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meyers5j's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
rocketiza's review
5.0
Extremely well crafted thrilled that I was very into, hit the twist and thought it wasn't great, then he turned it around and ended it setting up a second book I am very excited to read.
60degreesn's review
5.0
Better than I expected - a really interesting alternative world European crime novel. Alan Furst meets Zelzany.
absoluteturkey's review
5.0
Absolutely superb. One of the finest thrillers I have read in a long time. I was very much taken by the quality and episodic nature of the writing, which balanced characters, conversations and descriptions perfectly. The ending and setup for the next novels in the series was excellent; I can't wait to dive into the next one!
theciz's review
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
A weird book I only really enjoyed half of.
This book was released in 2014 and god knows the politics of 2014 are all over it - Scottish independence, the eurozone crisis, austerity, Schengen - hell even the old War on Terror gets a nod. Our protagonist is supposed to be a young Estonian, but his perspective comes across as a middle aged English man on a lot of things (there’s a certain strain of that particular kind of Anglo-American disdain for "Europeans", while we get treated to the main character’s homily to London. All very eye-roll inducing, frankly).
That aside, it had some interesting world building, and although slow, I found the concept of an organisation like the Coureurs navigating a divided continent fascinating, so I could forgive the disjointed short story concept, wonkily conceived alt-polities and slow pace. There is, however, a twist - and I kind of hated it. This is partly on me for forgetting this was a sci-fi book and not just a speculative near-future spy thriller, but after getting the latter for most of the book, that’s where I wanted to stay. So I probably won’t be bothering with the sequels. A similar book is The City and The City by China Miéville, which I preferred.
This book was released in 2014 and god knows the politics of 2014 are all over it - Scottish independence, the eurozone crisis, austerity, Schengen - hell even the old War on Terror gets a nod. Our protagonist is supposed to be a young Estonian, but his perspective comes across as a middle aged English man on a lot of things (there’s a certain strain of that particular kind of Anglo-American disdain for "Europeans", while we get treated to the main character’s homily to London. All very eye-roll inducing, frankly).
That aside, it had some interesting world building, and although slow, I found the concept of an organisation like the Coureurs navigating a divided continent fascinating, so I could forgive the disjointed short story concept, wonkily conceived alt-polities and slow pace. There is, however, a twist - and I kind of hated it. This is partly on me for forgetting this was a sci-fi book and not just a speculative near-future spy thriller, but after getting the latter for most of the book, that’s where I wanted to stay. So I probably won’t be bothering with the sequels. A similar book is The City and The City by China Miéville, which I preferred.
jhouses's review against another edition
3.0
Lo que comienza siendo una novela de espionaje organizada en episodios discretos de la vida del protagonista que recuerda un poco a LeCarré y situada en un futuro cercano levemente distópico en el que Europa entera se ha galvanizado hasta un nivel ridículo; se convierte de pronto en su último cuarto en un sorprendente historia de ciencia ficción con mucho mas calado del que aparentaba. Promete secuela.
robarnold's review against another edition
3.0
I've heard very good things about this book but, although it was ok, I don't think it's worthy. The end half was good but it definately didn't make up for the slow start. Interesting final twist though.
chromatick's review against another edition
4.0
3.75 stars / 4.5 stars for the audio narration
This was not quite a 4 star book for me, but it was still really good. It's a spy/espionage book that takes place in a near future fractured Europe. There was lots of spycraft and really the bulk of the book was spent doing world building and setting up the main character for the twist that comes near the end.
I wouldn't recommend reading this book unless you are fairly certain you will like it because it leaves off on a pretty big cliffhanger. I for one am looking forward to the next book in the sequence to find out more.
Also, even though the book is listed as sci-fi, there is very little of that until right near the end so if you are wanting something along those lines you may be disappointed in this one. However if you are looking for a really good spy novel this one might be for you.
This was not quite a 4 star book for me, but it was still really good. It's a spy/espionage book that takes place in a near future fractured Europe. There was lots of spycraft and really the bulk of the book was spent doing world building and setting up the main character for the twist that comes near the end.
I wouldn't recommend reading this book unless you are fairly certain you will like it because it leaves off on a pretty big cliffhanger. I for one am looking forward to the next book in the sequence to find out more.
Also, even though the book is listed as sci-fi, there is very little of that until right near the end so if you are wanting something along those lines you may be disappointed in this one. However if you are looking for a really good spy novel this one might be for you.
bex_knighthunterbooks's review
This has a really interesting and refreshing setting of a future Europe fractured into microstates. This is a spy thriller in theory, but I found the main perspective was too passive so I don't feel I really got to see the politics or the machinations up to this stage in the book. The structure also feels like loosely connected stories, which is not a format that works well for me - it felt like I was losing all reading momentum. I did enjoy all the discussions of the formations of different states, and bureaucracy involved in navigating cross-European travel, but I was missing a hook of character or plot to keep my interest in the wider story.
bonaldi's review
3.0
The conceit is nice — what if Europe reverted to a pre-Westphalian condition? — and I was loving the ride until the last quarter took a sharp turn into ... something else. Not necessarily a bad something else, but it’s as if he read Rotherweird or The City and The City and thought “I’ll have some of that, let’s add in a hidden world”. The gear change killed it for me.