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beefmaster's review
4.0
cross-posted on my blog
McDermott's novels were recommended to me by writer and friend Benjanun Sriduangkaew on the basis that they were beautifully written and nothing happens, two of my favourite things. The older I get, the more I'm pushed onwards by aesthetics rather than the strict pull of narrative which spurned me on before. Not that narrative is bad, per se, but the less plot I get, the better, it seems to me. Perhaps my subjective rejection of over-plotting is in reaction to mainstream cinema's obsession with plot above all else; these films operate under the assumption that if there isn't copious, overflowing amounts of plot, audiences will feel cheated. I gather this comes after the extreme success of Nolan's The Dark Knight (which, despite my grumbling and my paeans, I still kind of like). Hence, detractors of Mad Max: Fury Road pointed to its simple plot as a negative; they complained "they drive from one point to another and then back! That's it! Nothing happens!" as if a super-abundance of plot makes a movie.
The Fortress at the End of Time does not have a super-abundance of plot, thankfully. The stakes are extremely low: this is a character study of a clone living in a decaying, rotting watch station at the far edge of the known universe where the military stands ready, ostensibly, for the return of a mysterious enemy (who will no doubt never return). The decomposition of the actual space station is mirrored in the deterioration of the military's standards. The narrator has his ideals and tries to stand firm against this rot, but he is arrogant, naive, almost simpleminded in the execution of his duties. He's moralizing, fervent in his beliefs of military conduct. All of it works against him. The entire novel depicts the frustrating tension between what this character wants and everybody else's wants. Often, when giving narrative advice, writers suggest the plot should derive from the disjunction between the cast's desires; the desires are at odds and thus there is conflict. Most narratives can be boiled down to this: a superhero desires saving the city while a supervillain desires to destroy it. However, most audiences would find these narratives boring if there aren't complicating factors, such as the complexity or uniqueness of the plans used by the characters to thwart each other. The Fortress at the End of Time isn't bereft of these complicating factors; it's just that they are pared down to the roughest of surfaces.
On Goodreads (oh boy, here he goes again about Goodreads), most popular review for this novel reads simply: "What if a guy went to a remote space station on the outskirts of the galaxy and nothing happened?" (here). It's one of the few reviews I've clicked "like" on. Other reviews, more negative reviews, suggest readers were expecting something completely different. No review says this better (or more explicitly) than the poor soul would thought this would be like Scalzi's Old Man's War (ie the Platonic ideal of inoffensive, forgettable military science fiction with an incommensurately rapturous reputation). Other negative reviews make mention of the lack of plot ("nothing happens!") or they persevere on the dialogue, which is somewhat stilted, purposefully so. Not all dialogue needs to be realistic! Just as not all characterization needs to be realistic! Break the chains of realism holding back narrative! Release your desperate grip on the life-preserver of realism! Or whatever metaphor you'd like me to use. However, some of the reviews seem to get it... in fact one says it almost perfectly: "I'm calling this military SF because I suspect it's truer to a lot of people's military experience (being bored a lot in far away places) than zap-pow laser marines fighting alien hordes" (here).
This character study gives enough room for a mild but effective denunciation of how labour without aim, with alienation, can be dehumanizing and soul-destroying. I don't think it's an accident how religious this society is, without all the succor religion can actually provide. The monastery in this novel is as corrupt and conniving as their ostensible allies, the military. Religion, in this tiny place, is as soul-crushing and withering as labour because it is greedy and myopic. We should not take this as the novel's disdain for religion in general—this book is far too clever to be straightforward. We should not generalize from the minimal data (this space station, this monastery) that religion in the entire universe is as predatory. The Fortress holds its cards close to its chest, an ambition we should applaud.
I'm definitely going to read more of McDermott's works now. I'm suitably impressed.
McDermott's novels were recommended to me by writer and friend Benjanun Sriduangkaew on the basis that they were beautifully written and nothing happens, two of my favourite things. The older I get, the more I'm pushed onwards by aesthetics rather than the strict pull of narrative which spurned me on before. Not that narrative is bad, per se, but the less plot I get, the better, it seems to me. Perhaps my subjective rejection of over-plotting is in reaction to mainstream cinema's obsession with plot above all else; these films operate under the assumption that if there isn't copious, overflowing amounts of plot, audiences will feel cheated. I gather this comes after the extreme success of Nolan's The Dark Knight (which, despite my grumbling and my paeans, I still kind of like). Hence, detractors of Mad Max: Fury Road pointed to its simple plot as a negative; they complained "they drive from one point to another and then back! That's it! Nothing happens!" as if a super-abundance of plot makes a movie.
