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cyee44's review against another edition
4.0
Very interesting universe. I love that the descendants of earth have incorporated different languages into one universal language. There was a lot of French and German with some Spanish and Italian and some words I know come from India. The story itself kept me guessing about where it was going and what would happen. The language does seem lofty at first and took some getting used to, but I understood why when I saw where we wound up.
duenorth's review against another edition
5.0
Child of Fortune found me when I was a teenager. It was the first book I read with a female character who was encouraged (pushed even) into taking control of her whole life, including her sexuality.
This is the type of coming-of-age story I wish more girls could experience in real life - that the world is huge and full of the terrific and terrible, that our individual realities are shaped by how we act and with whom we associate, and that it is not only okay but important to enjoy lovers and friends on our own terms, without shame or embarrassment.
Spinrad is a highly visual writer - his prose paints itself in my mind in technicolor as I'm reading and I can still 'see' it years after. And when his marvelous characters plunge into philosophical rant or glorious rally I find myself invigorated instead of lulled, inspired instead of bored.
Child of Fortune is one of a few books that drives home for me the regret of having been born too soon, stuck on one lonely planet instead of loosed into a world of worlds.
This is the type of coming-of-age story I wish more girls could experience in real life - that the world is huge and full of the terrific and terrible, that our individual realities are shaped by how we act and with whom we associate, and that it is not only okay but important to enjoy lovers and friends on our own terms, without shame or embarrassment.
Spinrad is a highly visual writer - his prose paints itself in my mind in technicolor as I'm reading and I can still 'see' it years after. And when his marvelous characters plunge into philosophical rant or glorious rally I find myself invigorated instead of lulled, inspired instead of bored.
Child of Fortune is one of a few books that drives home for me the regret of having been born too soon, stuck on one lonely planet instead of loosed into a world of worlds.
satyridae's review
1.0
I picked this up at Powell's because I remembered loving it as a kid. Apparently I was hypnotized by the combination of two dollar words and sex, because that's all this book consists of. Spinrad is especially fond of 'puissance', 'hypnogogic' and 'lingam'.
Here's a random sentence: "In truth, as I knew even then, the weltanschauung which had so consumed my soul with dread under the influence of the psychotropic had been little more than the heightened subjective apprehension of the rudiments of quantum cosmology which we are all taught as children."
In a word, unreadable.
Here's a random sentence: "In truth, as I knew even then, the weltanschauung which had so consumed my soul with dread under the influence of the psychotropic had been little more than the heightened subjective apprehension of the rudiments of quantum cosmology which we are all taught as children."
In a word, unreadable.
elliquinn's review
3.0
Quite frankly, I enjoy this book somewhat against my will and definitely against my better judgement...
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