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3.41 AVERAGE
3.41 AVERAGE
adventurous
lighthearted
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Still one of my favourites. Giant sentient broccoli are the good guys, teddy bears are the bad guys, and you're right at the start of the Uplift Saga, which is a good read.
I quit partway though this book, because it was just unreadably cheesy. A friend says that the other books in the series don't depend on this one, so I'll be trying one of them instead.
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
"The Library" is sort of a bad guy, frowning on innovation and independent research? A talking tree that tinkles? Dolphins that tell dirty limericks? A macho space hippy that meditates so much that tens of pages of psychedelic guided imagery actually move the story forward? I want to love it, but the adventure-detective plot (complete with helpfully named "parlor scene") didn't grab me and there wasn't enough awe or big questions to make up for that like in other science fiction. The author is a for-real astrophysicist but he piled on so much inscrutable alien-tech that the magic outweighed the hard SF bits, so I also didn't finish it thinking, "I would like to know more about plasma physics," or anything. Basically, a great premise that didn't deliver to my expectations. But my judgement might be impaired because I have been in pain.
Poor character development, poor explanation of the world
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The characterization is well done, and the story is good until about halfway through! Then the author starts trying a little too hard and the reality of space travel and galactic races he had created begins to unravel.