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geekwayne's review against another edition
4.0
‘Planetfall’ by Emma Newman was the July pick for my online book club.
Renata Ghali followed Lee Suh-Mi into space, but that was 22 years ago and Suh is gone and Ren is one of the few holding on to the lie behind the disappearance. When Suh’s son shows up from the other landing site on the planet, Ren fights to keep her secrets, but the past is coming unraveled.
Ren is an interesting main character who suffers from some mental illness. It’s quite unlike a lot of characters I’ve read. The story seems to speed up towards the end, and I feel like there is a lot suddenly happening in the last 20 percent of the book, but I enjoyed reading it.
Renata Ghali followed Lee Suh-Mi into space, but that was 22 years ago and Suh is gone and Ren is one of the few holding on to the lie behind the disappearance. When Suh’s son shows up from the other landing site on the planet, Ren fights to keep her secrets, but the past is coming unraveled.
Ren is an interesting main character who suffers from some mental illness. It’s quite unlike a lot of characters I’ve read. The story seems to speed up towards the end, and I feel like there is a lot suddenly happening in the last 20 percent of the book, but I enjoyed reading it.
bookwormmuse's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
hivequeen's review against another edition
4.0
This book was a 5 star until the end. Newman did such a great job of building everything up and making me want to know what the big secret was, then it was all just kind of anticlimactic. I don't think the ending was bad necessarily, it just felt sortof like a letdown. I'm not sure what would've satisfied me tho tbh. Despite all that, I still gave it 4 stars because I was hooked throughout most of it!
Spoiler
I think the main problem for me wasn't what was in the final room of God's city, it was more that she built up this whole conflict with Sung-Soo and the others, and then just didn't really resolve it. Maybe the problem is that the whole ending felt unfinished, as if none of the narrative threads were really tied up. Maybe a few plot lines were ended, like Marco dying, but other than that it mostly felt like a cop out. I think I would've felt more satisfied with Renata's death if it didn't feel like the story was going a random direction when there was still action happening. Why put the attack on the colony in at all? It felt unnecessary and unfinished.karinlib's review against another edition
4.0
I am not sure that any review would equal the writing by the author. All I can say is that the story is amazing, and I have the feeling I will be thinking about it for a while.
billymac1962's review against another edition
4.0
Back in my 20s and 30s Science Fiction was my thing. And when it was good, wow, was it ever.
Giants like Arthur C. Clarke, Orson Scott Card, Dan Simmons, and John Varley gave me the escapism I was looking for: that sense of wonder and mystery. Other worlds.
Unfortunately, the genre has changed over the past twenty years or so. Nowadays the new stuff coming out seem to be focused more on cautionary tales, allegories to the world as we know it and how things will evolve socially and politically.
Phooey, I say. It's escapism I have always sought with this genre (all fiction in general, really), so if there isn't a sense of wonder and mystery and good characters, I will look elsewhere.
But even amid the drought for what I like, still there is hope that something will come out that harkens back to those wonderous older books.
And it did. Planetfall.
Finally, an engaging read about humankind's first visit to an alien world, rife with mystery, and as a bonus some mild mental illness to contend with.
I was racing to the end of this one to see what was going to happen. Emma Newman does a great job of luring the reader along, disclosing revelations along the way. The narrative doesn't get bogged down with over-descriptiveness, and yet I could totally picture and feel what our main protagonist was going through.
This is part of a series, but having said that, there is a lot revealed by the end of the book. Yet, there is enough unknown to entice me to read the next one really soon.
If I was to nitpick on one thing, it might be the repetitiveness of what was going through Ren's mind at times. But, even though this may be a nuisance for the reader, this stream of consciousness is totally viable given her predicaments.
A strong 4.5 stars for this very fast read, and I'm very much looking forward to book 2.
Giants like Arthur C. Clarke, Orson Scott Card, Dan Simmons, and John Varley gave me the escapism I was looking for: that sense of wonder and mystery. Other worlds.
Unfortunately, the genre has changed over the past twenty years or so. Nowadays the new stuff coming out seem to be focused more on cautionary tales, allegories to the world as we know it and how things will evolve socially and politically.
