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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.
taylstark's review against another edition
2.0
Adored the setting; a rich, lush, captivating world. Especially loved the imagery of earth and moon hung with web. However, I wish someone else, with a greater grasp on description, dialogue, and character, had written the story. There's a lot of potential here that Aldiss doesn't live up to. Lack of plot doesn't bother me - some of my favourite books involve utterly flat characters moving through gorgeously wrought set pieces - but this book, the use of language in particular, just utterly bored me.
spaffrackett's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyable and timeless fantasy of a strange earth.
eliaseuler's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
thomasgoddard's review against another edition
4.0
I really really enjoyed this novel! Probably more than the book actually deserves.
We follow Gren (infected with a mushroom) as he negotiates an elevation in intellect and a relocation from the environment he was born to. A far-future earth where the vegetation has taken full-dominance over the land.
Moving across the earth from one terrible misadventure to the next, Gren and a rag-tag bunch of Tummy Belly Men are bound by fate.
After you’ve read it, you’ll understand.
I love the creatures Aldiss dreams up. That seems like the total point here. It is just a classic Odyssey which acts as an excuse to describe strange other-worldly (but still our world really) creatures and landscapes. Speculative fiction at its finest, almost entirely biological speculation too which is a special kind of speculation.
Honestly, this is a three star book at best... I just really enjoyed it because I’m particularly plant mad. It is pulp sci-fi. If you like it, you’ll overlook the nonsense. There is a lot of it. But if you’re too serious this one will be your kryptonite.
We follow Gren (infected with a mushroom) as he negotiates an elevation in intellect and a relocation from the environment he was born to. A far-future earth where the vegetation has taken full-dominance over the land.
Moving across the earth from one terrible misadventure to the next, Gren and a rag-tag bunch of Tummy Belly Men are bound by fate.
After you’ve read it, you’ll understand.
I love the creatures Aldiss dreams up. That seems like the total point here. It is just a classic Odyssey which acts as an excuse to describe strange other-worldly (but still our world really) creatures and landscapes. Speculative fiction at its finest, almost entirely biological speculation too which is a special kind of speculation.
Honestly, this is a three star book at best... I just really enjoyed it because I’m particularly plant mad. It is pulp sci-fi. If you like it, you’ll overlook the nonsense. There is a lot of it. But if you’re too serious this one will be your kryptonite.
cassie7e's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.0
The adventurous, weird-world-focused sci fi spirit of Into Earth's Core (but much better written) plus the disconcerting and fantastical exploration of Oryx & Crake, with a bumbling plot. Some questionable treatment of gender and race. Overall an interesting read.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Body horror, and Violence
Minor: Sexual content
rossbm's review against another edition
3.0
(read as ebook)
A fun science fiction romp. The world is very interesting, though the characters and especially the characters get a bit tiring. The idea of plants taking over most ecological niches is cool, but most of them seem to act just like animals. I would give 3.5/5 if I could give half points.
A fun science fiction romp. The world is very interesting, though the characters and especially the characters get a bit tiring. The idea of plants taking over most ecological niches is cool, but most of them seem to act just like animals. I would give 3.5/5 if I could give half points.
justinsdrown'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.
spikespiegel's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mendelbot's review against another edition
5.0
Let me start out by saying that this book is not for everyone. It's not hard sci-fi per se, but it is a deeply thought out piece of speculitive fiction. The stuff that makes sci-fi hard for some - the weirdness, the modes of life that don't mirror our own, the strange language and dialogue - are evident on almost every page of this book.
And what a strange wonderful novel. It's set in a super far future where the sun is pre-nova and the Earth has stopped spinning, where one half of the planet is in perpetual dark and one half is the title hothouse, with a giant, continent-spanning banyan tree at its center. Vegetable and animal have morphed. Humans have seemingly devolved.
It's not a perfect book by any means: like in a lot of sci-fi, the prose is clunky at times, and the naming of characters does not seem to follow any straight forward logic. But these are minor quibbles. One of the best things about books like this is that they make you wonder at our future as a species on this planet. This is a book about our future, our world, be it one set who knows how far in the future. Within it is a sense of awe and wonder and fear and dread.
And what a strange wonderful novel. It's set in a super far future where the sun is pre-nova and the Earth has stopped spinning, where one half of the planet is in perpetual dark and one half is the title hothouse, with a giant, continent-spanning banyan tree at its center. Vegetable and animal have morphed. Humans have seemingly devolved.
It's not a perfect book by any means: like in a lot of sci-fi, the prose is clunky at times, and the naming of characters does not seem to follow any straight forward logic. But these are minor quibbles. One of the best things about books like this is that they make you wonder at our future as a species on this planet. This is a book about our future, our world, be it one set who knows how far in the future. Within it is a sense of awe and wonder and fear and dread.