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3.85 AVERAGE
3.85 AVERAGE
I appreciated what this was trying to do, but felt like the story got lost in the language and side-stories. It was one of those reads I felt like I had to slog through even though I liked the idea at play.
Real score 34.89. Wow. Um, yeah, wow. I have to say listening was a much easier way into this web of a book. What a world! Insane. I love it. Is it or is it not in humanity’s power to let as near enough to peaceful and providing be? Or is it Kantian greater good? Who do you trust? Mycroft? I’m going to do what I rarely do and start the next book straight away. I cannot afford to loose the momentum. Wow.
More like a 2.5 stars - such a frustrating book. It makes me want to read on and to find out what happens and where it all leads to, what it all means (because it's a book of ideas and the ideas are fascinating - I'm in such deep love with the idea of bashes, I'm internally crying that they are not real ...). But there are also glaring holes, whole canyons, in the world-building and characters. And ... it's just frustrating, OK?
(Also that the first book just ends in the middle of it and you have to pick up the second. I don't like when authors do this to me. - edit to add: seems like this is not Ada Palmer's fault, who just wanted to write one very long book. So I retract this part of my complaint ;))
(Also that the first book just ends in the middle of it and you have to pick up the second. I don't like when authors do this to me. - edit to add: seems like this is not Ada Palmer's fault, who just wanted to write one very long book. So I retract this part of my complaint ;))
Poco se puede decir de este libro que no sea spoiler. No sabía nada de él cuando me puse a leerlo, no recuerdo ni cuando lo compré. Lo que sí puedo decir es que es raro, complejo, con una estructura una forma de contar las cosas un poco extraña. Probablemente uno de esos libros que no son para todo el mundo. Es un libro que, más que nada, creo que hablar del ser humano y su naturaleza, y de la sociedad, sus limitaciones y lo que pasa en los límites de la misma.
Ahora estoy pensando si saltar directamente al segundo o leer algo más ligero mientras.
Ahora estoy pensando si saltar directamente al segundo o leer algo más ligero mientras.
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
The start to a spectacular series that paints an insteresting future for humanity and presented in a truly unique style. Using some wonderfully familiar tropes it makes for an fascinating read, but not always an easy one.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
This was a really slow start for me. I think part of that is because it is a slow start. The emphasis is on introducing the characters and the world, and on setting the scene for events and revelations that will come later. Part of it was also a huge disconnect between my expectations and what I actually got. I'd read reviews, but I still had only a vague idea of what to expect when I started, and I was overly focused on the far-future aspect of the story. I expected something far more technological and scientific. What I got was much more like a fantasy of manners, although even that is not really accurate at all. So, I had a bit of literary whiplash for the first little bit, which also hindered my settling into the story.
The writing style is also a bit of an adventure. Mycroft will warn right at the beginning that the writing style is weird, and it is, but not just for the reasons that he cites. First, he writes in a 18th century style, which is what he warns about. However, there are also issues of pronouns that lend some serious confusion. In this society, gendered pronouns are not a thing done in polite society. Everyone should be 'they.' However, Mycroft insists of using 'he' and 'she', which shouldn't be confusing, except that he often uses the pronoun that corresponds to a given character's personality, rather than anything physical. So in one breath he may talk about a character's breasts, and in the next he may call that same character 'he.' Confused yet?
But once I settled in, maybe a little over a third of the way through, this was very enjoyable indeed. The characters, for one thing, were fantastic. So many of them were highly developed and fleshed out that during the day, when I was away from the book, I would of think of them as real people. Once I became acquainted with them, particularly Mycroft, they took on a sense of reality that was almost startling.
Which makes the revelations and twists of the story just that much better. This is a story that delights in reversing your expectations. It will build you up toward certain ideas and expectations, and then make a revelation that completely turns that on its head. The first one is around halfway through the book, and it will completely call into question all of the conclusions that you've drawn in the earlier parts of the book. That was the point where I really was drawn into this book and knew that I hadn't made a mistake in picking it up.
This is a book that aims to make you think, and philosophy plays a part in that. Thankfully, for those of us who haven't read a ton of philosophy, Palmer is really good about introducing the ideas fully and understandably, which I appreciated. However, even without the philosophical connections, I think that this is a book that would have always had me asking questions. Some of the societal changes that are shown here are ones that seem very positive on the surface. However, Palmer explores them with a depth that really made me question whether they were as positive as I would have expected. I'm still not sure what conclusions I'd like to draw from this book, if any. Things are definitely complicated, and I like that this book reflects that.
So yeah. Despite a slow start, this is a rich and complex book, and I am excited to read the next one in the future!
