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eb00kie's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
That ending.
My book club is a gift.
And what makes this book even better is that of the three book options for May, the vote winner was the filler option. Democracy!
The book itself
The book is pretty much two parts:
- Half is a mild-horror light SF concept, part Cat’s Cradle without the fun, part Lucy (2014 movie) for the internal/external theme and aesthetic of getting next-level perception.
- The second half made me google types of interchanges just for this review. This transition is like a "cloverleaf interchange", going from something that could have been an action movie to name-dropping Teilhard de Chardin and moving to a more spiritual set of themes with some strong Narnia imagery.
And then the first half looked at the second half and said 'I knew I shouldn't have gone to the tattoo parlour until I was sober'.
No, seriously, there is a lot of snow, a wardrobe and an orphan girl with two brothers. I wonder whether Greg Bear got the Christmas Carol treatment from C.S. Lewis because that ending took a sharp explicit turn into the wardrobe and the book didn't set up space Narnia. Either that or there is a 'Snyder cut' original version that the editors read, dumped into a filled bathtub and sent it off the way Edward sent Vergil. What.
Other points
I think there are one or three plot lines that weren't closed. They weren't key, but they didn't lead anywhere
- April Ulam, Vergil's mother - I didn't get why Vergil called her a witch, nor why the twins picked that up. It seemed a word that wouldn't have been in Vergil's register. What was her conclusion?
- The twins - what were the joggers and what happened to them in the time they blanked? What was the point of that episode? What happened to them?
- Suzy and her family
- Bernard linking with the keyboard was also reminiscent of Lucy (2014)
Similarities with other books/movies
- Teilhard de Chardin also features in the Hyperion duology
- Strong Lucy (2014) and Narnia imagery
-People linking together comes up in Foundation's Edge
-Cellular genetic memories come up in Dune and particularly Heretics of Dune
- For more, as always, I recommend <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/BloodMusic">the tropes database</a>
Also, surprisingly on point about reactions toCovid-19. Flights cancelled, panic and xenophobia
My book club is a gift.
And what makes this book even better is that of the three book options for May, the vote winner was the filler option. Democracy!
The book itself
The book is pretty much two parts:
- Half is a mild-horror light SF concept, part Cat’s Cradle without the fun, part Lucy (2014 movie) for the internal/external theme and aesthetic of getting next-level perception.
- The second half made me google types of interchanges just for this review. This transition is like a "cloverleaf interchange", going from something that could have been an action movie to name-dropping Teilhard de Chardin and moving to a more spiritual set of themes with some strong Narnia imagery.
And then the first half looked at the second half and said 'I knew I shouldn't have gone to the tattoo parlour until I was sober'.
No, seriously, there is a lot of snow, a wardrobe and an orphan girl with two brothers. I wonder whether Greg Bear got the Christmas Carol treatment from C.S. Lewis because that ending took a sharp explicit turn into the wardrobe and the book didn't set up space Narnia. Either that or there is a 'Snyder cut' original version that the editors read, dumped into a filled bathtub and sent it off the way Edward sent Vergil. What.
Other points
I think there are one or three plot lines that weren't closed. They weren't key, but they didn't lead anywhere
- April Ulam, Vergil's mother - I didn't get why Vergil called her a witch, nor why the twins picked that up. It seemed a word that wouldn't have been in Vergil's register. What was her conclusion?
- The twins - what were the joggers and what happened to them in the time they blanked? What was the point of that episode? What happened to them?
- Suzy and her family
- Bernard linking with the keyboard was also reminiscent of Lucy (2014)
Similarities with other books/movies
- Teilhard de Chardin also features in the Hyperion duology
- Strong Lucy (2014) and Narnia imagery
-
-
- For more, as always, I recommend <a href="https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/Literature/BloodMusic">the tropes database</a>
Also, surprisingly on point about reactions to
simdhan_f's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
fast-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
3.5
cheesuscrust's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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? No
4.0
frasersimons's review against another edition
sad
slow-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
2.0
Another novel shelved as cyberpunk, but is missing the low life aspect of the subgenre, so is miscategorized. The notions around collectivism embodied in a cell structure are interesting enough, though the plot and characters are very much secondary to a few of them. So much so, some characters are forgotten about entirely while others feel like little more than a cog.
I floated between that dissatisfaction and an implacable incredulity of the actual conceit. I wanted to know where it was all going, but was fairly certain of the outcome, because all collectivism in scifi leads to seemingly the same road. And this is no different.
It is better written than some other masterworks I’ve tried though; had there been more than the ideas, there was a possibility of really enjoying it, like so many others seem to have.
I floated between that dissatisfaction and an implacable incredulity of the actual conceit. I wanted to know where it was all going, but was fairly certain of the outcome, because all collectivism in scifi leads to seemingly the same road. And this is no different.
It is better written than some other masterworks I’ve tried though; had there been more than the ideas, there was a possibility of really enjoying it, like so many others seem to have.
m_henchard's review against another edition
Lost all interest midway through this short novel and can’t bring myself to continue.
befrenetic's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
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? Yes
3.75
mrodgerson's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
bensproule's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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
4.0
joshhall13's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars. Weird. Dated. Fascinating. I imagine it was breaking new ground when published in the 80's.
heliopteryx's review against another edition
3.5
This book goes in a very different direction than the novella of the same name, which you can read for free on the publisher's website if you wish to compare.
The beginning of the novel version definitely has too much filler, in my opinion. You could skip straight to chapter 7 and not miss anything important. Up to that point, this book introduces Vergil, the pathetic scientist guy who breaks every lab safety rule. As a real world scientist, these kinds of stories are just painful to read, haha. But after that, the story really picks up.
The beginning of the novel version definitely has too much filler, in my opinion. You could skip straight to chapter 7 and not miss anything important. Up to that point, this book introduces Vergil, the pathetic scientist guy who breaks every lab safety rule. As a real world scientist, these kinds of stories are just painful to read, haha. But after that, the story really picks up.