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see_sadie_read's review
3.0
It was ok. I realise that it is a translation, but the dialogue still felt a little forced and I found it unlikely that the one guy would remain so collected while everyone else panicked (repeatedly). Having said that, I liked the message the story imparted. It successfully put humanity's minuscule importance in the scope of time/space in to perspective.
trish204's review
4.0
My first story by this highly acclaimed Chinese author and I quite liked it.
Earth has a Space Force protecting it from rocks that would otherwise impact and endanger humanity. One day, they encounter a crystal, the memory of an already destroyed civilisation, which warns them of the Devourer.
As alien menaces go, I thought this was extremely civilized. As was Earth's response (up to a point). *lol*
Nevertheless, a sort of war is unavoidable. However, even that war is quite different from what I'm used to from other science fiction stories.
The story was short, quite sweet, and showed the different approaches one can take when writing about different galactic civilisations. One can tell from the writing style and certain dialogues that this is not a Western author (the characters came off as stiff for example, the Devourers are like the Emperor and his emissary) but the way this story unfolded wasn't just new, it worked well enough for me.
There were a couple of down sides, too, though:.
Nevertheless, all in all I quite enjoyed Fangs and the Marshall, the thought-provoking and almost philosophical history lessons, ingenuity as well as the ending.
Earth has a Space Force protecting it from rocks that would otherwise impact and endanger humanity. One day, they encounter a crystal, the memory of an already destroyed civilisation, which warns them of the Devourer.
As alien menaces go, I thought this was extremely civilized. As was Earth's response (up to a point). *lol*
Nevertheless, a sort of war is unavoidable. However, even that war is quite different from what I'm used to from other science fiction stories.
The story was short, quite sweet, and showed the different approaches one can take when writing about different galactic civilisations. One can tell from the writing style and certain dialogues that this is not a Western author (the characters came off as stiff for example, the Devourers are like the Emperor and his emissary) but the way this story unfolded wasn't just new, it worked well enough for me.
There were a couple of down sides, too, though:
Spoiler
Apart from a short spur of sexism that I didn't enjoy, there were also some moments that almost seemed too absurd and some laws of physics that weren't just "adjusted" but clearly ignoredNevertheless, all in all I quite enjoyed Fangs and the Marshall, the thought-provoking and almost philosophical history lessons, ingenuity as well as the ending.
si0bhan's review
3.0
Devourer was another interesting short story from Liu Cixin, but it’s not one of my favourites. In fact, this was a rounded-up two-point-five-star rating and not a full three-star rating.
Although the story pulled me in and had me curious to see how all the pieces would come together, I wanted a lot more from this one. There were plenty of things introduced that could have been explored deeper, and I feel a lot of this was surface level and never taken as far as it could have been.
All in all, this one had potential but didn’t deliver for me.
Although the story pulled me in and had me curious to see how all the pieces would come together, I wanted a lot more from this one. There were plenty of things introduced that could have been explored deeper, and I feel a lot of this was surface level and never taken as far as it could have been.
All in all, this one had potential but didn’t deliver for me.
peter__b's review
1.0
Another silly alien invasion story and another failure of storytelling by this author. Apart from the somewhat entertaining climax, the rest of this was a series of events every sci-fi reader has experienced dozens of times and undoubtedly seen executed better than this. The characters were grating and unbelievable while the plot was basic and silly. However, what really cemented this in the 1-star category was the awful ending. My brain can hardly comprehend how stupid and contrived it was. I just... can't.
traveller1's review
4.0
Another alien invasion. This time a giant tyre in space, crewed by dinosaurs, out to loot the Earth. Cool.
squallido's review
4.0
Demasiado forzado para mi gusto el origen de la raza alienígena, pero sin tener en cuenta eso, no deja de ser un gran relato que habla sobre la naturaleza humana y plantea el siempre interesante primer contacto con otras formas de vida inteligente.
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