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scifi_rat's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Loveable characters? No
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Colonisation, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Violence, War, Xenophobia, Slavery, and Sexual content
mes0pelagic_fan's review against another edition
adventurous
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I would have dnf-ed this less than three hours in if not for it being a book club pick, but if you can get past the writing (or audiobook style), then you're in for a meandering multi-century tour of a pretty cool planet though the eyes of some characters I found deeply unlikable and at times downright irritating. the time and POV jumps threw me off, and the overall plot didn't do it for me. I did like the idea of corporate terraforming, and i think some of the themes explored like eco-tourism, urban planning, and other stuff associated with the worldbuilding were really neat, but the themes related to speciesism and 'what does it mean to be a person' really didn't land. the inter-homonid "racism" also really put me off, especially with regards to the relationship between sulphur and misha. by the time we got to their sentient train kid hooking up with a cat journalist I was so non-plussed I didn't even bat an eye. I made some connections between this and Huxley's brave new world, with the deliberate caste-ification of individuals by stunting intelligence to make a "better" society, as well as the eco-tourism idea of rich people being horrified/fascinated by 'natural/primitive' humans and landscapes which inspired me to keep reading just to see what would happen, but it didn't really come to fruition the way I had hoped. overall a mildly interesting read-- but the best part was showing other people snatches of the wildly out-of-pocket sound effects from the audiobook.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual content, Animal cruelty, and Excrement
maryellen's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
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? It's complicated
5.0
Oh, I loved this book so much! All the characters were lovable, and the world building was so deep and layered. I think it's destined to be one of my all-time favorites.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Trafficking, Animal death, Colonisation, Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Slavery, Fire/Fire injury, Violence, Animal cruelty, and Police brutality
steph_is_reading's review
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
I found this book to be inventive but heavyhanded. It explores many themes, such as gender expression, the morality of resource consumption, colonialism, slavery, capitalism, and more. It's a lot, all while being at times quite silly. It made the book less immersive to me and more of a morality exercise. However, near the end I found myself to be surprisingly invested in the outcome, despite my initial reservations. It was worth a read to me, but I caution to approach it with an open mind.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death of parent, Sexual content, Slavery, Colonisation, War, Xenophobia, Death, and Animal cruelty
meat_muffin's review
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
I am… torn. Was this book well-written? Yes. Was the author very skilled at condensing insanely complicated subjects down to comprehensible concepts? Also yes. But do I kind of feel like flinging myself (and humanity) into the sun after reading it? Also yes.
Listen. It’s a good book! But this has totally ruined my faith in the future of humanity. (They’re not wrong, though! I fully believe this whole thing could come true in a few thousand years. I just… hate that!)
Listen. It’s a good book! But this has totally ruined my faith in the future of humanity. (They’re not wrong, though! I fully believe this whole thing could come true in a few thousand years. I just… hate that!)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Classism, Deportation, and Slavery
Moderate: Trafficking, Animal cruelty, Cursing, War, Death of parent, and Xenophobia
Minor: Sexual content, Animal death, and Police brutality
azrah786's review against another edition
3.5
[This review can also be found on my BLOG]
**I was gifted a copy of the book from Orbit Books UK in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, injury, death, animal death, animal cruelty, medical content, ableism, sexual content, colonisation, displacement
--
This book is something totally different to anything I’ve read before.
Sectioned into 3 stories which take place in the far future each a couple of centuries apart, The Terraformers narrates the development of a planet called Sask-E which is being made into an “old Earth” away from Earth by the private corporation that owns it.
The first story follows a member of the Environmental Rescue Team – who help oversee the terraforming project – and a conundrum that she faces when she stumbles across a civilisation believed to be extinct living in secret on the planet. The second story follows another group of characters developing a viable transit system for the planet who start to uncover some of the questionable dealings that the ruling corporations are involved with, and this particular storyline is further explored in the third story.
Each story is linked to the next through certain actions and events that occur in the previous one and I really liked how through this span of time we got to see the long term evolution of the setting and the communities of this world. This is something that much longer series fail to do but Newitz has done really well to capture in just over 300 pages.