The writing style is also a bit of an adventure. Mycroft will warn right at the beginning that the writing style is weird, and it is, but not just for the reasons that he cites. First, he writes in a 18th century style, which is what he warns about. However, there are also issues of pronouns that lend some serious confusion. In this society, gendered pronouns are not a thing done in polite society. Everyone should be 'they.' However, Mycroft insists of using 'he' and 'she', which shouldn't be confusing, except that he often uses the pronoun that corresponds to a given character's personality, rather than anything physical. So in one breath he may talk about a character's breasts, and in the next he may call that same character 'he.' Confused yet?
But once I settled in, maybe a little over a third of the way through, this was very enjoyable indeed. The characters, for one thing, were fantastic. So many of them were highly developed and fleshed out that during the day, when I was away from the book, I would of think of them as real people. Once I became acquainted with them, particularly Mycroft, they took on a sense of reality that was almost startling.
Which makes the revelations and twists of the story just that much better. This is a story that delights in reversing your expectations. It will build you up toward certain ideas and expectations, and then make a revelation that completely turns that on its head. The first one is around halfway through the book, and it will completely call into question all of the conclusions that you've drawn in the earlier parts of the book. That was the point where I really was drawn into this book and knew that I hadn't made a mistake in picking it up.
This is a book that aims to make you think, and philosophy plays a part in that. Thankfully, for those of us who haven't read a ton of philosophy, Palmer is really good about introducing the ideas fully and understandably, which I appreciated. However, even without the philosophical connections, I think that this is a book that would have always had me asking questions. Some of the societal changes that are shown here are ones that seem very positive on the surface. However, Palmer explores them with a depth that really made me question whether they were as positive as I would have expected. I'm still not sure what conclusions I'd like to draw from this book, if any. Things are definitely complicated, and I like that this book reflects that.
So yeah. Despite a slow start, this is a rich and complex book, and I am excited to read the next one in the future!
This book was super hard for me to get into at first, and I found myself really struggling to understand the world and where everything was going. Don't get me wrong, the ideas and innovation was excellent, but the payoff for the plot was just so so, and I didn't feel the urge to buy book 2 after finidhing this one.
This follows a utopian, heavily political world where Mycroft and Carlyle live. It's set in the future of our world, and yet some of the language used is very old in style and feels a little hard to connect with. We're following the story from Mycroft's POV, and we follow his life over the years of him becoming a convict and a kind of civil servant.
What I did like about this story were the political moments where each group would discuss their ideals and manifestos and what they stood for. We have the Humanists and Utopians and a few other groups. Each one is working towards something very different, and the world is no longer countries, but divided by which political group you align with.
One element of the story is focused on a young boy called Bridger who was a really interesting character becuase he had the ability to animate and bring to life inannimate objects like toy soldiers, toy medicines, photographs etc. This was something I would have loved to hear SO much more about, but I feel like his plot is just one small part of the whole.
What I didn't like here was the way that I felt so disconnected from the characters. I think this tries heard to span a lot of characters, places, peoples and parties, and I think that means it was always going to struggle a bit to hold my attention. I like different POVs and worlds, but I feel like I never truly got to know any of the characters and their real motivations in this book. Maybe I missed that side of things more than some, but I like the characters to be really strong and for me these didn't feel that way.
Overall, it's not a bad read as much as it is a confusing and baffling one at times, and an exhilarating and interesting one at others. I liked some sections a lot, but others just didn't work for me so I guess it depends what you are looking for. It's a 2.75* read for me (which I've rounded to 3*s).
This follows a utopian, heavily political world where Mycroft and Carlyle live. It's set in the future of our world, and yet some of the language used is very old in style and feels a little hard to connect with. We're following the story from Mycroft's POV, and we follow his life over the years of him becoming a convict and a kind of civil servant.
What I did like about this story were the political moments where each group would discuss their ideals and manifestos and what they stood for. We have the Humanists and Utopians and a few other groups. Each one is working towards something very different, and the world is no longer countries, but divided by which political group you align with.
One element of the story is focused on a young boy called Bridger who was a really interesting character becuase he had the ability to animate and bring to life inannimate objects like toy soldiers, toy medicines, photographs etc. This was something I would have loved to hear SO much more about, but I feel like his plot is just one small part of the whole.
What I didn't like here was the way that I felt so disconnected from the characters. I think this tries heard to span a lot of characters, places, peoples and parties, and I think that means it was always going to struggle a bit to hold my attention. I like different POVs and worlds, but I feel like I never truly got to know any of the characters and their real motivations in this book. Maybe I missed that side of things more than some, but I like the characters to be really strong and for me these didn't feel that way.
Overall, it's not a bad read as much as it is a confusing and baffling one at times, and an exhilarating and interesting one at others. I liked some sections a lot, but others just didn't work for me so I guess it depends what you are looking for. It's a 2.75* read for me (which I've rounded to 3*s).
So dense but so worth it. The politics are confusing, but the world building is really fascinating. Palmer is a wonderful writer and I can’t wait to read the next book.
challenging
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes