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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
Not my cup of tea. Read more like a biography than a scifi action book.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I'd rather give this a 3.5 star rating, but since I can't, and Nix is still one of my favorite writers, I'll give this four. I'm not that big into science fiction, but I still love the way Nix writes, his economy of words, and I'm always floored by how much creativity and thought he puts into his worlds (though again I don't read much sci-fi so for all I know he stole everything, but still). I was happy he did real time space travel, taking weeks and months to get places instead of just hours in some easy "hyper jump" contraption. I actually thought this was the start of a new series, the world is so big and complex, but it wrapped up nicely and is strong as a stand alone novel. There's actually not that much more that needs to be explained, but a lot left unexplained at the same time. It's a good balance, which is something Nix always manages to do.
Quite liked this. It's real old-fashioned SF, with lots of tek and ships. Pacing reminded me of the Kingkiller Chronicles-- a few moments that were a bit faster paced, but mostly it's the story of the journey, and a great exploration of a well-imagined, nicely detailed world.
Definitely YA, for those who like Nix's MG stuff.
Definitely YA, for those who like Nix's MG stuff.
Well this was an unexpected gem of a book! And, if I may say, highly underrated in my humble opinion. This is a fascinating, fast paced science fiction thriller from Garth Nix, which follows the adventures of Prince Khemri as he comes of age in a vast intergalactic Empire governed by an all-seeing, omnipotent hive-style Mind. Having only ever read Nix's fantasy series (Sabriel, Lirael, Abhorsen, et al.) I knew he was a great writer, capable of engaging stories and somewhat darker and more tragic themes and ideas. Even so, this book veered closer to the adult with casual swearing, sexual encounters and a philosophical discussion of what it means to be human. I thoroughly enjoyed this, and even if you have never read anything by Nix before, if you enjoy science fiction stories, I would highly recommend giving this a go.
The "world"/setting takes a bit of getting used to, but after the first half, you'll be so in-tune with it. It's definitely a different type of book than what Nix usually writes. He normally writes in 3rd person. But I loved it.
For the record, I've loved virtually everything I've ever read by Garth Nix and he is an incredibly talented author. The Abhorsen trilogy, Shade's Children, even the Keys to the Kingdom series have special places in my bookish heart. So it was with great pain I discovered that I couldn't make it through A Confusion of Princes. It's... confusing. There's something about it that says teenage boy as intended audience.
I was so drawn by the idea of these thousands of "Princes" all playing a massive space opera, you adult appropriate Game of Thrones that I trusted everything would make sense... Eventually. After 100 or so pages of a refined form of info-dumping, I'm still confused. I feel like I've been beaten over the head with an encyclopedia of sci-fi randomness as narrated by an horrible narcissist who seems a completely different person in dialogue (lots of umm-ing and uncertainty that jars even knowing that the narration is in retrospect). There's too much info all in one go told in chunks of dialogue that in the end I just felt my eyes glazing over. So much felt under-explained despite the word count.
I found Khemri impossible to like. His future self narrating his past actions, complete with asides (saying he found out later that x happened because y reasons) just didn't work for me. Side characters came across as throwaway extras. Lots of names, faces, ranks and then... poof. Gone. Who were they? Never mind, something else is happening.
It'd probably work better for you if you can get behind Khemri as a character more. I personally couldn't. A sad DNF, but one I'm not going to pick back up.
I was so drawn by the idea of these thousands of "Princes" all playing a massive space opera, you adult appropriate Game of Thrones that I trusted everything would make sense... Eventually. After 100 or so pages of a refined form of info-dumping, I'm still confused. I feel like I've been beaten over the head with an encyclopedia of sci-fi randomness as narrated by an horrible narcissist who seems a completely different person in dialogue (lots of umm-ing and uncertainty that jars even knowing that the narration is in retrospect). There's too much info all in one go told in chunks of dialogue that in the end I just felt my eyes glazing over. So much felt under-explained despite the word count.
I found Khemri impossible to like. His future self narrating his past actions, complete with asides (saying he found out later that x happened because y reasons) just didn't work for me. Side characters came across as throwaway extras. Lots of names, faces, ranks and then... poof. Gone. Who were they? Never mind, something else is happening.
It'd probably work better for you if you can get behind Khemri as a character more. I personally couldn't. A sad DNF, but one I'm not going to pick back up.
Khemri is one of the countless biotech enhanced princes that populate the galaxy. The princes are dangerous, arrogant, privileged, and nearly immortal. Trust is a luxury that Khemri cannot afford because evading assassination is almost routine. Periodically, a thousand of these princes compete in a series of trials and tests for the ultimate prize – to become the new Emperor.
Prince Khemri has faced space battles, been abandoned on backwater planets, fought off alien invaders, and pretended to be a trader on a remote planet. The last, however, is where he met Raine, a woman who might be more important than ascending the galactic throne.
Fans of Roger Zelazny’s Nine Princes of Amber series as well as the Ender’s Game series by Orson Scott Card should enjoy this colorful and imaginative adventure.
-Wendy M.
Prince Khemri has faced space battles, been abandoned on backwater planets, fought off alien invaders, and pretended to be a trader on a remote planet. The last, however, is where he met Raine, a woman who might be more important than ascending the galactic throne.
Fans of Roger Zelazny’s Nine Princes of Amber series as well as the Ender’s Game series by Orson Scott Card should enjoy this colorful and imaginative adventure.
-Wendy M.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No