Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.53 AVERAGE
3.53 AVERAGE
uh, just wasn't holding together for me
Cool concept. Less cool execution
This is an average read for me - not my cup of tea. There were some enjoyable spots and ideas, but a lot is based on current human issues (gentrification, pronoun use, displaced immigrants, ecological issues, etc...), but from a social perspective versus a scientific lens. If you like this kind of "soft" SF, you'll probably enjoy this. There's nothing wrong with the book per say, but my tastes would give it 2 stars and there are few I would recommend it to. At times it felt like a little kids book between the names and the continual greetings - example, "Hi, I'm Moose and this is my friend Scrubjay." It's a nice world where people are that friendly, but the repetition of introductions and the character names made me feel like I was reading elementary school writing. It gets tiring have the same person get introduced over and over and over again - cut the repetition, move into the conversations, and have confidence that the reader assumes introductions were made.
DNFed at 75%
Just not feeling it anymore, especially after the time gap and the MC change.
Just not feeling it anymore, especially after the time gap and the MC change.
I'm not sure how I'd rate this one. It had really cool ideas and world building (more books with more than one species of human please!!) but it felt like it was trying to do too much and couldn't settle on a plot or even a tone.
I’m really into Solarpunk as a genre, especially lately with the state of the world so I like stories like these that can fill me with hope by the end and show me potential realities that could be along with how happy people can be in them.
Sask-E (Sasky) as a planet is a great setting. It was the ever present character of the novel as the story took generational leaps to convey its narrative about conservation and what it means to live within a system that ultimately benefits all, the planet and its inhabitants. I also loved the world building, the idea of the Farm Revolutions of Earth from 50,000 years ago and the Great Bargain that allowed animals to gain sentience and work alongside humans is utterly fascinating. Not to mention the splitting off that humanity goes through with not only sentient machines that wish to live alongside people but also H. Sapiens, H. Diverses and H. Archaeans all living together as well. There was conflict between all groups, of course. Believable conflict too.
But the culture of this future society is one with a strong foundation of cooperation. People help people because that ultimately makes everyone’s lives better and it’s a wonderful message. If you want a nice hopeful read with some interesting earth science topics, then def give this a read.
Also BIG SPOILER HERE: This is the first story I have ever read that had a sentient train as a character and that was really cool to me.
It’s not 5 stars simply because I wasn’t always raring to jump back into the book. It was fun but some parts drag, of course.
Sask-E (Sasky) as a planet is a great setting. It was the ever present character of the novel as the story took generational leaps to convey its narrative about conservation and what it means to live within a system that ultimately benefits all, the planet and its inhabitants. I also loved the world building, the idea of the Farm Revolutions of Earth from 50,000 years ago and the Great Bargain that allowed animals to gain sentience and work alongside humans is utterly fascinating. Not to mention the splitting off that humanity goes through with not only sentient machines that wish to live alongside people but also H. Sapiens, H. Diverses and H. Archaeans all living together as well. There was conflict between all groups, of course. Believable conflict too.
But the culture of this future society is one with a strong foundation of cooperation. People help people because that ultimately makes everyone’s lives better and it’s a wonderful message. If you want a nice hopeful read with some interesting earth science topics, then def give this a read.
Also BIG SPOILER HERE: This is the first story I have ever read that had a sentient train as a character and that was really cool to me.
It’s not 5 stars simply because I wasn’t always raring to jump back into the book. It was fun but some parts drag, of course.
adventurous
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The worldbuilding was interesting and fresh, and the hope was hopeful. I liked all the different kinds of people, and was appropriately horrified by the people whose intelligence was artificially quashed. I liked the very non-creepy exploration of sex among and in between different kinds of people. But I felt like there were a lot of externalities that made things too easy for our heroes: times when the evil capitalists exercised constraint or didn't exercise constraint in ways that worked out very conveniently for the good guys. And I'm not sure that I buy the idea of the Verdace representative inviting the ERT in at the beginning - maybe that character needed a bit more depth to make her plausible.
adventurous
hopeful
reflective
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:
Complicated
"'Maybe the battles are more exciting. They make for better superhero stories... But the revolution is actually happening in the boring details, like how you manage housing and water, or who is allowed to speak.'"
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No