Reviews

Biting the Sun by Tanith Lee

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konsgard's review against another edition

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adventurous funny medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

rakoerose's review against another edition

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4.0

Something about consuming both these stories in the span of two days is a little funky, in a good way.

”What’s all this,” Hatta demanded, “about cutting yourself out of your own circle? You can’t.”

I really was intrigued by how this duo ended up hitting themes of individuality (or lack of it), love, and personal identity. The struggle to find meaning and goals in an utopian hand-fed society. In the end I liked this a lot more than I initially thought, so props to my uncle for making good recommendations! I always live for the scifi that lands in the space of weird and just slightly indiscernible.

This does read more like a diary, which makes sense as it’s a “transcribed” style. I happen to really enjoy that style and it really grew on me as we follow our unnamed protagonist. It will grate on some readers, especially when you also factor in the time this was written in, but I nonetheless had fun! Seeing the slang Lee devised was also a neat touch, and I found myself referencing the glossary less and less.

The concepts in this are still really riveting, and I think a revamped version with the expanded LGBT+ lenses we have today would be just amazing. A world where you can have the body of your dreams? Where “biological” sex isn’t even a huge factor to your identity, but instead what you choose to present? It’s a field day for genderfluid and trans representation if it were shown! It’s honestly rather unfortunate this duo is so heteronormative in that aspect.

I was a little worried that this book would be a little too sexual for my tastes, but it really, really wasn’t. It’s not here to deliver smut and heavy details. It’s here to showcase an image of a sexually-liberated society. Which it did! But that’s my note for anyone a little wary of that specific point.

All in all, one more “older” scifi piece under my belt and onto the rack of enjoyment. Not that unexpected with it being my favorite genre.

arf88's review against another edition

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5.0

Fantastic book that I only picked up by chance. A "utopia is actually dystopian" type sci-fi, with some actual interesting characters. I enjoyed the way the author made it clear the protagonist was depresses with their meaningless life without spelling it out. I also enjoyed the slow unveiling of who the real antagonist was.

dee9401's review against another edition

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Couldn’t finish. I really enjoyed her book Electric Forest and bought this based on my 4 star review of that book. Oh well. I have another book of hers on my to read list, so fingers crossed.