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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Another lighthearted book before I return to the gauntlet that is the second half books of the red rising series… Admittedly it’s a bit odd for one’s first time reading a genre to start with a satirical book, but I enjoyed it quite a bit all the same. I think I’ve culturally osmosed enough cyberpunk to fully “get it”. The first chapter is hilarious, and so much of the absurdity in the world gets doubled or tripled down on as the book progresses. I love that everything is ridiculously over the top. And I like the characters even if they’re mostly caricature “cool guy/girl” archetypes.
There is also so absolutely wack stuff in here…the book is extremely not politically correct (although I think that’s on brand for cyberpunk) and has some scenes (well, at least one) that would be disturbingly weird if these characters felt at all like real people. As it is, it’s less disturbing and more “just weird”.
The religious explanatory/expository content felt semi awkward at first to me but I got used to it and by the end was good with it, but it definitely felt weird initially, and I think some of the chapters dragged a bit when going from religious story to religious story through time.
The ending was a little ambiguous and i was powering through listening to it and suddenly it ended so I went back and listened to a the last chapters with each of the characters you follow to get a sense of what happened, and ultimately went online to look at some quick summaries to make sure I had the ideas right. Things are open to interpretation but it seems a bit more straightforward when you look at things listed out together. Still, it leaves the story somewhat unfinished, but it was always just a cool/fun snapshot of a story anyway so I’m not that bothered.
The audio quality was just OK, feels like an old recording, but the performance was solid. The interstitial sound effects were funny and wacky but didn’t bother me.
There is also so absolutely wack stuff in here…the book is extremely not politically correct (although I think that’s on brand for cyberpunk) and has some scenes (well, at least one) that would be disturbingly weird if these characters felt at all like real people. As it is, it’s less disturbing and more “just weird”.
The religious explanatory/expository content felt semi awkward at first to me but I got used to it and by the end was good with it, but it definitely felt weird initially, and I think some of the chapters dragged a bit when going from religious story to religious story through time.
The ending was a little ambiguous and i was powering through listening to it and suddenly it ended so I went back and listened to a the last chapters with each of the characters you follow to get a sense of what happened, and ultimately went online to look at some quick summaries to make sure I had the ideas right. Things are open to interpretation but it seems a bit more straightforward when you look at things listed out together. Still, it leaves the story somewhat unfinished, but it was always just a cool/fun snapshot of a story anyway so I’m not that bothered.
The audio quality was just OK, feels like an old recording, but the performance was solid. The interstitial sound effects were funny and wacky but didn’t bother me.
adventurous
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This book is dumb. Full stop. But I did enjoy listening to it. 3.5/5
There are a few different things that I think would have made my time listening better, first I think that if I had read any cyberpunk books prior to this it would have been better, I understand where the book came from, but some of the satire that the book contains was too ridiculous for me to enjoy wholeheartedly. Secondly, I think if I had a stronger knowledge of the actual origins of religious myths, there were times when I couldn't tell if the book was making stuff up or pulling from real texts.
One theme in this book is hyper-capitalism, which Stephenson does his fair share of making jokes about and ridiculing, but I don't think the ideas were really explored beyond pointing them out and laughing. I spent a lot of time while reading this book trying to figure out what I thought of it, one thing that i kept coming back to was how I read mostly science fiction and with that comes suspension of disbelief. While reading this book I struggled to suspend my disbelief, too many things were just odd enough or not explored enough for me to completely enjoy.
Science Fiction in large is a genre that deals with philosophical questions about any number of different things. In this case the intersectionality of religion, technology, and capitalism, my problem is that i came out of the book wondering what question was asked? Stephenson delves into all of these topics and more coming out on top with a story which answers questions that were never asked.
I still liked the book, as i think about the different literary parts I cant think of any which stick out as strong than the others but together they all come together as a book which isn't half bad.
There are a few different things that I think would have made my time listening better, first I think that if I had read any cyberpunk books prior to this it would have been better, I understand where the book came from, but some of the satire that the book contains was too ridiculous for me to enjoy wholeheartedly. Secondly, I think if I had a stronger knowledge of the actual origins of religious myths, there were times when I couldn't tell if the book was making stuff up or pulling from real texts.
One theme in this book is hyper-capitalism, which Stephenson does his fair share of making jokes about and ridiculing, but I don't think the ideas were really explored beyond pointing them out and laughing. I spent a lot of time while reading this book trying to figure out what I thought of it, one thing that i kept coming back to was how I read mostly science fiction and with that comes suspension of disbelief. While reading this book I struggled to suspend my disbelief, too many things were just odd enough or not explored enough for me to completely enjoy.
Science Fiction in large is a genre that deals with philosophical questions about any number of different things. In this case the intersectionality of religion, technology, and capitalism, my problem is that i came out of the book wondering what question was asked? Stephenson delves into all of these topics and more coming out on top with a story which answers questions that were never asked.
I still liked the book, as i think about the different literary parts I cant think of any which stick out as strong than the others but together they all come together as a book which isn't half bad.
adventurous
challenging
dark
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This book could have been alot better if it was written by someone who didn't find it absolutely unavoidable to sexualize a child repeatedly. Just about everytime he cuts to YT's side of things there's some sick comment about her body or what the grown men around her think about her body. The causal stuff like that is bad but then guess what the 15 year old girl falls for a twenty something mass murderer with no neck, making out then having sex with him. Oh but sleeping with him was strategic because she had something stashed in her vagina that injected raven with drugs allowing her to get away.Why does a kid have that inside her?who the fuck even thinks of that?Who the fuck says oh yeah that goes in my cyberpunk book? Start calling these fuckers out for what they are honestly, pedophiles. Almost gave up on this book it creeped me out that much, only reason I got through it is because I spent an audible credit on it. Which leads me to the rest of these comments, where is the outrage? I saw some mention it slightly but not to the extent it is in this book. The good this book had going for it just doesn't out weigh the bad. The characters weren't interesting, Hiro and his library were info dumps the whole fucking book. Yt was cool when she wasn't being treated like meat. She was actually a badass until they took her skateboard and kidnapped her and all the fight went out of her. She was just ravens side peice for the second half the book. Most the other characters were either really racist or just silly with nothing much to them, like the real Bruce Lee who is a literal butt pirate in this book. If id known what i do now id probably have given this a pass. For now it's 2 stars only because of the potential of the idea itself and the few cool things it had going for it but I might drop it to 1 star.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Adult/minor relationship, Pedophilia, Racial slurs, Racism
adventurous
funny
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes