Reviews

The Ballad of Beta 2 by Samuel R. Delany

francis4ever's review

adventurous dark mysterious reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

marenjk's review

challenging dark mysterious fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

What a unexpected, spooky little gem - I can see the politics and social movement of the 60s in this novel, and it's not a bad thing. It's a quick read with prose that draws you through, effectively illustrating the life of a post-mortem world with space epistolary.
It's short but the time I'm going to spend thinking about it will be very long.

fruitcd's review

4.0

Interesting concept and I loved Delany’s prose!

deathcabforkatey's review

adventurous mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.0

subtleassiduities's review

adventurous challenging dark emotional hopeful inspiring mysterious 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? No

4.0

wzwy's review

adventurous reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.75

m_e_ruzak's review against another edition

adventurous mysterious tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? N/A
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

imakandiway's review

challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

blacksentai's review against another edition

4.0

I thought this was an interesting book. I like the way it's written and what the book is going for. It definitely feels like it was written in the 60s though. The short length of the book definitely helps a lot.

larsinio's review against another edition

4.0

A nice short story that one would think is predictable and tropish, but winds up anything but. Kept me guessing throughout, even at the end.

Delany in great form here.