noisydeadlines's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-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? It's complicated
5.0
This book takes place 6 months after the events of Planetfall #2 ("After Atlas"). We have Dee as our main character and she gets unknowingly involved in a suspected murder inside the colony ship. As we know from the previous book, Dee is an avid gamer, and she soon joins elite game servers, or "leets" where the gamers real life abilities are represented in game, making these games extremely challenging. This is another unputdownable book by Emma Newman with virtual reality immersive games, discussions about AI and consciousness, corporate indenture, social justice and revenge. It's all intertwined with the main character's journey confronting her traumatic past while she investigates and plans for the future. It's intense, thrilling and the ending was breath taking.
sandeestarlite's review
3.0
Least favorite book in the series. Plot holes you could drive Atlas through and characters who didn't stay true to who they were in previous books.
pelargonia's review
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
georgemay's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-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
4.25
geekcliche's review against another edition
5.0
Yet again, one of the Planetfall novels hits me in the feels that other books can’t reach.
allisqn's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
informative
mysterious
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
5.0
liacooper's review against another edition
4.0
a futuristic book about gaming clearly written by a gamer. this picks up our story following After Atlas set on a ship headed towards the pathfinder colony from book1 and follows the POV of Carlos's gaming friend Dee as she struggles with the knowledge of what happened to earth at the end of the previous two books. this one is dark but fascinating. i think the thing i love about Emma Newman's characters is how intrinsically they're flawed and how their mental and emotional health has a real integral impact on their lives, their relationships, and how they relate to the world. Atlas Alone carries on this tradition.
I sincerely hope this is not going to be the last entry into the series because this world is one of my absolute favorite current projections of the future (chilling as that may be)
I sincerely hope this is not going to be the last entry into the series because this world is one of my absolute favorite current projections of the future (chilling as that may be)
grumbletysnarl's review against another edition
5.0
In [b:Story Genius: How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel|27833542|Story Genius How to Use Brain Science to Go Beyond Outlining and Write a Riveting Novel (Before You Waste Three Years Writing 327 Pages That Go Nowhere)|Lisa Cron|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1464018328s/27833542.jpg|47815529], the author asserts that readers wind up simulating the experience of a novel's protagonist. This wasn't a keen new insight to me, since I'm a big fan of [a:Emma Newman|3329042|Emma Newman|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1425124402p2/3329042.jpg]'s [b:Planetfall|24237785|Planetfall (Planetfall, #1)|Emma Newman|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1424627926s/24237785.jpg|43823353] series. These are deep and detailed character studies and meditations on mental illness, sneaking past your eyes in a scifi costume, and because of the phenomenon described in Story Genius, reading each title absolutely guts me.
Naturally, I've given the four-book series 19 of a possible 20 stars, and had the latest entry available on my Kindle for something like 4 hours before I started in on it.
I've never been much for the book-report-style review. Instead, I'm just going to call out some things that I loved about the book, then throw some quotes at you and scurry out the door.
The book can be cynical:
pragmatic:
and keenly observant:
I mean, come on, that describes a feeling I've had my whole life!
Finally:
I know *I* thought about someone specific, and their book, when I read that, but maybe I'm wrong.
Naturally, I've given the four-book series 19 of a possible 20 stars, and had the latest entry available on my Kindle for something like 4 hours before I started in on it.
I've never been much for the book-report-style review. Instead, I'm just going to call out some things that I loved about the book, then throw some quotes at you and scurry out the door.
- The automated personal assistant, or APA, is one of the most prescient projections of existing software into a future plan that I've seen.
- Our protagonist suffers from capitalism-induced PTSD, which at our current rate should supplant most major causes of death in all non-American societies by 2040.
- Our protagonist is the first character in the history of English-language letters to be asexual on the page and suffer from PTSD and to never have the former ascribed to the latter.
- In the future, there's a Teddy Ruxpin analogue named Bobby Bear who rips my still-beating heart right out of my chest, holds it in front of my dying eyes, and then squee...sorry, that analogy got away from me there. Let's just say I find Bobby Bear quite moving.
The book can be cynical:
This is the sort of “friendship gets us through everything” bullshit sold by twats marketing nostalgic mersives that hark back to a time when people socialized outside of work.
pragmatic:
I need to bring my brain back into gaming mode. Not dredging-up-irrelevant-emotional-bullshit mode. That’s no use to anyone.
and keenly observant:
I rinse my face with tepid water in the hope it will make me feel better, but like all the times I’ve done this in the past, it doesn’t do as much as I hoped it would.
I mean, come on, that describes a feeling I've had my whole life!