The Fortress at the End of Time does not have a super-abundance of plot, thankfully. The stakes are extremely low: this is a character study of a clone living in a decaying, rotting watch station at the far edge of the known universe where the military stands ready, ostensibly, for the return of a mysterious enemy (who will no doubt never return). The decomposition of the actual space station is mirrored in the deterioration of the military's standards. The narrator has his ideals and tries to stand firm against this rot, but he is arrogant, naive, almost simpleminded in the execution of his duties. He's moralizing, fervent in his beliefs of military conduct. All of it works against him. The entire novel depicts the frustrating tension between what this character wants and everybody else's wants. Often, when giving narrative advice, writers suggest the plot should derive from the disjunction between the cast's desires; the desires are at odds and thus there is conflict. Most narratives can be boiled down to this: a superhero desires saving the city while a supervillain desires to destroy it. However, most audiences would find these narratives boring if there aren't complicating factors, such as the complexity or uniqueness of the plans used by the characters to thwart each other. The Fortress at the End of Time isn't bereft of these complicating factors; it's just that they are pared down to the roughest of surfaces.
On Goodreads (oh boy, here he goes again about Goodreads), most popular review for this novel reads simply: "What if a guy went to a remote space station on the outskirts of the galaxy and nothing happened?" (here). It's one of the few reviews I've clicked "like" on. Other reviews, more negative reviews, suggest readers were expecting something completely different. No review says this better (or more explicitly) than the poor soul would thought this would be like Scalzi's Old Man's War (ie the Platonic ideal of inoffensive, forgettable military science fiction with an incommensurately rapturous reputation). Other negative reviews make mention of the lack of plot ("nothing happens!") or they persevere on the dialogue, which is somewhat stilted, purposefully so. Not all dialogue needs to be realistic! Just as not all characterization needs to be realistic! Break the chains of realism holding back narrative! Release your desperate grip on the life-preserver of realism! Or whatever metaphor you'd like me to use. However, some of the reviews seem to get it... in fact one says it almost perfectly: "I'm calling this military SF because I suspect it's truer to a lot of people's military experience (being bored a lot in far away places) than zap-pow laser marines fighting alien hordes" (here).
This character study gives enough room for a mild but effective denunciation of how labour without aim, with alienation, can be dehumanizing and soul-destroying. I don't think it's an accident how religious this society is, without all the succor religion can actually provide. The monastery in this novel is as corrupt and conniving as their ostensible allies, the military. Religion, in this tiny place, is as soul-crushing and withering as labour because it is greedy and myopic. We should not take this as the novel's disdain for religion in general—this book is far too clever to be straightforward. We should not generalize from the minimal data (this space station, this monastery) that religion in the entire universe is as predatory. The Fortress holds its cards close to its chest, an ambition we should applaud.
I'm definitely going to read more of McDermott's works now. I'm suitably impressed.
sevskywalker's review
5.0
4 or 4.5 stars.
I can't decide on the final rating and I might change the rating in future after my thoughts settle down.
Science Fiction. What would I do without Science Fiction? I have not always been a fan of science fiction and after I became a fan of science fiction I felt like that I had no connection to that guy that was not a SF fan. So was that guy the same guy as me or was there so much changed that they cannot be the same anymore? Existential crisis at it's best or worst?
Another thing that I would not have associated myself in the past was Philosophy. Now, I crave for philosophical musings everyday,which brings me to this book The Fortress at the end of time by Joe. M. Mcdermott.
This was a such a great mix of science fiction and philosophy and this wasn't new to the SF genre, indulging in deep philosophy, but this book stands out because even though it uses the same tropes there were some very dealt scenarios of the after effects of war with an unknown alien civilization.
When I started reading this book, I was sure that I will not be liking this book what with all the mixed and bad reviews and my genuine dislike for the protagonist Ensign Ronaldo Aldo. But his character went through much development throughout the book. He is still not a good person by any means, he was just a really awkward person who is not only really selfish but also a pain in the ass to work with, but one thing that is sure to be noticed is that he was sincere to his work as long as he could, until he snaps at the end and does something that screws up everyone and everything around him.
