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timinbc's review against another edition
4.0
Three stars, with a bonus star for the sheer nerve of writing such a huge story.
WHen I was a kid in England, many of us who were keen readers received a copy of Pears Cyclopedia, an attempt to encapsulate all the world's knowledge in one volume. This is to SF what that was to general knowledge. If you can only have one SF book, this would do; it's all here. Banks and Reynolds and Niven are all here, Clarke is here, and sometimes Marvel Comics and many more.
You have references to George Eliot, and cats in space, and a good AI, and a giant intelligent praying mantis, space-folding drives, psychology and philosophy, and a bunch of whizbang action.
This one ends in a rather absurd burst of continually-escalating improbability that includes
There are plenty of slow spots, and I think Bear has over-reached here, but an author who has decided to over-reach might as well Go Big, and Bear has certainly done that here.
Great book? No, but it's unforgettable. I'll read #2.
WHen I was a kid in England, many of us who were keen readers received a copy of Pears Cyclopedia, an attempt to encapsulate all the world's knowledge in one volume. This is to SF what that was to general knowledge. If you can only have one SF book, this would do; it's all here. Banks and Reynolds and Niven are all here, Clarke is here, and sometimes Marvel Comics and many more.
You have references to George Eliot, and cats in space, and a good AI, and a giant intelligent praying mantis, space-folding drives, psychology and philosophy, and a bunch of whizbang action.
This one ends in a rather absurd burst of continually-escalating improbability that includes
Spoiler
two gravity-controlling mostly-humans jumping through space across razor-edged pieces of a sort of Dyson sphere as the Space Force, a pirate fleet, and two sets of angry aliens converge on the about-to-explode sphere - and did I mention that one of the mostly-humans has a bomb in her body?There are plenty of slow spots, and I think Bear has over-reached here, but an author who has decided to over-reach might as well Go Big, and Bear has certainly done that here.
Great book? No, but it's unforgettable. I'll read #2.
rbetts's review against another edition
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
bookph1le's review against another edition
3.0
Though this was a long book, two weeks is far longer than it would normally take me to read a book like this. Even one would have been longer than usual.
There are a couple of reasons why it took me so long to read this book. For one, I wasn't devoting much time to reading in general because I was caught up in other things. For another, I read a bunch of middle grade graphic novels while also reading this, which ate into what little time I did spend reading. But the other thing that contributed to what took me so long to read this was that I kept walking away from it, not because I didn't like it, but because I'd find myself getting impatient with it. It was strange, because when I was reading it, I really liked it, but I didn't feel compelled to pick it up once I'd put it down.
The biggest reason for this was because this book meanders. I loved the writing and really enjoyed the characters, but sometimes they just dithered and I was impatient for them to get on with it. When they didn't, I'd walk away from the book for a while. So for as much as I did like this book, I think it had pacing problems. I think it could have been shorter. I think some of the dialog and plot choices made it meander more than was necessary.
My more serious problem with this book, though, is I hated the Haimey and Farweather dynamic and just plain didn't get it. I won't give details away other than to say I didn't find Farweather redeeming in the least, and I thought Haimey was far, far too tolerant of the things Farweather did. I also felt like part of why Haimey is so tolerant is because her tolerance made it possible to drag the book out longer. In my opinion, she should have dealt with Farweather once and for all. I get what the book was saying, that the ideas of forgiveness and tolerance and how to live in a civilized society were caught up in the dynamic between Haimey and Farweather, but Farweather was more or less a sociopath, and it's hard for me to have any sympathy for someone like that. Sue me.
Still, I think I'd like to read the next book in the series, though I'll probably take a break and read a bunch of other books first.
There are a couple of reasons why it took me so long to read this book. For one, I wasn't devoting much time to reading in general because I was caught up in other things. For another, I read a bunch of middle grade graphic novels while also reading this, which ate into what little time I did spend reading. But the other thing that contributed to what took me so long to read this was that I kept walking away from it, not because I didn't like it, but because I'd find myself getting impatient with it. It was strange, because when I was reading it, I really liked it, but I didn't feel compelled to pick it up once I'd put it down.
