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desert_side_notched's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
tensy's review against another edition
3.0
Agree with most of the reviews of this novel. I liked Flood a bit more than Ark, but I enjoyed reading a couple of chapters a night right before bed. Like others have said, there was nothing really compelling in this novel that made me want to read it quickly. Baxter gives the reader a lot of detail about living in Zero-G and he often mentions how they planned for engineering redundancy in Ark II. Throughout the book I kept asking myself why they didn't plan on redundancy with human skills? What about a dentist? No one got cavities in 50 years?
literaryhomeboy's review against another edition
3.0
Much better than Flood. I love a realistic interstellar travel story (and why it's pretty much an awful idea) and this delivered. He still writes truly awful dialogue but the science and ideas presented were interesting
nattygsmith's review against another edition
3.0
A fun and extremely interesting look at what might happen to a small community of humans stuck on an "Ark," in this case a space ship, for sixty years. Good, solid science fiction, fun and readable.
scinfaxi's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.25
katzenkindliest's review against another edition
3.25
Dieser zweite Teil ist nicht ohne Längen, und für mich gab aus auch nicht so richtig Sympathieträger, deren Schicksal die Längen überbrückt. Zum Teil liegt das vielleicht daran, dass wir mehr mehrere Generationen (mit großen Zeitsprüngen) begleiten, zum Teil an den (sicher gut recherchierten) ausführlichen technischen Beschreibungen. Auch das Ende finde ich persönlich etwas unbefriedigend - wir lassen alle da alleine, wo sie auf einer neuen (oder der alten) Erde gelandet sind. Das ist sicher gewollt, ich hätte gerne einen Hinweis gehabt, was für die Gruppe die beste/richtige Entscheidung war...
nitar8's review
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Rape, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Sexual assault, Violence, Bullying, Child abuse, Death of parent, Child death, Death, Physical abuse, Police brutality, and Emotional abuse
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Abandonment, Infidelity, Gore, Toxic friendship, Suicide attempt, Suicide, Sexual content, Classism, Medical content, Mental illness, and Suicidal thoughts
amaranth_wytch's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
slow-paced
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Mental illness, Murder, Abandonment, Child death, Death, Child abuse, Fire/Fire injury, Gun violence, Adult/minor relationship, Confinement, Pedophilia, Pregnancy, Self harm, Sexual assault, Grief, and Violence
eoghann's review against another edition
4.0
This isn't precisely a sequel to Stephen Baxter's book _Flood_ because it's not a simple continuation. Or at least that's not all it is. In Flood the world is gradually covered (completely) in water and we get to see how humanity struggles with that. Here in _Ark_ we first get an overlap where we see how the Ark project came about and then we move with it into space with occasional touch backs to Earth.
We deal with primarily new characters here, with only a few exceptions and where Flood tended to jump all around the world and give us a huge array of locations and events, Ark is much more focussed. It is once again spread out over the decades, but the majority of the book is spent with the crew in the Ark and that anchors the book better than Flood was I think.
Science is never far removed in a Stephen Baxter book of course and on several occasions characters stop to lecture on one topic or another. Fortunately the set up here means it doesn't derail the plot too much.
The other thing that Baxter seems fond off in both this book and Flood (and in previous things of his I've read) is the notion that the human race is extremely adaptable. We see successive generations adapting both their language and behavior to the environment that surrounds them. The effect seems a little too rapid to me, but I buy into the fundamental notion that both culture and physiology will adapt if given time.
Unlike many who write about his sort of scenario Baxter's view of human nature is pretty brutal. We get to see all the worst of humanity on display over the course of the book and people get away with horrible things because fundamentally survival is all that really matters. Whether that survival takes the form of Earth 2, Earth 3, Ark 2 or the rafts on the surface, the drive is simply to endure and continue.
That makes the politicking that goes on on Ark 1 very interesting to observe if not exactly cheerful. But in the end Baxter does provide us with some hope. Along with a lot of unanswered questions. And for a book like this, that makes sense, because it's not really the story of any particular group of people. It's the story of humanity.
We deal with primarily new characters here, with only a few exceptions and where Flood tended to jump all around the world and give us a huge array of locations and events, Ark is much more focussed. It is once again spread out over the decades, but the majority of the book is spent with the crew in the Ark and that anchors the book better than Flood was I think.
Science is never far removed in a Stephen Baxter book of course and on several occasions characters stop to lecture on one topic or another. Fortunately the set up here means it doesn't derail the plot too much.
The other thing that Baxter seems fond off in both this book and Flood (and in previous things of his I've read) is the notion that the human race is extremely adaptable. We see successive generations adapting both their language and behavior to the environment that surrounds them. The effect seems a little too rapid to me, but I buy into the fundamental notion that both culture and physiology will adapt if given time.
Unlike many who write about his sort of scenario Baxter's view of human nature is pretty brutal. We get to see all the worst of humanity on display over the course of the book and people get away with horrible things because fundamentally survival is all that really matters. Whether that survival takes the form of Earth 2, Earth 3, Ark 2 or the rafts on the surface, the drive is simply to endure and continue.
That makes the politicking that goes on on Ark 1 very interesting to observe if not exactly cheerful. But in the end Baxter does provide us with some hope. Along with a lot of unanswered questions. And for a book like this, that makes sense, because it's not really the story of any particular group of people. It's the story of humanity.