There wasn't much to talk about other characters. There were some important characters, some short but well written, some are just outright annoying. But they are all there and they do what they should.
Finally, this book may be pushed under the military SF subgenre, but it is far from the action packed SF books that are more popular. This book is a slow burner( as slow as it gets) with very little plot or action, but what it is is a very character driven, philosophical, hard SF that touches really well on topics like Existentialism, loneliness, selfishness and religion( went into a weird tangent there-not a big fan).
P. S I don't know if I got a bad copy or its an editing problem or the author's, but there are so many grammatical errors, errors in spellings (there were instances where the main character's name was spelled wrong Ronaldo was spelled as Renaldo WTF) which was just borderline annoying and put me off reading this at times, but it still is a good read despite all that and maybe even worth a re read sometime in the future.
I can't decide on the final rating and I might change the rating in future after my thoughts settle down.
Science Fiction. What would I do without Science Fiction? I have not always been a fan of science fiction and after I became a fan of science fiction I felt like that I had no connection to that guy that was not a SF fan. So was that guy the same guy as me or was there so much changed that they cannot be the same anymore? Existential crisis at it's best or worst?
Another thing that I would not have associated myself in the past was Philosophy. Now, I crave for philosophical musings everyday,which brings me to this book The Fortress at the end of time by Joe. M. Mcdermott.
This was a such a great mix of science fiction and philosophy and this wasn't new to the SF genre, indulging in deep philosophy, but this book stands out because even though it uses the same tropes there were some very dealt scenarios of the after effects of war with an unknown alien civilization.
When I started reading this book, I was sure that I will not be liking this book what with all the mixed and bad reviews and my genuine dislike for the protagonist Ensign Ronaldo Aldo. But his character went through much development throughout the book. He is still not a good person by any means, he was just a really awkward person who is not only really selfish but also a pain in the ass to work with, but one thing that is sure to be noticed is that he was sincere to his work as long as he could, until he snaps at the end and does something that screws up everyone and everything around him.
There wasn't much to talk about other characters. There were some important characters, some short but well written, some are just outright annoying. But they are all there and they do what they should.
Finally, this book may be pushed under the military SF subgenre, but it is far from the action packed SF books that are more popular. This book is a slow burner( as slow as it gets) with very little plot or action, but what it is is a very character driven, philosophical, hard SF that touches really well on topics like Existentialism, loneliness, selfishness and religion( went into a weird tangent there-not a big fan).
P. S I don't know if I got a bad copy or its an editing problem or the author's, but there are so many grammatical errors, errors in spellings (there were instances where the main character's name was spelled wrong Ronaldo was spelled as Renaldo WTF) which was just borderline annoying and put me off reading this at times, but it still is a good read despite all that and maybe even worth a re read sometime in the future.
nielsm's review
4.0
(Review copy received from netgalley. Originally on http://grinningedge.com/fortress-at-the-end-of-time.)
Whelp, not really sure what I was expecting here. Hammy title, intriguing but vague blurb. Turned out to be a recklessly deliberate novel most similar in tone to Robert Charles Wilson's [b:Spin|910863|Spin (Spin, #1)|Robert Charles Wilson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1406383726s/910863.jpg|47562] or even Ishiguro's [b:Never Let Me Go|6334|Never Let Me Go|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1353048590s/6334.jpg|1499998]. Also turned out to be pretty kickass; was even in the running for five stars, and I don't hand those out often.
The story is told as the protagonist's confession, the implication being that he's going to do something particularly sinful at some point. It starts out with him finishing space pilot training on earth and getting quantum cloned to his first posting at the ass end of the galaxy. There's one episode of a couple of months where he adjusts to his new life, then the story jumps a few years ahead and works its way toward his most serious sin.
The station is a forlorn listening post, waiting for the return of an alien menace from the depths of intergalactic space. It's been waiting for hundreds of years and the handful of crew mostly pass the time by committing suicide out of sheer boredom. The system also sports a dusty little planet where a few colonists are trying to carve out some kind of future for themselves when they're not hiding from sandstorms.
