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thecurseofchris's review against another edition
2.0
I really wanted to like this book. It's a first contact story set in the late 2000s, what more could I have asked for? Unfortunately, "Axiom's End" is an overly long novel that's not really well-written to begin with, and in hindsight, not a ton happens until you get later on in the story. Advance the plot, or trim up your chapters. I don't need endless pages of character exposition when I don't really like them to begin with. Just get to the point. And don't get me started on the relationship between the protagonist and the alien...blegh. Maybe the sequel will help save this one, but I'm not optimistic. I doubt this book would have received as much notoriety had it not been for the author's YouTube channel, which I have never seen before so this review was not influenced by that.
The one positive thing I will say about this book is that I think despite its flaws, it makes for a decent (and that's being generous) intro to sci-fi for someone who may want to get into the genre without feeling too overwhelmed. But there are far better books out there.
The one positive thing I will say about this book is that I think despite its flaws, it makes for a decent (and that's being generous) intro to sci-fi for someone who may want to get into the genre without feeling too overwhelmed. But there are far better books out there.
jayraytan's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence and Genocide
Moderate: Suicide and Blood
fake_gyllen's review against another edition
1.0
I’m a huge fan of Lindsay Ellis. Her video essays on YouTube make it clear that she understands what makes or breaks a story, at least from a screenwriting standpoint, so when I first started reading Axiom’s End, I was excited to see how her sharp and witty commentaries would translate to an original story, especially knowing her influences and inside jokes.
Unfortunately, none of that could salvage this book. It’s clear from the very first page that she would’ve rather written a screenplay, resulting in prose that is downright unreadable. It’s chock-full of adverbs, it spends way too much time describing small interactions, and the writing has no rhythm or flow.
The story itself is derivative, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing and can easily be compensated for with strong characters and good worldbuilding, but sadly, none of these characters are interesting enough to root for, and the mythos is uninspired.
It gives me no pleasure to write this. I wanted it to be good, but sadly, I can only recommend it to aspiring authors because it’s a great example of everything you should NOT do when writing your first book.
Unfortunately, none of that could salvage this book. It’s clear from the very first page that she would’ve rather written a screenplay, resulting in prose that is downright unreadable. It’s chock-full of adverbs, it spends way too much time describing small interactions, and the writing has no rhythm or flow.
The story itself is derivative, which isn’t necessarily a bad thing and can easily be compensated for with strong characters and good worldbuilding, but sadly, none of these characters are interesting enough to root for, and the mythos is uninspired.
It gives me no pleasure to write this. I wanted it to be good, but sadly, I can only recommend it to aspiring authors because it’s a great example of everything you should NOT do when writing your first book.
shrubbbery's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
saramgood's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
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? No
4.5
pippipoppy's review against another edition
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.25
pipbiz's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
trudehell's review against another edition
4.0
So what does the title entail?
“In classic philosophy, an axiom is a statement that is so evident or well-established, that it is accepted without controversy or question. In modern logic, an axiom is a premise or starting point for reasoning.”
We start the rather hum-drum journey of the book by getting to know Cora and her dilapidated Toyota. Cora’s mother Demi is far from impressed by her daughter and we very soon realize what kinds of worries Cora and her family are in. Rapidly she falls further and further down the rabbit hole of troubles and into the arms - or rather legs - of alien monsters.
The story gives us ample possibility to understand Cora’s strained relationship with her parents in a dysfunctional family where her father has left and her mother is rather estranged to her.
Gradually we also learn that we are in the middle of the Obelus Event, thanks to Cora’s aunt, who used to work for the government and knows rather a lot about government secrets regarding aliens. The first event was named Ampersand, the symbol (&). Obelus is the name of the symbol (†) used as a reference mark in printed matter, or to indicate that a person is deceased. Or: a mark (– or ÷) used in ancient manuscripts to mark a word or passage as spurious, corrupt or doubtful. The two events signify two alien celestial objects,of which the reader knows sadly little at first.
It seems credible however, that the alien(s) show interest in Cora due to her father, who is a whistleblower who has found political asylum in Germany, due to the hostility from US government and secret services, after his revelation of the no longer secret aliens on Earth. Or is Nils just a red herring?
As we enter the second part of the book, titled “Billions of flesh eating aliens” things really start to heat up and get cringy for Cora, who soon figures out that she has been placed between a rock - Ampersand - and a hard place - Obelus. The two events were two alien species at war landing on earth, and earth has now become their battleground and Cora a war interpreter for the Ampersand alien. The alien schools her in a few alienistic matters, and we learn that its species has been named Pequod by the CIA. The name might ring a bell with the readers of classical literature, as the whaling ship of captain Ahab in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.
Another entry for Pequod in the Urban Dictionary is much more fun:
“Pequod: Mythical being, related to the Bigfoot and Yeti, that comes into your car, house or office and pees in your coffee, and then sods off again without ever being seen. Believed to originate from Seattle. Coffee spiked by a Pequod is also referred to as Pequod.”
In this dictionary you also learn that the coffee house Starbucks once seriously considered naming itself Pequod. Yes, the world is a funny place.
This book is funny too, written in a light, humorous and at times satirical style that could remind you of E.T., Douglas Adams, X-files, Dr Strangelove and Mars Attacks. And maybe it does. Men in Black is directly alluded to, so they don’t count. Actually I discovered later on that Dr Strangelove is mentioned in the book too. Who could have guessed…
My highlight, If I had read the book on Kindle, would be:
“Do you like this game?”
