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raptorq's review
adventurous
hopeful
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Colonisation, and Classism
Moderate: Racism, Slavery, and Sexual content
Minor: Injury/Injury detail
jhbandcats's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
fast-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? Yes
4.0
I love Annalee Newitz’s books and will always want to read their novels. However, I found this one disappointing because it was overly didactic. It’s a transparent diatribe against the rich, big corporations, the destruction of the environment, forced labor, and racism. I’m very left-wing and agree with everything Newitz is saying, but I don’t want to be hit over the head with her arguments.
I liked the characters and I thought the plot was interesting. It was fun to think that every thing, not just humans and robots, could be autonomous from earthworms to trains. I liked the way each section was about a thousand years later than the one before so we could see how much had changed. That reminded me of Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy but much smaller.
Overall I thought this had great potential but it was just TOO much.
I liked the characters and I thought the plot was interesting. It was fun to think that every thing, not just humans and robots, could be autonomous from earthworms to trains. I liked the way each section was about a thousand years later than the one before so we could see how much had changed. That reminded me of Kim Stanley Robinson’s Mars trilogy but much smaller.
Overall I thought this had great potential but it was just TOO much.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cultural appropriation, Forced institutionalization, Injury/Injury detail, Racism, Body horror, Classism, and Slavery
jodean's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
Newitz has created both my dream world and my worst nightmare. A future of amazing bioengineering capabilities, of any creature being sentient (including public transit??). Also a capitalist hellscape future where most people are "slaved" to a corporation?
The writing style is the only thing I can't get past. It's not my thing. But the premises were interesting enough that I had to keep reading.
The writing style is the only thing I can't get past. It's not my thing. But the premises were interesting enough that I had to keep reading.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Racism, Sexual content, Slavery, Xenophobia, and Police brutality
Moderate: Death and Death of parent
Minor: Violence and War
annalit's review
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
medium-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? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: War, Racism, and Violence
adancewithbooks's review
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
<i>Thank you to Orbit and Netgalley for the review copy in exchange for an honest review. This does not change my opinion in anyway.</b>
Ever since I first heard of The Terraformers I was super excited for it. What the synopis hinted at and the cover seemed to be exactly up my alley. Unfortunately there were quite a few things that completely threw me and I had not expected.
Lets start with the fact that this is not a continous story as I expected but three stories that were interconnected with quite big time jumps between them. And while there was always a connection from the previous stories there was a learning curve for what had happened in the time in between. Everytime i felt like I was very settled into the story and characters, we would switch. I would have loved to have spend more time with some of these characters and their lives, especially with story 2.
I also really had to get used to the personification of animals and inanimate objects. Flying moose that can talk, intelligent naked mole rats and flying trains. It just didn't feel quite so fitting when I started reading this story.
Having said that I did love the concept and all the ideas. The idea of how this planet was terraformed, the consequences of their experimentations with the human body and animals and the moral questions. There is still a lot there left to discover and I certainly would not mind revisiting this world.
Ever since I first heard of The Terraformers I was super excited for it. What the synopis hinted at and the cover seemed to be exactly up my alley. Unfortunately there were quite a few things that completely threw me and I had not expected.
Lets start with the fact that this is not a continous story as I expected but three stories that were interconnected with quite big time jumps between them. And while there was always a connection from the previous stories there was a learning curve for what had happened in the time in between. Everytime i felt like I was very settled into the story and characters, we would switch. I would have loved to have spend more time with some of these characters and their lives, especially with story 2.
I also really had to get used to the personification of animals and inanimate objects. Flying moose that can talk, intelligent naked mole rats and flying trains. It just didn't feel quite so fitting when I started reading this story.
Having said that I did love the concept and all the ideas. The idea of how this planet was terraformed, the consequences of their experimentations with the human body and animals and the moral questions. There is still a lot there left to discover and I certainly would not mind revisiting this world.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Racism
Human and animal experimentation mentioned | Class system
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