This is a quiet book. Not a lot of action. No antagonist. Setting and characters are enough to carry it and carry it well. Minor conflicts. The protagonist's first spaceflight. Love interests. The relationship between the station and the colony. The tension of knowing there's this serious crime coming. Everywhere desolation and wistfulness. The occasional flash of hope. And writing to get it across, rarely taking center stage, but then sucker punching you when you least expect it.
Here's the protagonist just after he gets cloned across the galaxy and has a crew member give him some basic instructions:
So why not five stars? Because the ending just doesn't quite come together. For a while I was afraid that it would completely flip out and go full Beacon 23, turn into saving the galaxy. It doesn't do that. But at the same time, when we finally find out what the protagonist's great crime is, it doesn't quite seem worth the build up, doesn't quite justify the guilt he feels throughout. It's not totally out there either, just doesn't quite hit the mark.
Still a great book. If you're into SciFi without the fireworks, you won't go wrong with this.
Whelp, not really sure what I was expecting here. Hammy title, intriguing but vague blurb. Turned out to be a recklessly deliberate novel most similar in tone to Robert Charles Wilson's [b:Spin|910863|Spin (Spin, #1)|Robert Charles Wilson|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1406383726s/910863.jpg|47562] or even Ishiguro's [b:Never Let Me Go|6334|Never Let Me Go|Kazuo Ishiguro|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1353048590s/6334.jpg|1499998]. Also turned out to be pretty kickass; was even in the running for five stars, and I don't hand those out often.
The story is told as the protagonist's confession, the implication being that he's going to do something particularly sinful at some point. It starts out with him finishing space pilot training on earth and getting quantum cloned to his first posting at the ass end of the galaxy. There's one episode of a couple of months where he adjusts to his new life, then the story jumps a few years ahead and works its way toward his most serious sin.
The station is a forlorn listening post, waiting for the return of an alien menace from the depths of intergalactic space. It's been waiting for hundreds of years and the handful of crew mostly pass the time by committing suicide out of sheer boredom. The system also sports a dusty little planet where a few colonists are trying to carve out some kind of future for themselves when they're not hiding from sandstorms.
This is a quiet book. Not a lot of action. No antagonist. Setting and characters are enough to carry it and carry it well. Minor conflicts. The protagonist's first spaceflight. Love interests. The relationship between the station and the colony. The tension of knowing there's this serious crime coming. Everywhere desolation and wistfulness. The occasional flash of hope. And writing to get it across, rarely taking center stage, but then sucker punching you when you least expect it.
Here's the protagonist just after he gets cloned across the galaxy and has a crew member give him some basic instructions:
Only after she left did I realize that she was the first person I had ever seen, despite my memory of before. Shade of quantum lifes not mine, illusions not me, newly born - if I were a duckling, she would be my mother.And here a flight over the colony:
We soared over dunes in a twilight darkness. The horizon glowed purple and gold where the sand kicked up. It was beautiful and stark. It reminded me of the ocean where I grew up. I miss oceans.You think you're getting a generic description of rocky, dusty colony land, just some filler to pass the time until they get where they are going, and wham! He misses oceans.
So why not five stars? Because the ending just doesn't quite come together. For a while I was afraid that it would completely flip out and go full Beacon 23, turn into saving the galaxy. It doesn't do that. But at the same time, when we finally find out what the protagonist's great crime is, it doesn't quite seem worth the build up, doesn't quite justify the guilt he feels throughout. It's not totally out there either, just doesn't quite hit the mark.
Still a great book. If you're into SciFi without the fireworks, you won't go wrong with this.
mazloum's review
4.0
I really enjoyed this book, which manages to blend elements of hard sci-fi as well as philosophical questions about identity, loneliness and human fallibility. While I found it somewhat difficult - especially in the last few pages - to empathize with the weak, in way over his head protagonist, the book reeled me in with its distinct setting and the diverse characters that inhabited that world. The author presents a somewhat boring - and thus completely believable - image of a future that involves space travel and alien warfare which was a total breeze to get through. The ending left me a little cold however, but I can't say that it didn't get me thinking. Definitely worth reading.
emnii's review
3.0
Here's the truth about military service: it's boring. You do the same things over and over for preparedness. It's incestuous. All the same people run in the same circles and when you're ready to get out, there's no shortage of defense contractors ready to pay you more to do the same thing you used to do. And it's extremely political. Not in the red versus blue way, in the make friends and do favors to get things done way, regardless of how things should work. All of this amplified by at least a factor of five when you're deployed. The Fortress at the End of Time gets all of this right.
