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lady_bountiful's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
fast-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Physical abuse, Suicide attempt, Injury/Injury detail, Gore, Torture, Violence, Child abuse, Drug use, Body horror, and Confinement
dosymedia's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Body horror, and Gore
chantaal's review against another edition
4.0
It's really hard to put my thoughts together on this one because it's such an odd, dark sci-fi novel.
Ymir is one of those novels that delights me and makes me wonder how some authors create worlds like this. Worlds that are wildly fun to learn about, and allow me to suspend all disbelief and just roll along with whatever I'm given. Rich Larson comes up with a lot of fun sci-fi ideas on this far flung planet Ymir, from ruling corporations to alien robot monsters to the body horror of being de-bodied as punishment.
Yorick as a main character is...well, Yorick is a fucking mess. The man is beyond a mess. He's the mess that a mess makes when it's being its messiest. He's got trauma and drinks and does drugs and lives with so much emotional pain that he almost craves physical pain as he's processing the trauma that being back on Ymir brings him. He's hard to swallow, but Rich Larson's writing puts you so squarely in Yorick's mind, frames the entire story so completely through Yorick, that there is no novel without him and everything he's going through.
I think the thing that really docked a star for me here was the pacing, though I think I understand why the pacing is the way that it is. As I've said, this book is SO thoroughly about Yorick that it slows down when he slows down, and speeds up to almost manic pacing when he's going through action scenes. It made me feel off kilter, and at times the slower scenes were very morose and maudlin and I wanted to be out and past them and back to the greater storyline. Except the plot is Yorick, Yorick is the plot and you don't get a second away from him. The book is masterful at that, I have to say.
I would NOT recommend this to anyone coming here for a straight Beowulf retelling; while that has provided the basis for some theme work, it's not a one to one retelling and the world is so wildly different that I understood this without having read Beowulf. I just know the basic story plot beats and this doesn't follow them beyond hunting a grendel.
I'd instead recommend this to sci-fi fans who want something new and interesting and can handle super dark themes. Like, SUPER dark. There is no light in this book, but it IS good.
Overall, this was a really good, immersive sci-fi novel.
Ymir is one of those novels that delights me and makes me wonder how some authors create worlds like this. Worlds that are wildly fun to learn about, and allow me to suspend all disbelief and just roll along with whatever I'm given. Rich Larson comes up with a lot of fun sci-fi ideas on this far flung planet Ymir, from ruling corporations to alien robot monsters to the body horror of being de-bodied as punishment.
Yorick as a main character is...well, Yorick is a fucking mess. The man is beyond a mess. He's the mess that a mess makes when it's being its messiest. He's got trauma and drinks and does drugs and lives with so much emotional pain that he almost craves physical pain as he's processing the trauma that being back on Ymir brings him. He's hard to swallow, but Rich Larson's writing puts you so squarely in Yorick's mind, frames the entire story so completely through Yorick, that there is no novel without him and everything he's going through.
I think the thing that really docked a star for me here was the pacing, though I think I understand why the pacing is the way that it is. As I've said, this book is SO thoroughly about Yorick that it slows down when he slows down, and speeds up to almost manic pacing when he's going through action scenes. It made me feel off kilter, and at times the slower scenes were very morose and maudlin and I wanted to be out and past them and back to the greater storyline. Except the plot is Yorick, Yorick is the plot and you don't get a second away from him. The book is masterful at that, I have to say.
I would NOT recommend this to anyone coming here for a straight Beowulf retelling; while that has provided the basis for some theme work, it's not a one to one retelling and the world is so wildly different that I understood this without having read Beowulf. I just know the basic story plot beats and this doesn't follow them beyond hunting a grendel.
I'd instead recommend this to sci-fi fans who want something new and interesting and can handle super dark themes. Like, SUPER dark. There is no light in this book, but it IS good.
Overall, this was a really good, immersive sci-fi novel.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Drug use, Body horror, Gun violence, Violence, and Vomit
Moderate: Child abuse, Death, Torture, and Suicidal thoughts
grimdark_dad's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child abuse, Gore, Violence, Suicide attempt, Blood, Alcohol, Medical trauma, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Vomit, and Drug abuse
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