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effyian's review against another edition
3.0
Well this book is insane.
But I really like it in a way!
Sometimes I feel as though it was being a bit mad for the sake of it and it didn't always add to the immersion of the world.
Yet the characters are strangely believable despite this, even if the story seems to flit around with more of a feeling of - lets get the the next set piece place for more crazy things - I still really enjoyed it.
Will try more M Suddain in the future I think.
But I really like it in a way!
Sometimes I feel as though it was being a bit mad for the sake of it and it didn't always add to the immersion of the world.
Yet the characters are strangely believable despite this, even if the story seems to flit around with more of a feeling of - lets get the the next set piece place for more crazy things - I still really enjoyed it.
Will try more M Suddain in the future I think.
timco12's review
adventurous
emotional
funny
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-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
4.0
ant's review
3.0
I can see why this book would get great reviews, but for me, its a novel of a time and that time has passed. If I had read this when it first came out, I am sure I would have loved it, a classic, just not a timeless one.
louiseslibrary's review
4.0
I have had to come back to this and write something about it. I don't know how I came to having this book but I do just end up with them sometimes.
It's so clearly not my sort thing and I struggled to get into it or understand a lot of it. And then something seemed to slap me in the face right off the page. The turn of phrase is beautiful and relevant and even though it is set in a universe that doesn't exist, the portrait of humanity in the face of adversity is breathtaking. From characters whose dreams are constantly thwarted to the baddest of the baddies, they were all individual, colourful characters who I keep thinking about. There are a few books I keep and open up sometimes just to see what they have to say and this has become one of them. It is a great source of comfort.
It's so clearly not my sort thing and I struggled to get into it or understand a lot of it. And then something seemed to slap me in the face right off the page. The turn of phrase is beautiful and relevant and even though it is set in a universe that doesn't exist, the portrait of humanity in the face of adversity is breathtaking. From characters whose dreams are constantly thwarted to the baddest of the baddies, they were all individual, colourful characters who I keep thinking about. There are a few books I keep and open up sometimes just to see what they have to say and this has become one of them. It is a great source of comfort.
theatlantean's review
4.0
What a weird and wonderful book! It does veer of-target somewhere in the middle, and really there are several sections which don't add anything, but as a Swiftian adventure, with a cast of strange characters, and a wonderful and amusing style, it is great.
I should probably add a homunculus to that, but I'm as rebel, so i won't.
And yes, that's exactly how much of a mad bastard this book is. You won't regret it.
Until you do.
I should probably add a homunculus to that, but I'm as rebel, so i won't.
And yes, that's exactly how much of a mad bastard this book is. You won't regret it.
Until you do.
evan's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
donaldcramer's review
2.0
This was weird. But I enjoyed it when I just let it go and stopped worrying about trying to make sense of the story.
jennyanydots's review
4.0
Enjoyed the writing and characters, but still slightly lost at the end of the book! Every time I thought I'd worked it out, it was off in a different direction again.
kittyg's review against another edition
4.0
I read this as part of the #tometopple readathon.
This book is truly quite mad and the various blurbs on the book definitely are true (Tor states it's a, 'Mad bastard of a book!') I had wanted to get to this for a fair while as I'd not heard anyone else talk about it, and I was fairly sure it would be something I would fall in love with. I wasn't wrong, this is witty, batty, funny and mad, all whilst blending adventures through various worlds, galaxies, dimensions and including steampunk elements too. Basically there's a LOT going on in this, and a lot of it is so imaginative, that I was hooked throughout.
In this book we follow the story via a writer telling us the tale. Immediately upon entering the story we find out that this tale is being written on an abandoned moon in the midst of nowhere that our author has traced our main character to. He's living there in loneliness, old age, and madness, but our wonderful author has managed to extract his story over his time spent with him, and this is the story we are reading.
This book is made up of various different sections of the adventure interspersed with illustrations of crazy inventions, asides from the author commenting on the scene he describes, or backstory to explain actions of the characters. One of the elements I most enjoyed was the 'Little Page of Calmness' which is the very last page of the book and is simply there for the reader to flick to if they are feeling stressed or worried by the course of the story.
To be honest I think you're better off going into this book no knowing too much about where it will take you, but some of the things I most liked were:
- M. Francisco Fabrigas' invention of headphones which ONLY let in 'nice' noises, nothing such as noisy neighbours or annoying builders etc gets thorough, but you can still have a conversation with a friend or listen to calm birdsong etc. I definitely want one.
