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anomieus's review against another edition
4.0
3.5⭐
Ok, well, a lot to unpack here.
There are three separate story streams (past, present, far future) happening here. So of course you know they have to intersect at some point. Interestingly, I found the 3 individual stories to be stronger and more engaging than the sum of their parts. It was weirdly predictable and yet frustratingly obtuse and slow in coming together. I think you don't even get any king of hint of their possible connections until the final quarter of the book, and even then they are the vaguest of story-morsels. They only really come together in about the last 5 pages of the novel, and then they weirdly and abruptly end. Most frustrating.
I think the strongest storyline was that of the boy Moz, set in 70s Morocco. I wanted a whole book of just this main character and his friends, family, and life. Second strongest was a great foil to the abject poverty of dusty Marrakech, being set in the far FAR future of the adolescent, petulant Emperor of All, Zaq. Society is based on an interesting mix of ancient Chinese culture where we're not entirely sure of who and what may be human, post-human, AI, or post-singularity life. Weakest storyline was that of the 'present' (or what was the present when the book was written in 2004) which has a pseudo-terrorist-espionage plotline that I found more frustrating than engaging.
Eventually. Eventually these three storylines will tie together, but oh yeah, you need some patience for this one. And I am a huge fan of time-reality challenging plotlines (I'm looking at you [b:Cloud Atlas|49628|Cloud Atlas|David Mitchell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1563042852l/49628._SX50_.jpg|1871423] and [b:Light|17735|Light (Kefahuchi Tract, #1)|M. John Harrison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1389700041l/17735._SX50_.jpg|295250], [b:Nova Swing|1666406|Nova Swing (Kefahuchi Tract, #2)|M. John Harrison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320499016l/1666406._SY75_.jpg|295249].)
Across these three timelines we have a whole host of themes... maybe too many...? Dreaming vs Reality. Extreme poverty. Child abuse. AI vs Humanity. Self-identity vs fate. Post humanity. Maybe hyper-advanced-alien-life or maybe not? Terrorism (capitalizing a bit on 9/11 fears) and America's penchant for torture. Self-determinism. Social media amped beyond our wildest dreams/fears. The Singularity. Body horror and modification.
That is a lot of heady ideas going on in a single novel.
So, I liked it... But.... I wanted to like it so much more.
Ok, well, a lot to unpack here.
There are three separate story streams (past, present, far future) happening here. So of course you know they have to intersect at some point. Interestingly, I found the 3 individual stories to be stronger and more engaging than the sum of their parts. It was weirdly predictable and yet frustratingly obtuse and slow in coming together. I think you don't even get any king of hint of their possible connections until the final quarter of the book, and even then they are the vaguest of story-morsels. They only really come together in about the last 5 pages of the novel, and then they weirdly and abruptly end. Most frustrating.
I think the strongest storyline was that of the boy Moz, set in 70s Morocco. I wanted a whole book of just this main character and his friends, family, and life. Second strongest was a great foil to the abject poverty of dusty Marrakech, being set in the far FAR future of the adolescent, petulant Emperor of All, Zaq. Society is based on an interesting mix of ancient Chinese culture where we're not entirely sure of who and what may be human, post-human, AI, or post-singularity life. Weakest storyline was that of the 'present' (or what was the present when the book was written in 2004) which has a pseudo-terrorist-espionage plotline that I found more frustrating than engaging.
Eventually. Eventually these three storylines will tie together, but oh yeah, you need some patience for this one. And I am a huge fan of time-reality challenging plotlines (I'm looking at you [b:Cloud Atlas|49628|Cloud Atlas|David Mitchell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1563042852l/49628._SX50_.jpg|1871423] and [b:Light|17735|Light (Kefahuchi Tract, #1)|M. John Harrison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1389700041l/17735._SX50_.jpg|295250], [b:Nova Swing|1666406|Nova Swing (Kefahuchi Tract, #2)|M. John Harrison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320499016l/1666406._SY75_.jpg|295249].)
Across these three timelines we have a whole host of themes... maybe too many...? Dreaming vs Reality. Extreme poverty. Child abuse. AI vs Humanity. Self-identity vs fate. Post humanity. Maybe hyper-advanced-alien-life or maybe not? Terrorism (capitalizing a bit on 9/11 fears) and America's penchant for torture. Self-determinism. Social media amped beyond our wildest dreams/fears. The Singularity. Body horror and modification.
That is a lot of heady ideas going on in a single novel.
So, I liked it... But.... I wanted to like it so much more.
luisvilla's review against another edition
3.0
Light fun - not super-hard to see where it is going, but well-constructed and complex enough to make it worth pushing through.
lsalyer's review against another edition
dizzying. very interesting. need to read it when i can really focus
nwhyte's review against another edition
http://www.livejournal.com/users/nhw/307911.html[return][return]Finished this on Monday night, so it just about counts as my last book of last month. I wasn't overwhelmed by RedRobe, but really very much enjoyed Pashazade, Felaheen and Effendi, Grimwood's trilogy set in an alternate history (but very contemporary) Alexandria where the German and Ottoman empires never fell. This latest combines present day US/western Mediterranean political interactions, a far future empire of two thousand worlds, a near future Chinese space mission, and 1970s Marrakech which is the key to the whole story.[return][return]I love Grimwood's prose and characterisation - he stated at PicoCon the weekend before last how important it is for him to be able to experience the world he is writing, and that is very believable. For most of the book it was able to carry me past the shoals of unsuspended disbelief. I was left at the end just a bit unsatisfied, unfortunately.
xdroot's review against another edition
4.0
the plot is set in 3 timelines that run parallel to each other for most of the book. more difficult than the arabesk series and darker. but the author is at home in describing life in north africa. quite evocative.
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