Reviews

The Black Cloud by Fred Hoyle

benji_sherriff's review against another edition

challenging informative mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.75

A big mixing pot of many of the tropes found in classic sci-fi, there’s lots on offer here. The first half felt much more grounded in reality before it really took off later on, but it just about holds on to feeling scientifically possible. Not the biggest fan of the pacing however, I think it’s the main issue: glossed over the implications for the whole world that the events have, and I just couldn’t shake the idea that it left out key points about the wider world.

garunar's review against another edition

challenging informative mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.75

dualmon's review against another edition

3.0

Interesting, but a bit dated and corny.

blue8haze's review against another edition

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

3.0

huggythebear's review against another edition

funny informative inspiring reflective tense fast-paced

4.5

amypurple's review against another edition

challenging informative 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

2.0

tandemjon's review against another edition

4.0

Interesting.

deadgoodbooks's review against another edition

mysterious 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

2.0

believeinyou's review against another edition

adventurous challenging informative mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

nikkehmiller's review against another edition

challenging dark informative reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

Interesting topic for a novel and the scientific explanations were a nice touch, but did start to drag later in the book. It was also missing a lot of the emotion and tension of events that could have been explored a lot more, and the characters were lacking some depth and humanity. The first half read well for me, but I am an astronomer so wasn’t put off by lengthy technical explanations, and the second half had a lot of potential and ideas but fell a bit flat.