The extensive worldbuilding which encompasses such a distinctive future is full of feats in science and technology which will equally awe and perplex you. There are a vast array of characters that come into the fray ranging from humanoids to animals and even robots all of varying levels of intelligence and personhood – this includes a flying sentient train who is one of the leading protagonists. Outlandish concepts aside, it allowed the story to bring into discussion many prominent social and ecological issues.
However, just how many moving parts there were in this book was probably the greatest drawback. There was always so much going on that the individual character arcs didn’t feel like they were given enough room to breathe. Also the flow of time made the relationships that were developed feel sort of rushed. From the three parts it was Destry’s story that I was most engaged with because the direction of the plot and her character development was the clearest.
That’s not to say that the other characters weren’t good because I was very much invested in the welfare of the various individuals we meet across the whole book, they just didn’t stand out much on their own.
All in all this is an admirable book that both has a cosy feel to it but is also one that gives the reader much to think about. Definitely one to check out if you’re a fan of the work of Kim Stanley Robinson in terms of themes and Becky Chambers in terms of characters.
Final Rating – 3.5/5 Stars
**I was gifted a copy of the book from Orbit Books UK in exchange for an honest review**
CW: violence, injury, death, animal death, animal cruelty, medical content, ableism, sexual content, colonisation, displacement
--
This book is something totally different to anything I’ve read before.
Sectioned into 3 stories which take place in the far future each a couple of centuries apart, The Terraformers narrates the development of a planet called Sask-E which is being made into an “old Earth” away from Earth by the private corporation that owns it.
The first story follows a member of the Environmental Rescue Team – who help oversee the terraforming project – and a conundrum that she faces when she stumbles across a civilisation believed to be extinct living in secret on the planet. The second story follows another group of characters developing a viable transit system for the planet who start to uncover some of the questionable dealings that the ruling corporations are involved with, and this particular storyline is further explored in the third story.
Each story is linked to the next through certain actions and events that occur in the previous one and I really liked how through this span of time we got to see the long term evolution of the setting and the communities of this world. This is something that much longer series fail to do but Newitz has done really well to capture in just over 300 pages.
The extensive worldbuilding which encompasses such a distinctive future is full of feats in science and technology which will equally awe and perplex you. There are a vast array of characters that come into the fray ranging from humanoids to animals and even robots all of varying levels of intelligence and personhood – this includes a flying sentient train who is one of the leading protagonists. Outlandish concepts aside, it allowed the story to bring into discussion many prominent social and ecological issues.
However, just how many moving parts there were in this book was probably the greatest drawback. There was always so much going on that the individual character arcs didn’t feel like they were given enough room to breathe. Also the flow of time made the relationships that were developed feel sort of rushed. From the three parts it was Destry’s story that I was most engaged with because the direction of the plot and her character development was the clearest.
That’s not to say that the other characters weren’t good because I was very much invested in the welfare of the various individuals we meet across the whole book, they just didn’t stand out much on their own.
All in all this is an admirable book that both has a cosy feel to it but is also one that gives the reader much to think about. Definitely one to check out if you’re a fan of the work of Kim Stanley Robinson in terms of themes and Becky Chambers in terms of characters.
Final Rating – 3.5/5 Stars
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Animal cruelty, Medical content, Colonisation, Injury/Injury detail, Death, and Violence
Moderate: Sexual content and Ableism
meganpbell's review
adventurous
challenging
informative
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Kim Stanley Robinson meets Becky Chambers with more queer cuddling++ and a cast that looks a little like Guardians of the Galaxy but even more diverse (example: a sentient flying train), does that sell you on reading this yet? I was actually close to DNFing this early on—it’s a challenging read with 1600-year-spanning ambition, yet I finished enraptured, immersed in this epic, inspiring story of planetary care and community over corporate greed and interested in learning more about Cree futurism and the author’s nonfiction work on ancient cities.
Read this when you’re in the mood for an ambitious, imaginative, and rewarding work of science-fiction that makes you work for it.
Read this when you’re in the mood for an ambitious, imaginative, and rewarding work of science-fiction that makes you work for it.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Violence, and War
Minor: Grief, Death, Slavery, and Medical content
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