“No,” he said.
She chuckled, still tense from the conversation. “Why?”
“Because it offers little opportunity to strategize. It is mostly a game of chance.”
“The same could be said about life,” offered Cora.
“Yes,” he said. “That is why I don’t like it.”
“In classic philosophy, an axiom is a statement that is so evident or well-established, that it is accepted without controversy or question. In modern logic, an axiom is a premise or starting point for reasoning.”
We start the rather hum-drum journey of the book by getting to know Cora and her dilapidated Toyota. Cora’s mother Demi is far from impressed by her daughter and we very soon realize what kinds of worries Cora and her family are in. Rapidly she falls further and further down the rabbit hole of troubles and into the arms - or rather legs - of alien monsters.
The story gives us ample possibility to understand Cora’s strained relationship with her parents in a dysfunctional family where her father has left and her mother is rather estranged to her.
Gradually we also learn that we are in the middle of the Obelus Event, thanks to Cora’s aunt, who used to work for the government and knows rather a lot about government secrets regarding aliens. The first event was named Ampersand, the symbol (&). Obelus is the name of the symbol (†) used as a reference mark in printed matter, or to indicate that a person is deceased. Or: a mark (– or ÷) used in ancient manuscripts to mark a word or passage as spurious, corrupt or doubtful. The two events signify two alien celestial objects,of which the reader knows sadly little at first.
It seems credible however, that the alien(s) show interest in Cora due to her father, who is a whistleblower who has found political asylum in Germany, due to the hostility from US government and secret services, after his revelation of the no longer secret aliens on Earth. Or is Nils just a red herring?
As we enter the second part of the book, titled “Billions of flesh eating aliens” things really start to heat up and get cringy for Cora, who soon figures out that she has been placed between a rock - Ampersand - and a hard place - Obelus. The two events were two alien species at war landing on earth, and earth has now become their battleground and Cora a war interpreter for the Ampersand alien. The alien schools her in a few alienistic matters, and we learn that its species has been named Pequod by the CIA. The name might ring a bell with the readers of classical literature, as the whaling ship of captain Ahab in Herman Melville’s Moby Dick.
Another entry for Pequod in the Urban Dictionary is much more fun:
“Pequod: Mythical being, related to the Bigfoot and Yeti, that comes into your car, house or office and pees in your coffee, and then sods off again without ever being seen. Believed to originate from Seattle. Coffee spiked by a Pequod is also referred to as Pequod.”
In this dictionary you also learn that the coffee house Starbucks once seriously considered naming itself Pequod. Yes, the world is a funny place.
This book is funny too, written in a light, humorous and at times satirical style that could remind you of E.T., Douglas Adams, X-files, Dr Strangelove and Mars Attacks. And maybe it does. Men in Black is directly alluded to, so they don’t count. Actually I discovered later on that Dr Strangelove is mentioned in the book too. Who could have guessed…
My highlight, If I had read the book on Kindle, would be:
“Do you like this game?”
“No,” he said.
She chuckled, still tense from the conversation. “Why?”
“Because it offers little opportunity to strategize. It is mostly a game of chance.”
“The same could be said about life,” offered Cora.
“Yes,” he said. “That is why I don’t like it.”
kcrawfish's review against another edition
4.0
Reread: there are a few critiques I have gathered after a second read that dropped this from a 4 star to a 3.5 star. While I’m definitely looking forward to the rest of the books, I could more clearly tell this go-around that the book was set up for future stories.
There were a few inconsistencies with Cora’s character and within the book itself. For example, there’s a theme of her being very very against murder, of hating the cavalier way some of the people around her treat life, yet there’s a situation I won’t give the details of that she breezes through with no self reflection or angst. None of the other characters address this strange moment of hypocrisy (or what should have been a moment of emotional distress/self reflection) either, and I found it very strange.
There are a few other examples. I’m still looking forward to the future books and seeing where her journey goes.
………..
This is a first contact story. In fact this is my first, first contact story, and I really enjoyed the ride. The action was Earth-centeric, and very extraterrestrial. My love for the dynamic Ampersand and his species brought to Earth was one of the main drivers, as well as our alien’s evolving relationship with our main character. Cora was a protagonist who was always going somewhere or doing something, usually on the fly, and I enjoyed her as our leading lady.
I can’t wait to see where this series goes, though I will say I hope the phrase “lizard brain” is dropped forever.
There were a few inconsistencies with Cora’s character and within the book itself. For example, there’s a theme of her being very very against murder, of hating the cavalier way some of the people around her treat life, yet there’s a situation I won’t give the details of that she breezes through with no self reflection or angst. None of the other characters address this strange moment of hypocrisy (or what should have been a moment of emotional distress/self reflection) either, and I found it very strange.
There are a few other examples. I’m still looking forward to the future books and seeing where her journey goes.
………..
This is a first contact story. In fact this is my first, first contact story, and I really enjoyed the ride. The action was Earth-centeric, and very extraterrestrial. My love for the dynamic Ampersand and his species brought to Earth was one of the main drivers, as well as our alien’s evolving relationship with our main character. Cora was a protagonist who was always going somewhere or doing something, usually on the fly, and I enjoyed her as our leading lady.
I can’t wait to see where this series goes, though I will say I hope the phrase “lizard brain” is dropped forever.