Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
an interesting story on the intersection of capitalism and the concept of personhood.
adventurous
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I nominated this book as my jobs environmentalism book discussion group. So when I found myself becoming bored with it, I felt a level of guilt of having the group read this. I really did try to give this book a change. I even skipped the middle section to see if the last section would provide more entertainment. But listening to it at 1.75 speed didn't help and I couldn't motive myself to keep listening leading up to the book discussion.
Big "What I Ordered vs. What I Got" energy.
Someone in another review said this book could've been made into 3 novellas since get section is divided by about 600 years with new protagonists. I can see that and even agree maybe that would've been for the best. Personally, I thought the first section was going to go into a different direction it did. with the way Destry murked that guy piloting his remote vessel. For a story about an "indigenous" population demanding sovereignty, the conflict between the city and the corporation leading up to the treaty felt too easy, but since I didn't finish the book, I imagine the real conflict takes place in the remaining two sections. Maybe if I had read the book in its entirety, the conclusion of that treaty between Spider City and the corporation would have felt different. In the third section of the portion I did listen to, there were clearly more policies in place within that treaty that had larger and broader effects on the planet's populations.
Another worldbuilding concept that felt hollow was the hierarchical nature on the planet, how everyone was essentially grown in tubes and/or made of mechanical parts, specifically with creatures we would describe as animals. The corporation has the capacity to create life forms and assign them a role in society, from high class to indentured (or enslaved let's be real) individuals with lower intelligence to animals with the intelligence of what we would assume in our world. There's some decision on how messed up it is to assign these levels to individuals and it is clearly commentary on how the concept of IQ is used in our world, but no real conversations about it being eugenics in the first section. [Side note: this reminded me of Tender is the Flesh where a subhuman species was created with significantly lower intelligence as humans in order to be chattel for the meat industry.]
Unlike some other readers, I have no issue with animals and non-animals (like rivers) being considered people because that's a concept that exists in some indigenous communities in our world. But the overall situation of them being designed and not actually of that planet just didn't quite work for me considering all that life was brought to that planet by the corporation itself.
But if a creature was made to have a certain level of intelligence, then it doesn't make sure that that creature actually has the compatibility to inherently have complex upon the removal of a limiter. Why would the corporation even have that feature in its creations? Better yet, isn't it weird that corporations have that ability at all? I don't know. Maybe my questions would have been answered later in the book but I don't care enough to finish it.
Big "What I Ordered vs. What I Got" energy.
Someone in another review said this book could've been made into 3 novellas since get section is divided by about 600 years with new protagonists. I can see that and even agree maybe that would've been for the best. Personally, I thought the first section was going to go into a different direction it did. with the way Destry murked that guy piloting his remote vessel. For a story about an "indigenous" population demanding sovereignty, the conflict between the city and the corporation leading up to the treaty felt too easy, but since I didn't finish the book, I imagine the real conflict takes place in the remaining two sections. Maybe if I had read the book in its entirety, the conclusion of that treaty between Spider City and the corporation would have felt different. In the third section of the portion I did listen to, there were clearly more policies in place within that treaty that had larger and broader effects on the planet's populations.
Another worldbuilding concept that felt hollow was the hierarchical nature on the planet, how everyone was essentially grown in tubes and/or made of mechanical parts, specifically with creatures we would describe as animals. The corporation has the capacity to create life forms and assign them a role in society, from high class to indentured (or enslaved let's be real) individuals with lower intelligence to animals with the intelligence of what we would assume in our world. There's some decision on how messed up it is to assign these levels to individuals and it is clearly commentary on how the concept of IQ is used in our world, but no real conversations about it being eugenics in the first section. [Side note: this reminded me of Tender is the Flesh where a subhuman species was created with significantly lower intelligence as humans in order to be chattel for the meat industry.]
Unlike some other readers, I have no issue with animals and non-animals (like rivers) being considered people because that's a concept that exists in some indigenous communities in our world. But the overall situation of them being designed and not actually of that planet just didn't quite work for me considering all that life was brought to that planet by the corporation itself.
But if a creature was made to have a certain level of intelligence, then it doesn't make sure that that creature actually has the compatibility to inherently have complex upon the removal of a limiter. Why would the corporation even have that feature in its creations? Better yet, isn't it weird that corporations have that ability at all? I don't know. Maybe my questions would have been answered later in the book but I don't care enough to finish it.
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Slavery, Death of parent, Colonisation
Moderate: Animal cruelty, Police brutality, Murder, Fire/Fire injury, War
The book is quite boring, like a lot of readers on here say. (For those that DNF'd it: the ending is anticlimactic and kinda fizzles out).
The characters are a bit flat at times and the conflict feels too 2D. Even though I am pro environmentalism, this wasn't the best book to represent it by far.
I listened to the audiobook, which has some extra files for when people make certain noises, and it's very annoying.
Also the whole thing with the 'Great Bargain' seems morally dubious as well.
So yeah, don't reccommend
The characters are a bit flat at times and the conflict feels too 2D. Even though I am pro environmentalism, this wasn't the best book to represent it by far.
I listened to the audiobook, which has some extra files for when people make certain noises, and it's very annoying.
Also the whole thing with the 'Great Bargain' seems morally dubious as well.
So yeah, don't reccommend
hopeful
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I feel like I would have liked the book more if it could either focus more on its exploration of speculative ecology and governance, or on its characters, but I felt like in the end both kinda fell flat.
This was a fun time! I definitely was not expecting the time jumps and basically three stories in one. There was so much world building that you really felt like you were a part of it. I for sure enjoyed some of the parts more then others but they all had sooo much action! It was very sci-fi/fantasy which was fun and the casual nature of pronouns being introduced automatically was just so refreshing and fun to see! The different types of “people” in the book were also very interesting to learn about.
Overall, if you enjoy a good combination of science and fantasy I would recommend! But if you don’t feel the random jumps in time then I would skip it maybe!
Overall, if you enjoy a good combination of science and fantasy I would recommend! But if you don’t feel the random jumps in time then I would skip it maybe!