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robynldouglas's review against another edition
4.0
Antarctica! Androids! Gangsters! Drones! Politics! What isn't there to love in here, really? An enjoyable alternative universe tale of a South Pole colony and the strivings of its inhabitants.
katherineg's review against another edition
3.0
Didn't quite live up to the awesomeness of its premise - a dystopian noir mystery set in a domed colony in Antarctica with robots that are becoming self-aware, gangsters, etc. Suffered a bit from slow pacing and a lack of any humor or warmth. Overall it was a solid read, but I didn't enjoy it as much as Clarke's Assassin's Curse books.
bullintheheather's review against another edition
5.0
On Antarctica, the mouldering ruins of an amusement park celebrating androids, intelligent machines, and the future of tomorrow are the basis for a small town at the end of nowhere: Hope City. Most of its denizens have never seen the mainlands or the sun, and some dream of escaping the hard realities of this domed city forever. We meet four characters, whose hopes and plans for Hope City are not just disparate but fundamentally incompatible.
The book was fast paced and drew me in immediately- I read this in almost a single sitting and at the end was a little disappointed it couldn't just keep going. The mysteries of the city are the main undercurrent, but it's the depth of the characters that draws you in.
The book was fast paced and drew me in immediately- I read this in almost a single sitting and at the end was a little disappointed it couldn't just keep going. The mysteries of the city are the main undercurrent, but it's the depth of the characters that draws you in.
kribu's review against another edition
4.0
Somewhere between three and four stars. Hard to decide with this one, really.
It took me a long while to actually get into this book - the pace was very slow to begin with (at least for me) and trying to make sense of the world (I suppose .. Argentinian android noir in Antarctica in a rather alternative timeline in a somewhat unspecified time (1970s? 1980s? thereabouts?)) took some time, but once it got going, and I was drawn into this world and the characters and the actual plot started to unravel, it was really quite good.
I think.
Possibly.
Anyway, yeah. Odd book, one I had to be in the mood for reading, but one I really don't regret reading.
It took me a long while to actually get into this book - the pace was very slow to begin with (at least for me) and trying to make sense of the world (I suppose .. Argentinian android noir in Antarctica in a rather alternative timeline in a somewhat unspecified time (1970s? 1980s? thereabouts?)) took some time, but once it got going, and I was drawn into this world and the characters and the actual plot started to unravel, it was really quite good.
I think.
Possibly.
Anyway, yeah. Odd book, one I had to be in the mood for reading, but one I really don't regret reading.
cdcovington's review against another edition
4.0
It took a while to get going, but I'm glad I stuck it out.
duchess's review against another edition
3.0
3.5 stars. I did not expect this book to be an alternate history! The plot summary completely neglects to highlight that this book is in fact retro futurism combined with noir. Not knowing this off the bat actually threw me off for the first few chapters, because I was suddenly unsure of when the story was taking place.
Once I got over that, it became clear to me that this story was focusing a lot on the atmospheric quality of noir, so don't expect this to be fast-paced. It was fun to follow the central mystery, but it wasn't resolved by the end?? I'm unsure if this book is meant to be a stand-alone, because a sequel may be appreciated if only so I can see the full story through.
Once I got over that, it became clear to me that this story was focusing a lot on the atmospheric quality of noir, so don't expect this to be fast-paced. It was fun to follow the central mystery, but it wasn't resolved by the end?? I'm unsure if this book is meant to be a stand-alone, because a sequel may be appreciated if only so I can see the full story through.