- I love the fact that we have flesh-machine blend people - they are certainly different and interesting becuase of how they are made up, and seeing the difference within people made of more flesh and those made of more machine was certainly intriguing and raised some moral debates I liked to ponder.
- Finding a young girl who is trapped in a block of ice, defrosting her, and seeing she's still alive and she's quite incredible...
All of these things happen very early in the book and give little about the plot away, but you can get a feeling from these what this book may involve (madness) and how entertaining you may find it (very). I think this has echoes and similarities to Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett and Mark Hodder, so if you like any of them you'll probably like this too :)
I will say that I am very eager to check out M. Suddain's new book (although it's not in this same genre I believe) as he's a great writer and one I certainly want to follow more. I look forward to that, and this one gets a 4*s from me in the meantime!
(oh and also ... homunculus - this will make sense if you read the book)
This book is truly quite mad and the various blurbs on the book definitely are true (Tor states it's a, 'Mad bastard of a book!') I had wanted to get to this for a fair while as I'd not heard anyone else talk about it, and I was fairly sure it would be something I would fall in love with. I wasn't wrong, this is witty, batty, funny and mad, all whilst blending adventures through various worlds, galaxies, dimensions and including steampunk elements too. Basically there's a LOT going on in this, and a lot of it is so imaginative, that I was hooked throughout.
In this book we follow the story via a writer telling us the tale. Immediately upon entering the story we find out that this tale is being written on an abandoned moon in the midst of nowhere that our author has traced our main character to. He's living there in loneliness, old age, and madness, but our wonderful author has managed to extract his story over his time spent with him, and this is the story we are reading.
This book is made up of various different sections of the adventure interspersed with illustrations of crazy inventions, asides from the author commenting on the scene he describes, or backstory to explain actions of the characters. One of the elements I most enjoyed was the 'Little Page of Calmness' which is the very last page of the book and is simply there for the reader to flick to if they are feeling stressed or worried by the course of the story.
To be honest I think you're better off going into this book no knowing too much about where it will take you, but some of the things I most liked were:
- M. Francisco Fabrigas' invention of headphones which ONLY let in 'nice' noises, nothing such as noisy neighbours or annoying builders etc gets thorough, but you can still have a conversation with a friend or listen to calm birdsong etc. I definitely want one.
- I love the fact that we have flesh-machine blend people - they are certainly different and interesting becuase of how they are made up, and seeing the difference within people made of more flesh and those made of more machine was certainly intriguing and raised some moral debates I liked to ponder.
- Finding a young girl who is trapped in a block of ice, defrosting her, and seeing she's still alive and she's quite incredible...
All of these things happen very early in the book and give little about the plot away, but you can get a feeling from these what this book may involve (madness) and how entertaining you may find it (very). I think this has echoes and similarities to Douglas Adams, Terry Pratchett and Mark Hodder, so if you like any of them you'll probably like this too :)
I will say that I am very eager to check out M. Suddain's new book (although it's not in this same genre I believe) as he's a great writer and one I certainly want to follow more. I look forward to that, and this one gets a 4*s from me in the meantime!
(oh and also ... homunculus - this will make sense if you read the book)
rhetoricandlogic's review
4.0
I don't even know how to start writing about this book.
I'll have to steal Niall Alexander's words from his review on tor.com: "a mad bastard of a book". Well, no. That doesn't even begin to describe it. There are bits, where throwing this thing out of a window (preferably directly above a deep puddle) seems the only valid action you can take. Other bits though - and, to be fair - the greater part of the Other Bits is priceless genius in layering secondary perspectives to the effect of one glorious philosophical carpet.
And no. Can't describe it otherwise. This book is highly complicated. Not so much the main storyline: genius, if slightly mad scientist goes star-sailing (literally) on a quest which is -from the very first page on- doomed.
In terms of beauty and complexity this was the best of the 121 books I read this year.
Recommended.
I'll have to steal Niall Alexander's words from his review on tor.com: "a mad bastard of a book". Well, no. That doesn't even begin to describe it. There are bits, where throwing this thing out of a window (preferably directly above a deep puddle) seems the only valid action you can take. Other bits though - and, to be fair - the greater part of the Other Bits is priceless genius in layering secondary perspectives to the effect of one glorious philosophical carpet.
And no. Can't describe it otherwise. This book is highly complicated. Not so much the main storyline: genius, if slightly mad scientist goes star-sailing (literally) on a quest which is -from the very first page on- doomed.
In terms of beauty and complexity this was the best of the 121 books I read this year.
Recommended.
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