hadn't taken so long to get there.
The main characters, Patricia and Laurence are completely different people who form an unlikely friendship. Patricia is bonded with nature and and the supernatural. Laurence is a man (teenager) of science. Both are prodigies in their interests and outcasts in school. The story follows them as they make and break and make the world. The world building of the novel is interesting, whimsical, and just this side of realistic. The tone is dry, and once you get into the flow of it, hilarious. Both the magic system and the science of the world are engaging and well done.
The trouble is, it took me so long to believe in the friendship of the two characters that I couldn't get into the book itself. For much of the novel, the two don't even seem to like each other. They are just stuck with each other because they don't have any better options at school. That might be a realistic (and cynical) portrayal of weirdo preteens trying to make it in school, but it doesn't do this book any service. Their relationship is the heart of the story. So when their relationship feels flat and forced, the book doesn't feel like it has any heart. When Patricia and Laurence start to feel more comfortable with each other, and more close, the book takes off, and is a delight to read. I just wish it hadn't taken so long to get there.
2 estrellas, puede que 2,5 por una idea general que a mí no me parece que se desarrolle como debe y mucho menos que concluya de manera satisfactoria. Un 'it's ok' en toda regla, por seguir la terminología de Goodreads.
El primer libro-chasquito de 2020.
El primer libro-chasquito de 2020.
An awkward young teenage witch befriends and falls out with an awkward teenage genius. Years later, they find themselves on the opposite end of a war of magic vs technology in a quest to determine, you know, the fate of the Earth.
Usually books about the fate of the Earth reach too high and, like Icarus, become violently re-acquainted with the ground. Not so here. The ending is satisfying.
Usually books about the fate of the Earth reach too high and, like Icarus, become violently re-acquainted with the ground. Not so here. The ending is satisfying.