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castle_samj's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
hopeful
mysterious
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
rachellynnmcguire's review
4.0
Brutal but still a great ride. There are enough warm, cozy moments & fun, adventuresome moments to make up the agonizing moments. Although, if you have issues with tentacles, this book is definitely not for you. Haha.
sweetcuppincakes's review
3.0
It's an interesting concept, the whole living-in-a-space-squid, or whatever these "beasts" resemble. I just found the author didn't do enough world-building to give a sense of how it's all possible. Hard sci-fi this is not, and that's fine, of course. Plenty of other strengths in this genre-bending tale whose themes reflect on our current world - and as this is about humanity far in our future, we get a sense of the eternal recurrence we're doomed to (likely) repeat. Finite resources; environmental degredation; class divisions; coming of age - there actually is a good amount of world-building on the sociocultural side of things, though it can feel like it's glossed over quickly and there's not enough depth to it, which might be chalked up to the quick pacing of events and the first-person present tense narrative of the two main characters. Overall, it has its moments, and I'm glad I took a chance with a "weird fiction" book by a young female black author (I'm a middle-aged white male). But I don't feel invested enough to read the next book.
bookinitwithahtiya's review
4.0
This was so fascinating to get into, and I ended up reading it in two sittings. I loved the concept of moving an entire civilization from the literal bellies of beasts in order to survive in space. The use of a matriarchal society was also fascinating. Drayden providing a society that treats men as second-class citizens does a brilliant job at showing how utterly ridiculous gender-based discrimination and limitations truly are. The world-building was spectacular, from the familial structures to the dialects to the description of the beast. I’m looking forward to continuing with Nicky Drayden’s work.
crockpothead's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
bailey_the_bookworm's review against another edition
There are too many plot lines and not nearly enough development of any given one. It gives the whole book the feeling that the characters are lurching from one thing to the next without any reason for doing so. There’s some really interesting stuff and cool world-building here, but the story just isn’t hanging together
witch_dagger's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
readingsofaslinky's review
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Classism, Death, Blood, Animal cruelty, Animal death, Body horror, Colonisation, Drug use, and Grief
Minor: Pregnancy, Toxic relationship, and Sexism
amym84's review
4.0
3.5
Originally posted at Vampire Book Club
Seske Kaleigh’s people live within the bodies of space creatures utilizing all the parts of the creature—bones, flesh, organs, etc.—until the beast is used up and then they must find another creature and repeat the process. This is how they’ve survived for centuries, but from the start something is different about this new excavation.
It’s an issue that Seske, part of the Contour class and next in line as Matriarch of her people, will have to face head on. As Seske begins to question their way of life, she’ll have to work quickly in order to keep her people safe from Exodus, all while learning what it means to lead.
Escaping Exodus features one of the best-realized future worlds I’ve read in sci-fi. The way Nicky Drayden presents it is so interesting in that we’re just thrust into this society without knowledge of how things came to be, but we’re put into the beginning of an excavation—kind of like the beginning of a new cycle—and we learn as it goes. Only later do we get a fuller picture of why things have become the way they currently are.
I was so taken in with the matriarchal society with family units consisting of six women, three men, and one child and they all fill some role (head, heart, will etc) that is their area of expertise, so to speak, for the family. Then there’s also the clear divide between the classes which we get through the viewpoints of Seske—of the Contour class—and her best friend Adalla—of the Beastworker class. Drayden does such of great job of making the story futuristic, yet still able to be comprehended within today’s timeframe. Meaning, it’s not so far out there that I can’t completely dismiss aspects of the story from one day coming to fruition.
Therein also lies the problem for me with Escaping Exodus in that there was just too much in this story for the page count which meant that there were some things that didn’t get the proper development. I would have gladly read another 200 pages on this book if it meant that certain conflicts or story threads could have been worked out. As it stands, especially toward the end, there were definite moments where I felt whiplash due to the change of course between one occurrence and the next. Like the beginning so eloquently spells out the constructs of the society, then suddenly we’re close to the end and things have to actually move somewhere.
The main relationship in the story is between Seske and Adalla. It’s a coming-of-age relationship that repeatedly gets waylaid by class structures and Seske’s future role as Matriarch. There is much more time focused on Seske and Adalla figuring out who they are as individuals when their society says they cannot conceivably be together. I would have liked a little more exploration to this relationship, but I think it’s an interesting notion that—even within a supposed future—lineage is still so prevalent. You can be with whomever you want, however you want, but they need to have a good family name behind them and have a good position in society.
Overall, though, the biggest message for me was the idea that sustainability is not just caring for and working with your environment, but it’s caring for and working with each other. We are part of nature so it goes to say that we can’t just hold some people to a higher standard, we all have to step up and not at the expense of others.
Originally posted at Vampire Book Club
Seske Kaleigh’s people live within the bodies of space creatures utilizing all the parts of the creature—bones, flesh, organs, etc.—until the beast is used up and then they must find another creature and repeat the process. This is how they’ve survived for centuries, but from the start something is different about this new excavation.
It’s an issue that Seske, part of the Contour class and next in line as Matriarch of her people, will have to face head on. As Seske begins to question their way of life, she’ll have to work quickly in order to keep her people safe from Exodus, all while learning what it means to lead.
Escaping Exodus features one of the best-realized future worlds I’ve read in sci-fi. The way Nicky Drayden presents it is so interesting in that we’re just thrust into this society without knowledge of how things came to be, but we’re put into the beginning of an excavation—kind of like the beginning of a new cycle—and we learn as it goes. Only later do we get a fuller picture of why things have become the way they currently are.
I was so taken in with the matriarchal society with family units consisting of six women, three men, and one child and they all fill some role (head, heart, will etc) that is their area of expertise, so to speak, for the family. Then there’s also the clear divide between the classes which we get through the viewpoints of Seske—of the Contour class—and her best friend Adalla—of the Beastworker class. Drayden does such of great job of making the story futuristic, yet still able to be comprehended within today’s timeframe. Meaning, it’s not so far out there that I can’t completely dismiss aspects of the story from one day coming to fruition.
Therein also lies the problem for me with Escaping Exodus in that there was just too much in this story for the page count which meant that there were some things that didn’t get the proper development. I would have gladly read another 200 pages on this book if it meant that certain conflicts or story threads could have been worked out. As it stands, especially toward the end, there were definite moments where I felt whiplash due to the change of course between one occurrence and the next. Like the beginning so eloquently spells out the constructs of the society, then suddenly we’re close to the end and things have to actually move somewhere.
The main relationship in the story is between Seske and Adalla. It’s a coming-of-age relationship that repeatedly gets waylaid by class structures and Seske’s future role as Matriarch. There is much more time focused on Seske and Adalla figuring out who they are as individuals when their society says they cannot conceivably be together. I would have liked a little more exploration to this relationship, but I think it’s an interesting notion that—even within a supposed future—lineage is still so prevalent. You can be with whomever you want, however you want, but they need to have a good family name behind them and have a good position in society.
Overall, though, the biggest message for me was the idea that sustainability is not just caring for and working with your environment, but it’s caring for and working with each other. We are part of nature so it goes to say that we can’t just hold some people to a higher standard, we all have to step up and not at the expense of others.
deanamethyst's review
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
4.5