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arocle's review against another edition
2.0
Tarinan vakoilusta ja kuolemanjälkeisestä "elämästä" vaihtoehtoisessa 2. maailmansodan ajassa olisi pitänyt päristä aika kovaa. Koko touhu jäi kuitenkin etäiseksi, lukeminen ei edennyt ja päähenkilötkin pääasiassa vain aiheuttivat ärtymystä... Jotenkin tämä ei nyt vaan sitten napannutkaan. Pöyristymiskynnyksen ylitti vielä erityisesti täysin irrallinen ja naurettava kummitusseksikohtaus. Hyvää kirjassa oli kyllä ajankuva ja vakoiluorganisaatioiden sisäiset ristiriidat.
balcombe_reader's review against another edition
3.0
Agatha Christie meets H G Wells
Light years from The Quantum Thief. Odd, decent plot, somehow unconvincing. Some well-known names link it to reality. Steam-punk tech felt too clunky. Might have to reread.
Light years from The Quantum Thief. Odd, decent plot, somehow unconvincing. Some well-known names link it to reality. Steam-punk tech felt too clunky. Might have to reread.
oleksandr's review against another edition
3.0
This is an alt-history novel, where afterlife is not only real, but is able to communicate with our reality. This is my second book by [a:Hannu Rajaniemi|2768002|Hannu Rajaniemi|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1300203018p2/2768002.jpg] after [b:The Quantum Thief|7562764|The Quantum Thief (Jean le Flambeur, #1)|Hannu Rajaniemi|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1327950631i/7562764._SY75_.jpg|9886333]. I was impressed with the latter, but with this one – not so much. It is interesting to note that the book was published in 2018, when a book with the similar time period and similar importance of souls (albeit in as different way), namely [b:Witchmark|36187110|Witchmark (The Kingston Cycle, #1)|C.L. Polk|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1505338133i/36187110._SY75_.jpg|57809962].
It is 1938 and British Empire not only covers the globe but has a foothold in underworld, called Summerland. The Afterlife is real, but to get there in full mental capacity one needs a Ticket, which gives access to a kind of virtual energy to keep consciousness together. Without it a soul quickly loses its memories and cognitive capacities, “drinks from Lethe”.
Enter Mrs. Rachel White, a middle age English woman, who works for Her Majesty Secret Service (Old Queen Victoria still rules – from the other side). She is one of the few women there, “only because you went to Eton with Sir Stewart and are able to pee standing up”, similar to our history’s 1930s. she works with a Soviet defector, who informs her about a mole in the service, gives his name and handle and they commits suicide. The mole is Peter Bloom, a ghost of the illegitimate son of the current PM, Herbert Blanco West (who is poorly hidden [a:H.G. Wells|880695|H.G. Wells|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1547736853p2/880695.jpg]). No one in the service believes her, so she assumed hysterical and put aside from ‘serious work’. She wants to prove her rightness by any means necessary.
Meanwhile Peter Bloom handles a contact in civil war Spain, which gives him info that notorious defector from the USSR, one Iosif Dzhugashvili (Stalin). Unlike our history, after Lenin died, in the USSR a group called ‘The God-Builders’ decided that “the Soviet people needed a God, and so they made an electric one. And now we have little Tombs everywhere, his eyes, watching everything. He is a sterner father than the Tsar ever was. And when we die, we become Him.
‘That was to be my reward, you see. I have served our radiant Father too well. I was chosen by the Immortalization Commission to return home and to undergo the Termin Procedure, to merge my meagre soul with that of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. An honour beyond measure.’”.
While the novel is well written, characters are interesting, it is more or less a quick read without striking new ideas. Some things were simplified, like Spain is just a field in the Great Game between the British and the Soviet, there are fascist (backed by the British) and what happened with Germany and Italy we don’t see, for they just don’t fit in this story. The WWI seemed to be won by the Entente with use of ecto-tanks and other spirit weapons (probably without entry of the USA). The world is described only as much as needed for the story, so simplifications rule the day but worsen my personal experience.
It is 1938 and British Empire not only covers the globe but has a foothold in underworld, called Summerland. The Afterlife is real, but to get there in full mental capacity one needs a Ticket, which gives access to a kind of virtual energy to keep consciousness together. Without it a soul quickly loses its memories and cognitive capacities, “drinks from Lethe”.
Enter Mrs. Rachel White, a middle age English woman, who works for Her Majesty Secret Service (Old Queen Victoria still rules – from the other side). She is one of the few women there, “only because you went to Eton with Sir Stewart and are able to pee standing up”, similar to our history’s 1930s. she works with a Soviet defector, who informs her about a mole in the service, gives his name and handle and they commits suicide. The mole is Peter Bloom, a ghost of the illegitimate son of the current PM, Herbert Blanco West (who is poorly hidden [a:H.G. Wells|880695|H.G. Wells|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1547736853p2/880695.jpg]). No one in the service believes her, so she assumed hysterical and put aside from ‘serious work’. She wants to prove her rightness by any means necessary.
Meanwhile Peter Bloom handles a contact in civil war Spain, which gives him info that notorious defector from the USSR, one Iosif Dzhugashvili (Stalin). Unlike our history, after Lenin died, in the USSR a group called ‘The God-Builders’ decided that “the Soviet people needed a God, and so they made an electric one. And now we have little Tombs everywhere, his eyes, watching everything. He is a sterner father than the Tsar ever was. And when we die, we become Him.
‘That was to be my reward, you see. I have served our radiant Father too well. I was chosen by the Immortalization Commission to return home and to undergo the Termin Procedure, to merge my meagre soul with that of Vladimir Ilyich Lenin. An honour beyond measure.’”.
While the novel is well written, characters are interesting, it is more or less a quick read without striking new ideas. Some things were simplified, like Spain is just a field in the Great Game between the British and the Soviet, there are fascist (backed by the British) and what happened with Germany and Italy we don’t see, for they just don’t fit in this story. The WWI seemed to be won by the Entente with use of ecto-tanks and other spirit weapons (probably without entry of the USA). The world is described only as much as needed for the story, so simplifications rule the day but worsen my personal experience.
skrullpup's review against another edition
3.0
I found the plot hard to follow but the world was really interesting.
achernar's review
medium-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
2.75
Kokonaisuutena jätti ikävä kyllä hieman kylmäksi. Rajaniemen sci-fi konseptit ovat tuttuun tapaan erinomaisia. Juoni ei kuitenkaan ollut erityisen koukuttava, koska kirjan kaksi eri perspektiiviä paljastavat suuren osan mysteereistä lukijalle heti, eikä siksi synny jännittyksen tuntua, jota oletin vakoojatarinalta. Viimeiset 60 sivua olivat erinomaiset, kun kirja pääsi vauhtiin. Toivoin, että koko kirja olisi ollut yhtä hyvä.
dray's review against another edition
3.0
A good read, combining interesting elements of history, spirit worlds and spy craft. Much less engrossing than his trilogy, the thief series.
apatrick's review against another edition
3.0
Good primarily because it's so unusual. Defies categorization. Completely unlike Rajaniemi's other books, like The Quantum Thief, both in content and in that I had a much easier time following this one.
weaver's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
alexanderpaez's review against another edition
2.0
Premisa muuuy chula, desarrollo decreciente, resultado meh. A ver, es curiosa, y la recomiendo porque tiene ideas buenas, pero la ejecución... Lo siento, me he aburrido bastante. ¿Quizá en un relato?