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jsdrown's review against another edition
5.0
One of my favorite reads of the year. In fact, of all time. This is a book that kept me on my toes. I expected your typical world building fair. But this is not simply High Fantasy dressed as SF. No, Aldiss walks a delicate line. He teeters between lush descriptions and leaving enough detail vague to allow the reader to build this world with him. It’s interesting because the first fourth of the book felt slow going. I feel like I learned how to read the book as I went. And once things clicked into place things got satisfying. Things got breathtaking.
Hothouse features an exhaustive level of creativity. The jungles of the story are densely populated in a way that must have made the writing process difficult for Aldiss. Every step of the way some strange and new is happening. Heavy emphasis on strange. As the book continues you may find yourself constantly reevaluating. By the end my “vision” of the world and characters presented evolved to the point that it didn’t resemble my initial ideas in the slightest. It’s like you’re walking a brick road, but Aldiss is laying the bricks and painting the scenery as you walk. You must trust him that this is heading somewhere.
This is not a book for people who can’t handle strong violence. Characters are dispatched without impunity. You’ll grow attached to someone and the next second they’re gone. Disposed of in a brutal, uncaring way. But! It’s appropriate. The world Aldiss has built for us is an unsafe one. A world filled with carnivorous plants. With plot armor I think some of these ideas would have fallen apart. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t fully aware of who the main character is until maybe halfway through the novel. It could have gone on different routes.
The prose here is nice. Though it doesn’t get in the way. The ideas are strong enough that we don’t need visuals clouded by too much word play. At the same time the writing is never stiff. Nor is it too purple. Which is something that should be commended given the subject. As you’ve settled into the world and characters the prose does become playful and poetic by the last fourth. In fact, I’d describe the writing in the final act as beautiful. I finished this book with a bittersweet twist of somberness enclosed in a near overwhelming sense of awe.
I fell asleep last night considering the ending. The endless doors opened by the final paragraphs. In the current year, I’m sure it would have led to three to seven sequels. Instead, you’re left to consider the possibilities. Somehow, even in the end, Aldiss kept up the balancing act. He took you two thirds of the way there. It’s up to you to decide on the full picture. I loved this book and have zero complaints. It's going into my short pile of books I'll re-read.
Hothouse features an exhaustive level of creativity. The jungles of the story are densely populated in a way that must have made the writing process difficult for Aldiss. Every step of the way some strange and new is happening. Heavy emphasis on strange. As the book continues you may find yourself constantly reevaluating. By the end my “vision” of the world and characters presented evolved to the point that it didn’t resemble my initial ideas in the slightest. It’s like you’re walking a brick road, but Aldiss is laying the bricks and painting the scenery as you walk. You must trust him that this is heading somewhere.
This is not a book for people who can’t handle strong violence. Characters are dispatched without impunity. You’ll grow attached to someone and the next second they’re gone. Disposed of in a brutal, uncaring way. But! It’s appropriate. The world Aldiss has built for us is an unsafe one. A world filled with carnivorous plants. With plot armor I think some of these ideas would have fallen apart. I’ll be honest, I wasn’t fully aware of who the main character is until maybe halfway through the novel. It could have gone on different routes.
The prose here is nice. Though it doesn’t get in the way. The ideas are strong enough that we don’t need visuals clouded by too much word play. At the same time the writing is never stiff. Nor is it too purple. Which is something that should be commended given the subject. As you’ve settled into the world and characters the prose does become playful and poetic by the last fourth. In fact, I’d describe the writing in the final act as beautiful. I finished this book with a bittersweet twist of somberness enclosed in a near overwhelming sense of awe.
I fell asleep last night considering the ending. The endless doors opened by the final paragraphs. In the current year, I’m sure it would have led to three to seven sequels. Instead, you’re left to consider the possibilities. Somehow, even in the end, Aldiss kept up the balancing act. He took you two thirds of the way there. It’s up to you to decide on the full picture. I loved this book and have zero complaints. It's going into my short pile of books I'll re-read.
jimbeisoath's review against another edition
3.0
“Peer through the banyan leaves and perhaps this is what you with find.” - Brian W. Aldiss
freyaeastcott's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
burns_cheadle's review against another edition
2.0
2.5 stars: A wildly imaginative tale but, frankly, just too out there for my taste. At times it felt uncomfortably close to something akin to "Teletubbies at the End of the World".
jojo_bizarre's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
zhusl33's review
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
dantastic's review against another edition
2.0
Millions of years into the future, the Earth is tidally locked with the sun and the sunny side is dominated by a banyan tree of mind-boggling size. Mile-wide plant spiders crawl from the Earth to the moon on vast webs. As for man, he is now a foot and a half high, green, and running scared all the time...
I got this from Netgalley.
I was pretty conflicted about this book. On one hand, I love the setting. Come on! A far-future earth dominated by colossal plants with giant spiders crawling from the earth to the moon and back! Telepathic mushrooms! Flying plants! Giant insects! What's not to like?
Well, there isn't much of a plot to speak of. The story starts with one band of humans, moves on to the kids they leave behind when they Go Up, and then follows two of them. I think some of this is due to the book being a patchwork of several of Aldiss' stories set on the Hothouse earth.
Still, it's not without its charms. There's a wackiness to it that I enjoyed. It reminded me of Philip Jose Farmer's [b:Dark is the Sun|303429|Dark is the Sun|Philip José Farmer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1215321509s/303429.jpg|294479] quite a bit. Also, the setting reminded me a bit of Harry Harrison's [b:Deathworld 1|2037559|Deathworld 1|Harry Harrison|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327944642s/2037559.jpg|6376454].
I guess I should wrap this up somehow. I love the setting but I don't think the story ever came close to doing it justice. Two out of five stars.
I got this from Netgalley.
I was pretty conflicted about this book. On one hand, I love the setting. Come on! A far-future earth dominated by colossal plants with giant spiders crawling from the earth to the moon and back! Telepathic mushrooms! Flying plants! Giant insects! What's not to like?
Well, there isn't much of a plot to speak of. The story starts with one band of humans, moves on to the kids they leave behind when they Go Up, and then follows two of them. I think some of this is due to the book being a patchwork of several of Aldiss' stories set on the Hothouse earth.
Still, it's not without its charms. There's a wackiness to it that I enjoyed. It reminded me of Philip Jose Farmer's [b:Dark is the Sun|303429|Dark is the Sun|Philip José Farmer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1215321509s/303429.jpg|294479] quite a bit. Also, the setting reminded me a bit of Harry Harrison's [b:Deathworld 1|2037559|Deathworld 1|Harry Harrison|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1327944642s/2037559.jpg|6376454].
I guess I should wrap this up somehow. I love the setting but I don't think the story ever came close to doing it justice. Two out of five stars.
eva_ave's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
dklouise021's review against another edition
1.0
Not my cup of tea. If you're into post-apocalyptic strangeness, you'll love it.
zhearun's review against another edition
3.0
Una trama interesante que sucede en un futuro extremadamente lejano (cerca de la muerte de nuestro Sol, miles de millones de años en el futuro), pero la mayoría del tiempo se nos están solamente introduciendo nuevas especies de plantas que actúan como animales y como lo que queda de la humanidad sobrevive a penas en este mundo y no hay nada mucho más por encima de eso. En el primer tercio de la novela revelan un secreto muy interesante que podría llevar a una historia mucho más rica pero es literalmente abandonado y no se relaciona con la trama principal hasta literalmente el último capítulo donde aparece durante un rato y apenas se le presta atención.