The biggest reason for this was because this book meanders. I loved the writing and really enjoyed the characters, but sometimes they just dithered and I was impatient for them to get on with it. When they didn't, I'd walk away from the book for a while. So for as much as I did like this book, I think it had pacing problems. I think it could have been shorter. I think some of the dialog and plot choices made it meander more than was necessary.
My more serious problem with this book, though, is I hated the Haimey and Farweather dynamic and just plain didn't get it. I won't give details away other than to say I didn't find Farweather redeeming in the least, and I thought Haimey was far, far too tolerant of the things Farweather did. I also felt like part of why Haimey is so tolerant is because her tolerance made it possible to drag the book out longer. In my opinion, she should have dealt with Farweather once and for all. I get what the book was saying, that the ideas of forgiveness and tolerance and how to live in a civilized society were caught up in the dynamic between Haimey and Farweather, but Farweather was more or less a sociopath, and it's hard for me to have any sympathy for someone like that. Sue me.
Still, I think I'd like to read the next book in the series, though I'll probably take a break and read a bunch of other books first.
jenniferkowash's review against another edition
4.0
Took me a bit to get into the story, but was wonderful after I did
archaeomancer's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
This book is absolutely incredible, except in the middle where it starts to drag quite a bit, but the ending hits home, and the cleverness and research that has gone into the rest of the book was enough for me to rate it highly!
The author has seemingly researched an endless array of topics; anthropology, psychology, quantum mechanics, linguistics, computer science, sociology, governmental science, it was absolutely incredible. The depth of psychological awareness and group behavior in particular was astounding! Even just in little throwaway sentences there would be just such exquisite scientific facts rolled into their every day lexicon, but not in a way that hit you over the head. It felt like natural speech patterns and educational parameters had evolved in such a way that such things were just commonplace now. I highly enjoyed that. And I really enjoyed the discussions about sense of self and agency, and how it all came together in the end.
However, the middle portion dragged so much I almost stopped reading. While I'm glad I didn't, and this is slight spoilers but very vague, the main character and another person are in a situation together, and while the main character is trying to take the lead in psychological manipulation, it is patently obvious they will not do well at that and in fact be manipulated themselves. This is fair for this character; she has a history of being extremely receptive to such things and has very few protective boundaries in place to prevent this, despite her best efforts. While I don't think it was out of character, that doesn't mean it wasn't frustrating watching her and this person talk themselves in circles for in-story weeks. It worked for the story and the characters, I just wish it had been a little shorter.
The author has seemingly researched an endless array of topics; anthropology, psychology, quantum mechanics, linguistics, computer science, sociology, governmental science, it was absolutely incredible. The depth of psychological awareness and group behavior in particular was astounding! Even just in little throwaway sentences there would be just such exquisite scientific facts rolled into their every day lexicon, but not in a way that hit you over the head. It felt like natural speech patterns and educational parameters had evolved in such a way that such things were just commonplace now. I highly enjoyed that. And I really enjoyed the discussions about sense of self and agency, and how it all came together in the end.
However, the middle portion dragged so much I almost stopped reading. While I'm glad I didn't, and this is slight spoilers but very vague, the main character and another person are in a situation together, and while the main character is trying to take the lead in psychological manipulation, it is patently obvious they will not do well at that and in fact be manipulated themselves. This is fair for this character; she has a history of being extremely receptive to such things and has very few protective boundaries in place to prevent this, despite her best efforts. While I don't think it was out of character, that doesn't mean it wasn't frustrating watching her and this person talk themselves in circles for in-story weeks. It worked for the story and the characters, I just wish it had been a little shorter.
caterina_1212's review against another edition
Couldn't finish the first chapter. I can't figure out the terminology and the homophone word replacements feel so unnecessary. Also really dry, and the sentences don't flow together and I can't figure out what I'm supposed to be picturing.
ndmetal's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Plot and setting were great but the prose was not for me. The technobabble was not easy to pick up on, and for a standalone scifi novel, I spent too much time looking up words.
zarhara's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
reflective
slow-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? It's complicated
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Drug abuse, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Toxic relationship, Murder, and Suicide
Moderate: Animal death, Gun violence, Addiction, Blood, Grief, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: Body horror, Slavery, Xenophobia, Gaslighting, Sexual content, Sexual harassment, Abandonment, Cannibalism, and Hate crime