Ronaldo Aldo attends a war college to be an astronavigator to improve his lot in life. However, his duty assignment is an outpost at the farthest reaches of humanity called Citadel. And he doesn't have go, but his clone does. His body will be scanned and transmitted, and reconstructed at Citadel, all memories intact and no way to escape. You see the only way out of this dead end assignment is to do so well he can transcend and get another clone sent somewhere better, get himself discharged to the colony below, or die. The story's told from the past tense, and from the perspective of Aldo confessing to a terrible sin, so you can tell it's going only one of two ways.
I can't find any indication that McDermott has served, but he clearly gets what military service is like. It grinds people down, just as it does Aldo and the other service members aboard Citadel station. They're all on a career-long deployment to the most boring and poorly supported space station in the galaxy. Having spent some time myself in places that felt like the edge of the world, McDermott accurately portrays the life of people who are going slowly insane of boredom. They're constantly polishing floors, trying not to kill themselves, having the same arguments, and picking each other apart at any opportunity. It's awful in real life, and it's doesn't make for a particularly exciting read, but isn't that the point? It's all building to answer the question of what Aldo did to warrant this extended time with a confessor.
This boredom cuts two ways though. I spent most of the time wondering where in the world this story was going. And the end is unlikely to blow anyone away. However, if you make it to the end, it comes together in a way that's unexpected. It's the kind of novel that I like more the farther away I get from it. It not only does the military stuff well, but it asks some difficult questions about the fairness of being a clone of somebody with memories of a world you'll never see, and no hope of improving your situation personally. It reads like a running train of thought, but it goes some places.
Ronaldo Aldo attends a war college to be an astronavigator to improve his lot in life. However, his duty assignment is an outpost at the farthest reaches of humanity called Citadel. And he doesn't have go, but his clone does. His body will be scanned and transmitted, and reconstructed at Citadel, all memories intact and no way to escape. You see the only way out of this dead end assignment is to do so well he can transcend and get another clone sent somewhere better, get himself discharged to the colony below, or die. The story's told from the past tense, and from the perspective of Aldo confessing to a terrible sin, so you can tell it's going only one of two ways.
I can't find any indication that McDermott has served, but he clearly gets what military service is like. It grinds people down, just as it does Aldo and the other service members aboard Citadel station. They're all on a career-long deployment to the most boring and poorly supported space station in the galaxy. Having spent some time myself in places that felt like the edge of the world, McDermott accurately portrays the life of people who are going slowly insane of boredom. They're constantly polishing floors, trying not to kill themselves, having the same arguments, and picking each other apart at any opportunity. It's awful in real life, and it's doesn't make for a particularly exciting read, but isn't that the point? It's all building to answer the question of what Aldo did to warrant this extended time with a confessor.
This boredom cuts two ways though. I spent most of the time wondering where in the world this story was going. And the end is unlikely to blow anyone away. However, if you make it to the end, it comes together in a way that's unexpected. It's the kind of novel that I like more the farther away I get from it. It not only does the military stuff well, but it asks some difficult questions about the fairness of being a clone of somebody with memories of a world you'll never see, and no hope of improving your situation personally. It reads like a running train of thought, but it goes some places.
kieran_furie's review
3.0
Quite dry and sparsely written. The setting is bleak and the characters themselves jaded and cold.
It's an interesting and thought provoking premise though.
It's an interesting and thought provoking premise though.
saoki's review
1.0
There is this thing about books in first person, they force the readers to internalize the character almost as a part of themselves. I happen to dislike being led to internalize a petty cretin.
No, it's not just that.
I could deal with the protagonist if the whole book didn't felt so incredibly oppressive. It's just to gloomy for me right now.
No, it's not just that.
I could deal with the protagonist if the whole book didn't felt so incredibly oppressive. It's just to gloomy for me right now.
jayne2314's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
bhaines's review against another edition
good clean ansible fun. I liked that the main character was stupid in a relatable way. The idea of cloning out is pretty interesting and I think this was a fun kind of thing to do with it. The side characters were fun.