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sparks_fitz's review
3.0
Fun, good concepts. Bizarre politically, confusingly so. Felt like parody, but stuck to its guns. I feel like it means well but doesn't really know what it's talking about, especially with stuff like Marxism, and it's view of democracy is just strange. But hey I liked when the spaceman made people think he was a warlock with his robot horse so, I can't hate it. Goodreads doesn't do halves, but I'd give it 3.5 stars.
cjkc's review
Too much casual sexism from page 70ish on. Surprising-not surprising romantic attachment an hour after one character meets the protagonist. Too flippant. I liked this book at first but it just went downhill 60 or 70 pages into it. For a mix of sci fi and fantasy, I much prefer CS Friedman's trilogy.
jennyp0208's review
4.0
My husband had a copy of this book lying around from his college days. I read it and was completely hooked - we ordered the entire rest of the series the same day I finished.
Stasheff has done an artistic job crafting the world of Gramarye. I've read some pretty awful sci-fi books. I think the highest point of this whole series is the character development - Rod is so real. The kids are even better once they come in in a few books.
I deducted one star because there's some glaring typos and grammar issues throughout. Usually I was too caught up in the story to care, but sometimes they really disrupted the flow.
Stasheff has done an artistic job crafting the world of Gramarye. I've read some pretty awful sci-fi books. I think the highest point of this whole series is the character development - Rod is so real. The kids are even better once they come in in a few books.
I deducted one star because there's some glaring typos and grammar issues throughout. Usually I was too caught up in the story to care, but sometimes they really disrupted the flow.
jslamperti's review
5.0
Love this book. It was very formative for me when it came out. I haven't read all of the series, but this one stood alone for me.
fancybone's review
2.0
Meh. Neat idea about where "magic" comes from in this world. But full of, uh, well:
Emphasis mine. I don't remember if this character is supposed to be an asshole or not, but my eyes just about rolled out of my goddamned head.
“Look,” he said tightly, “try to understand. A man has to have a dream. That’s the difference between animals and man, a dream. And a man who’s lost his dream is something less than a man, and worthy of no woman. How could I dare claim you if I wasn’t a man? “A man has to prove his worth to himself, before he can claim a woman, and the dream is the proof. As long as he’s working for it, he’s got a right to her, because he’s worth something. I could stay here and be very, very happy with you. But in my depths I’d know I didn’t deserve you. Because I’d be a drone, a male with no purpose. How could I father children if I knew their mother was more valuable to the world than I am?”
Emphasis mine. I don't remember if this character is supposed to be an asshole or not, but my eyes just about rolled out of my goddamned head.
ashleylm's review
2.0
Not for me. Gave it a good go (mostly on the basis of I stumbled across the 2nd book in the series) but I will return this one to the electronic ether, and the 2nd will go into my Little Free Library (at least until I have to take it, unread, to recycling, if not snapped up which I fear it will not be).
I have roughly 1,900 books on my "to read" list on Goodreads, about half of which I own. Unless I live to 114 (which is optimistic) half my life is gone, so I'm faster to pull the trigger on books which don't connect with me, and show no signs of doing so (I read Titus Groan after four false starts, but I always knew I'd get there eventually ... but some books, like this, practically conk you over the head with "if you don't like me now, you never will.")
Note: I have written a novel (not yet published), so now I will suffer pangs of guilt every time I offer less than five stars. In my subjective opinion, the stars suggest:
(5* = one of my all-time favourites, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = actually disappointing, and 1* = hated it. As a statistician I know most books are 3s, but I am biased in my selection and end up mostly with 4s, thank goodness.)
I have roughly 1,900 books on my "to read" list on Goodreads, about half of which I own. Unless I live to 114 (which is optimistic) half my life is gone, so I'm faster to pull the trigger on books which don't connect with me, and show no signs of doing so (I read Titus Groan after four false starts, but I always knew I'd get there eventually ... but some books, like this, practically conk you over the head with "if you don't like me now, you never will.")
Note: I have written a novel (not yet published), so now I will suffer pangs of guilt every time I offer less than five stars. In my subjective opinion, the stars suggest:
(5* = one of my all-time favourites, 4* = really enjoyed it, 3* = readable but not thrilling, 2* = actually disappointing, and 1* = hated it. As a statistician I know most books are 3s, but I am biased in my selection and end up mostly with 4s, thank goodness.)
fibrejunky's review
5.0
Another fun read from Stasheff. For one, I love the combination of science with fantasy. But I think my favourite thing is all of the nods to real history and literature. I'm sure there were bits that I didn't catch, but those that I did definitely made me smile. It was like being a party to an inside joke, except this time I got to be proud of myself, because it wasn't at anyone else's expense. Each bit that I recognized continues to be there for anyone else to see, if only one has either already had the educational background, or is curious enough to seek it.
alehnert's review
4.0
I was about to give it one star for being obnoxiously sexist, but then saw the date of first publication. The book is well-written but omg hooray for social progress!