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wordnerdy's review
adventurous
slow-paced
3.25
https://wordnerdy.blogspot.com/2024/05/2024-book-94.html
megatza's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
funny
medium-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? Yes
5.0
I did not expect to love this book so much. It's really wild, with genetically modified "quaddies" who have an extra set of hands instead of feet. The attention to worldbuilding detail is impressive- diapers in zero g? And what to with them? LMB does a great job analyzing society, and even with obvious analogies of corporate ownership of the quaddies and their lack of autonomy and forced medical experimentation, she gives us a compelling adventure!
jenevans83's review against another edition
medium-paced
4.0
Not offensive in any way but just not captivating, either.
galacticturnip's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
daed's review against another edition
3.0
Me ha dejado con sentimientos encontrados. Por una parte los Cuadrúmanos me han gustado mucho (en especial Silver). Pero por otro lado, casi todos los Humanos me han dejado indiferente. Leo es un "bueno" muy bueno, Yei y Minchenko no aportan nada y Van Atta me ha parecido un villano de caricaturas, nadie en el mundo sería así de ingenuo.
En cuanto a la ambientación, agradezco a la autora dar ese toque de realismo a las situaciones y no caer en soluciones inverosímiles, pero aquí también falla un poco, ya que hay momentos en que las descripciones son difíciles de imaginar, de hecho aún no tengo claro como quedó el resultado final de "aquello" que construyeron.
En general, buena historia y entretenida, pero con aspectos por mejorar.
En cuanto a la ambientación, agradezco a la autora dar ese toque de realismo a las situaciones y no caer en soluciones inverosímiles, pero aquí también falla un poco, ya que hay momentos en que las descripciones son difíciles de imaginar, de hecho aún no tengo claro como quedó el resultado final de "aquello" que construyeron.
En general, buena historia y entretenida, pero con aspectos por mejorar.
katieinca's review against another edition
3.0
A standalone that comes very early in this universe, that my reading guide advised me to skip unless and until I got to a much much later book (Diplomatic Immunity), and that was solid advice. Diplomatic Immunity was more enjoyable for getting the references to this, and it was nice to have them fresh in my head. This was fun, and I enoyed it, but I don't regret that she never got back to picking up these characters. Good stuff: poking at you and characters about what to do with impossible odds, who decides to look the other way and decide things aren't their problem. Less good: needing the outside savior to come to the rescue, and bad guys that are less interesting because they're so odious and thick.
yak_attak's review
4.5
If Lois McMaster Bujold doesn't ever get a movie pitch for Falling Free, what are we even doing as a society. Grizzled seen-it-all engineering instructor comes into the company's secret project, has to essentially teach rowdy children, gets his heart melted by their plight, ends up leading them on a revolution against the exploitative company who thinks to own them, and helps them out with an ever increasing series of crazy one-in-a-million science experiments.
It fits almost too precisely into a 90's teen science adventure type thing. You know exactly the vibe I mean. You know exactly the plot beats and moments that will happen - this doesn't mean it's all by the numbers, Bujold does fantastic job with the children here, giving them a lot of life, sense of self and agency, while still keeping them as essentially kids who don't really get it yet. This spins into a lot of great commentary about bio-experimentation, corporate overreach, unionization, and general ethics.
The side she does a lesser job with is Leo, the Engineer's character - I think mainly in that the book is too short. This is also to its benefit, I don't know if a plot this simple needs to stick around longer, but we also don't get quite as much time to see how things are at present before they all go to shit. Leo doesn't discover the kids' plight so much as... is 100% on board with breaking them out the second he meets them. That means he's a cool guy, but also means he doesn't get much character development through the story. He's more a vehicle to deliver Science! and Speeches!
Cool scenes, big science, blue collar, anti-corporate, feel good... yeah. Can't complain about this one.
It fits almost too precisely into a 90's teen science adventure type thing. You know exactly the vibe I mean. You know exactly the plot beats and moments that will happen - this doesn't mean it's all by the numbers, Bujold does fantastic job with the children here, giving them a lot of life, sense of self and agency, while still keeping them as essentially kids who don't really get it yet. This spins into a lot of great commentary about bio-experimentation, corporate overreach, unionization, and general ethics.
The side she does a lesser job with is Leo, the Engineer's character - I think mainly in that the book is too short. This is also to its benefit, I don't know if a plot this simple needs to stick around longer, but we also don't get quite as much time to see how things are at present before they all go to shit. Leo doesn't discover the kids' plight so much as... is 100% on board with breaking them out the second he meets them. That means he's a cool guy, but also means he doesn't get much character development through the story. He's more a vehicle to deliver Science! and Speeches!
Cool scenes, big science, blue collar, anti-corporate, feel good... yeah. Can't complain about this one.
kzimm2024's review against another edition
4.0
A sad but sweet story of the "Quaddies" and genetically enhanced creation of people with 2 sets of arms. The cover is powerful once you see what it portrays. The community that they all share, it shows 4 Quaddies holding hands as they are in free fall. To Freedom, is the hope.
I say sad because of how the Quaddies are used as "tissue samples" by the evil corporation and not "Beings" with rights. Sweet because they do end up triumphing in their bid for freedom with Leo, the fearless engineer, leading the way with Silver. I am glad it hints that they find happiness together at the end.
Very enjoyable story. Claire and Tony's planet adventure was eye opening.
I say sad because of how the Quaddies are used as "tissue samples" by the evil corporation and not "Beings" with rights. Sweet because they do end up triumphing in their bid for freedom with Leo, the fearless engineer, leading the way with Silver. I am glad it hints that they find happiness together at the end.
Very enjoyable story. Claire and Tony's planet adventure was eye opening.
heyheyhell's review
3.5
capitalism is hell & reproductive rights are essential!! fly off into an asteroid belt instead
morrigan_le_fae's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0