Reviews

Unto Leviathan by Richard Paul Russo

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jenja's review against another edition

this beginning is really slow and boring
a lot of telling, no showing, and characters are already talking far to much about stuff i haven't even been able to start caring about yet

vitalogy's review against another edition

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dark mysterious tense fast-paced

4.5

januaryecologist's review

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dark emotional hopeful mysterious sad fast-paced

4.5

drblockbooks's review against another edition

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Strange book. It seemed like it could have been a short story or else the first book in a trilogy. It works fine as a standalone novel, but leaves a lot of unanswered questions about the fate of some characters--which, I suppose was the author's point. A lot is mysterious. In fact, the book has a few chapters that felt like a horror novel (not a gory one, just freaky). Reminiscent of the movie Alien in many respects.

If you like sci-fi, worth a read.

raggedyman1342's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging dark emotional mysterious reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

Content Warnings

billymac1962's review against another edition

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5.0

Science Fiction used to be my jam. Back in the 80s and 90s, when my reading addiction really took hold, this was when I was reading the greats from such authors as Arthur C. Clarke, John Varley, etc.
Into the 2000s, unfortunately, my interest was waning because I just couldn't find anything that could capture me like the masters did. Far too many recent submissions to the genre became too politically charged and self-important. I just wanted a sense of wonder and escape.

I've started hitting Reddit quite a bit recently. The book groups there are fantastic, with very respectful and helpful members. I decided to search for one of my favourite sci-fi reads of all time, Rendezvous With Rama, and see what lists I could find that had other favourites listed with it. That's how I found out about Ship of Fools. I had never even heard of it, which just goes to show how distanced I had gotten from the genre (it was nominated for the Locus award in 2002).

This book really hit my check boxes. There was good character development, and, similar to Rendezvous With Rama, a sense of discovery and suspenseful mystery surrounding first contact with aliens. Oh, and some dashes of horror to really ratchet things up.
One of Russo's skills that really impressed me was creating a sense of space (no pun intended) without confusing over-descriptiveness (something else that can drive me from the genre). At no point whatsoever was I unable to totally visualize what he was describing. It is truly a gift to do that with simple descriptions.

The list that I found on Reddit that had this book was appropriate. The novel is, in one aspect, quite similar to Rendezvous With Rama. As far as the ending went, I was a little disappointed that some things weren't fully resolved. But mostly I'm okay with that. I am even more okay that this is a standalone (these are becoming unicorns)!

I'll give this a strong four stars, and my heartfelt thanks to Richard Paul Russo for bringing me back to the genre.
Actually, no. My little bit of pickiness doesn't deserve a star docking. It's a big thing for me to find Sci-Fi that I like, and this really was a cool story.
Five it is! Well done, RPR.