Finally:
[t]hey're the same sorts of idiots who say that positive thinking helps to overcome systematic inequality
I know *I* thought about someone specific, and their book, when I read that, but maybe I'm wrong.
ishouldreadthat's review against another edition
5.0
Originally posted to I Should Read That
This is a spoiler-free review for Atlas Alone, but will contain huge spoilers for After Atlas.
Some of you probably know how much I absolutely love Emma Newman’s Planetfall books, so there’s no surprise that I was eagerly awaiting, and ultimately ended up loving, Atlas Alone. The first sequel in the Planetfall series, Atlas Alone picks up six months after the events of After Atlas and deals with the consequences of those events in deep, thought-provoking, and totally horrifying way that only Emma Newman can achieve.
Atlas Alone is all about the question of sacrificing a few to save millions. I love the morality of this issue in fiction, and I think Newman has really nailed the difficulty of the decision and the resulting repercussions. What makes this particular story work so well is the groundwork she has laid out for us in previous books. Everything she has written in Planetfall, After Atlas, and Before Mars has led to our deep understanding of Dee’s decision making and the reason she makes the choices she does -- from the hothousing and contract slavery, the crushing power of the GovCorps, the restricted freedoms of the average citizen, and the integration of AI and neural chips all come together to give us a full picture of Dee’s world and what the destruction of Earth truly means for her and for humanity.
One of my favorite elements of Atlas Alone is the way that mersives and gaming is integrated into the story. Dee is, as we know, a gamer and mersives were always going to play a major role in her story. However, I was so impressed by the way Newman used them as a tool to not only tell us the story of Dee’s past, but also to explore recent history and the rise of the GovCorps, something I’ve been interested in learning more about since Planetfall. The reader doesn’t get stuck in a single environment -- in this case, the Altas 2 -- and the mersives give a chance for more world building and exploration.
Newman is the author to go to for interesting, complex, and unique female characters and Dee is no exception. Her characterization is a perfect balance of strength and vulnerability and I just feel like I got her. Her decisions and actions are not always one I agree with, but I totally understand where she is coming from and never had a moment of questioning or doubting where she was coming from. I especially loved exploring her backstory via mersives and gaming, all the while gaining more and more insight into who she is at her core. Dee, like all of Newman's female characters, is a fully fleshed-out, complex, and unusual character and I loved reading her story.
Atlas Alone is probably my favourite book in the series so far, which says a lot because I absolutely love all of these books. The twists and turns of this story kept me on my toes (and staring out in the the distance long after I had finished). For me, Newman is at the top of her game and is easily one of the best and most talented science fiction authors writing today.
This is a spoiler-free review for Atlas Alone, but will contain huge spoilers for After Atlas.
Some of you probably know how much I absolutely love Emma Newman’s Planetfall books, so there’s no surprise that I was eagerly awaiting, and ultimately ended up loving, Atlas Alone. The first sequel in the Planetfall series, Atlas Alone picks up six months after the events of After Atlas and deals with the consequences of those events in deep, thought-provoking, and totally horrifying way that only Emma Newman can achieve.
Atlas Alone is all about the question of sacrificing a few to save millions. I love the morality of this issue in fiction, and I think Newman has really nailed the difficulty of the decision and the resulting repercussions. What makes this particular story work so well is the groundwork she has laid out for us in previous books. Everything she has written in Planetfall, After Atlas, and Before Mars has led to our deep understanding of Dee’s decision making and the reason she makes the choices she does -- from the hothousing and contract slavery, the crushing power of the GovCorps, the restricted freedoms of the average citizen, and the integration of AI and neural chips all come together to give us a full picture of Dee’s world and what the destruction of Earth truly means for her and for humanity.
One of my favorite elements of Atlas Alone is the way that mersives and gaming is integrated into the story. Dee is, as we know, a gamer and mersives were always going to play a major role in her story. However, I was so impressed by the way Newman used them as a tool to not only tell us the story of Dee’s past, but also to explore recent history and the rise of the GovCorps, something I’ve been interested in learning more about since Planetfall. The reader doesn’t get stuck in a single environment -- in this case, the Altas 2 -- and the mersives give a chance for more world building and exploration.
Newman is the author to go to for interesting, complex, and unique female characters and Dee is no exception. Her characterization is a perfect balance of strength and vulnerability and I just feel like I got her. Her decisions and actions are not always one I agree with, but I totally understand where she is coming from and never had a moment of questioning or doubting where she was coming from. I especially loved exploring her backstory via mersives and gaming, all the while gaining more and more insight into who she is at her core. Dee, like all of Newman's female characters, is a fully fleshed-out, complex, and unusual character and I loved reading her story.
Atlas Alone is probably my favourite book in the series so far, which says a lot because I absolutely love all of these books. The twists and turns of this story kept me on my toes (and staring out in the the distance long after I had finished). For me, Newman is at the top of her game and is easily one of the best and most talented science fiction authors writing today.