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biobeetle's review
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
lighthearted
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
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abandonment, Violence, Xenophobia, and Gun violence
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail
scifi_rat's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
4.5
Plot: 4★
Prose: 4★
Pace: 5★
Concept/Execution: 5★/4.75★
Characters: 4★
Worldbuilding: 4.5★
Ending: 4★
Prose: 4★
Pace: 5★
Concept/Execution: 5★/4.75★
Characters: 4★
Worldbuilding: 4.5★
Ending: 4★
Content Warnings
Graphic: Murder and Violence
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Alcohol, Death, Gore, Grief, Gun violence, Medical content, Panic attacks/disorders, Police brutality, Animal death, Terminal illness, Xenophobia, Blood, Injury/Injury detail, and Religious bigotry
Minor: Misogyny, Body horror, Colonisation, Confinement, and Cursing
booksthatburn's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
FRONTIER is a post-apocalyptic story with Wild West vibes, religious bigotry, petty tyrants, and former space soldier trying to find the person she lost.
I love the opening chapter, it sets up the book's tone in a way that is followed through very well. As the traveler moves around, trying to find something with a signal strong enough to reach space, there are a series of vignette. These snippets build a sense of people's lives in different communities and settlements and the roads in between. So many facets of their lives imply this more complicated whole, without it ever trying to be about any one of them, nor pulling attention from the traveler from space.
The language and word choice is inseparable from the worldbuilding. There seems to be one main religion, a handful of agnostics, and as many ways to interpret the basic tenets as there are characters. The current human inhabitants of Earth are the descendants of a particular religious sect that believed some combination of the Earth being god with climate change as her punishment. These people stayed behind when humanity went to the stars. Now, heir descendants distrust anything that comes from space or is too technologically sophisticated, but what is "like space" or "too much technology" varies wildly from community to community, sheriff to sheriff, religious leader to agnostic nomad.
I loved every page and I want there to be more. This is perfectly paced in its current length but I wish it weren't over.
I love the opening chapter, it sets up the book's tone in a way that is followed through very well. As the traveler moves around, trying to find something with a signal strong enough to reach space, there are a series of vignette. These snippets build a sense of people's lives in different communities and settlements and the roads in between. So many facets of their lives imply this more complicated whole, without it ever trying to be about any one of them, nor pulling attention from the traveler from space.
The language and word choice is inseparable from the worldbuilding. There seems to be one main religion, a handful of agnostics, and as many ways to interpret the basic tenets as there are characters. The current human inhabitants of Earth are the descendants of a particular religious sect that believed some combination of the Earth being god with climate change as her punishment. These people stayed behind when humanity went to the stars. Now, heir descendants distrust anything that comes from space or is too technologically sophisticated, but what is "like space" or "too much technology" varies wildly from community to community, sheriff to sheriff, religious leader to agnostic nomad.
I loved every page and I want there to be more. This is perfectly paced in its current length but I wish it weren't over.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Xenophobia
Moderate: Cursing, Ableism, Violence, Murder, Death, Bullying, Blood, and Gun violence
Minor: Medical content, Vomit, Fire/Fire injury, Drug use, Colonisation, and War
sarrie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
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? Yes
5.0
I was so excited when I finished this book I completely forgot to write this review. That… almost never happens. I even hurried off and pre-ordered a beautiful special edition.
Frontier is a collection of short vignettes telling the story of a mostly unnamed narrator as she searches a scorched, post-apocalyptic Earth for her lost love. The two were on a mission of aid and peace to the planet and were shot down. We follow her through the eyes of the people she meets and interacts with along the way, and we see the best and worst of the planets inhabitants.
Our narrator and all the other characters all felt very genuine and unique to me so this read so well. The setting was easy to picture and imagine, the atmosphere was just cloudy enough to make it easy to fill in the details. This was just overall a well structured and thought out story. The truly wonderful part for me was the hopeful feel of this. Around the 70% there is a shift in the story and by the end I genuinely felt a hope and happiness there. It’s still a desolate earth and there were still terrible people on it but there was also hope, and that’s something rare for me in SF these days.
I would recommend this one for fans of Becky Chambers, and really any SF fans. It’s genuinely one of my favorite books I’ve read so far this year but I don’t want to say too much without spoiling it! I highly recommend this one, it is a fantastic hopeful SF that is going to go on my shelves.
5 out 5 Empty Laser Pistols
Our narrator and all the other characters all felt very genuine and unique to me so this read so well. The setting was easy to picture and imagine, the atmosphere was just cloudy enough to make it easy to fill in the details. This was just overall a well structured and thought out story. The truly wonderful part for me was the hopeful feel of this. Around the 70% there is a shift in the story and by the end I genuinely felt a hope and happiness there. It’s still a desolate earth and there were still terrible people on it but there was also hope, and that’s something rare for me in SF these days.
I would recommend this one for fans of Becky Chambers, and really any SF fans. It’s genuinely one of my favorite books I’ve read so far this year but I don’t want to say too much without spoiling it! I highly recommend this one, it is a fantastic hopeful SF that is going to go on my shelves.
5 out 5 Empty Laser Pistols
Content Warnings
Graphic: Religious bigotry
Moderate: Xenophobia and Violence
Minor: Sexism, Torture, Vomit, Suicidal thoughts, and Ableism
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