Reviews with content warning for Xenophobia - Once & Future

Reviews tagging 'Xenophobia'

Once & Future by Cory McCarthy, A.R. Capetta

3 reviews

zachzakku's review against another edition

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adventurous slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

1.0

This book wasn't my cup of tea.

It isn't a standalone, and looking at the (physical) book itself, I did not realize that. Even books that are the first in a series (duology/trilogy/whatever) should be able to stand alone, and this one well and truly cannot.
The characters don't read like they're 17/18, so this is another YA book that reads younger than it's supposed to. There are also several things that these 17/18-year-olds do that wouldn't be done by 17/18-year olds today, with no in-world explanation; for example, being the queen of an entire planet, or being the queen's aide. I understand this is sort of a conceit of the genre--kids want to read about other kids. But it's another minor detail that bumped me from the story.
This is supposed to be set in a distant future (at some point, the 23rd century is mentioned as though it's well in the past), and yet there are many, many cultural present day references, including mentioning Katy Perry by name. Merlin is supposed to be--what, a thousand years old? And yet the majority of his cultural references and his moral compass seem to be fairly contemporary. Which, on the one hand, I completely understand was likely a choice by the writers to make Merlin more relatable/fun for contemporary readers. But on the other hand, it took me out of the world and, for me, weakened any sense of world-building in what was supposed to be a mashup of the distant past and the distant future.
Some of the cultural references were groan-worthy. At one point, bewildered by what's going on around him, Merlin asks, "Is this the real life? Is this just fantasy?" Why is there a Bohemian Rhapsody reference all of a sudden?
I found it hard to suspend my disbelief around the premise of a giant Walmart-esque company (called Mercer) having taken over the entire universe and government. I also couldn't reconcile this premise with the fact that, multiple times, we meet people and entire planets willing to resist Mercer.
Awkward night-club dancing.

Last frustration bullet, but major spoiler:

Major character death, meant to motivate the main character to bow to Mercer, even though she has so many other reasons to bow to them already. It didn't track for me that Mercer would believe she needed more motivation, so it simply read as a convenient death for resolving other tangles in the plot.

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maplewrites's review against another edition

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adventurous funny hopeful fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

jkdfqojfoqwjfoiw
the ending. I did not like the ending
I liked everything else. i loved the characters. I loved the plot. I loved the story. I loved the conflict. I loved how emotions were a very important part of the story. I loved the pacing.
I did not like the ending.

Look, look. the ending was just. UGH. No. I get it, setting up the sequel. But no. That's just not how you destroy monopolies. The best thing to do at the meeting of the round table would be to look at the systems in place that the Mercer company was using and then break it up between the planets that they were taking resources from. Give it to the individual governments of those planets to do with as they see fit. To put them in charge of helping each other. Not just... trying to build everything new from the ground up. Invent the systems that prevent monopolies. One of those systems is how to break up monopolies if they ever should occur, break up Mercer based on those systems. I just.

the whole book, Ari complained about pageantry and how bullshit it was. And yet, she was playing their game. It is a bullshit chess game that the Mercer company is playing. And Ari was acting like anything they had to say had any meaning. Like, a lot of the power the Mercer company had after the figure head died was the power to lie. Ari's job in those moments should have been to go "no, that's not the game we're playing. Right now, what we're doing is using the resources that you have stolen and giving them to the people that need them. I have killed your guy in charge because that was the only way to gain footing, also he was genocidal." Because she does not need to play by their rules. I get it, she doesn't know how to run a government. But she does know how to use her resources. She has a lot of resources. She can use them!! She can use them to make sure that the planets can be reliant on each other and sustain each other.

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toopunkrockforshul's review against another edition

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adventurous dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

Really enjoyed this book! It really married the scifi and fantasy elements well, had twists despite being a retelling, and the characters and worldbuilding were really compelling! Not sure how medieval fans would feel about it, but as someone only tangentially aware of that time period and Arthurian myth, I loved it!

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