Phooey, I say. It's escapism I have always sought with this genre (all fiction in general, really), so if there isn't a sense of wonder and mystery and good characters, I will look elsewhere.
But even amid the drought for what I like, still there is hope that something will come out that harkens back to those wonderous older books.
And it did. Planetfall.
Finally, an engaging read about humankind's first visit to an alien world, rife with mystery, and as a bonus some mild mental illness to contend with.
I was racing to the end of this one to see what was going to happen. Emma Newman does a great job of luring the reader along, disclosing revelations along the way. The narrative doesn't get bogged down with over-descriptiveness, and yet I could totally picture and feel what our main protagonist was going through.
This is part of a series, but having said that, there is a lot revealed by the end of the book. Yet, there is enough unknown to entice me to read the next one really soon.
If I was to nitpick on one thing, it might be the repetitiveness of what was going through Ren's mind at times. But, even though this may be a nuisance for the reader, this stream of consciousness is totally viable given her predicaments.
A strong 4.5 stars for this very fast read, and I'm very much looking forward to book 2.
kappafrog's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
This was a fantastic book. I read it in a single afternoon/evening. I've never read a sci-fi character who also had migraines and OCD. That was really powerful for me, and I really liked following Ren as a flawed main character.
The mystery hooked me in right away. The imagery was really powerful at times. I liked learning the details of their everyday life, and the complex web of lies and relationships that held everything together. The smallness of the settlement, the way it was insulated from an outer world it knew nothing about, was an effective backdrop for the increasing claustrophobia of the story. Unfolding the mystery of what happened to Su was done in a really cool way - it was not a book where I was unhappy to have the main plot interrupted with flashbacks.Some of the scenes about Su leave me with really haunting imagery - both her death, and her coffin being discovered.
I do agree with others that the ending felt rushed.The motives of the final group of antagonists were particularly rushed. Do they really just want to kill everyone, instead of trying to integrate in with them? I get that they had grown up hating and resenting Mack for what they did to him, and Ren could fall into that, but the rest were totally innocent. Why did they want to disable the settlement, instead of just expose Mack and then benefit from its amenities? As for the final scenes in God's City, I really liked it right until the end. I found that part emotional but confusing.
Overall, this was a fast-paced mystery that completely hooked me. I couldn't bear not knowing what happened next! I was excited to see there's a sequel but less excited to see it takes place back on Earth. Still, I definitely want to check out more of this author's work. Really great sci-fi!
The mystery hooked me in right away. The imagery was really powerful at times. I liked learning the details of their everyday life, and the complex web of lies and relationships that held everything together. The smallness of the settlement, the way it was insulated from an outer world it knew nothing about, was an effective backdrop for the increasing claustrophobia of the story. Unfolding the mystery of what happened to Su was done in a really cool way - it was not a book where I was unhappy to have the main plot interrupted with flashbacks.
I do agree with others that the ending felt rushed.
Overall, this was a fast-paced mystery that completely hooked me. I couldn't bear not knowing what happened next! I was excited to see there's a sequel but less excited to see it takes place back on Earth. Still, I definitely want to check out more of this author's work. Really great sci-fi!
frogreads_'s review
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
This was a very interesting book and had my attention in a firm grip. The premise was so interesting and honestly at the end i can say its so human. The best part of this book is the flawed main character. I would definitely recommend this book to others.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness
Moderate: Death
Minor: Child death
kleonard's review against another edition
3.0
An unreliable narrator's secrets--which aren't too hard for the reader to guess--are discovered by an equally unreliable quasi-antagonist, whose motives are also fairly obvious. But the writing is good and the world-building is interesting, and I enjoyed reading it and look forward to reading the sequels.
kmheselton's review against another edition
5.0
Great book. My favorite in a long time. Sci-Fi all the way, and then you start to wonder if it is? Great, great book.
kvothe's review against another edition
4.0
Probably would've given it a 3.5, rounding up. Couldn't put it down throughout but also feel a bit conflicted about the slightly abrupt ending. Overall would definitely recommend a read and will checkout the follow-up standalones in the same universe.