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frasersimons's review against another edition
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
This was a bit conflicting for me. The ending was fun but a bit tropey, yet it also fits the character work done, and does slightly plug the holes in the world building, especially for the factions, which were on the very light side, this go around.
It’s an improvement over the last one. Better, and more interesting plot and plotting; questions about the ship and the circle are answered; there is a murder mystery with a twist. It is also quite myopic. Dee interacts with so few people that the plot is a bit of a razors edge, the solipsism contributing to it feeling contrived, but the consequences feeling somewhat justified. I do think I overall enjoy the plot enough and how it relates to Dee in the end. Had it been more fleshed out, this could have been really great, though.
**Spoiler thoughts**
One of the detractors is that it ends up being technophobic, which feels somewhat antiquated, even if it does walk a certain line, since it’s the arguably true that Dee behaved and acted the way she did, and it does call into question her character, dealing with them in a satisfying way. But the whole morally grey but just self aware A.I thing feels like it there could have been more payoff across the series, rather than it being sprung on solely in this one. It feels like it slightly cheapens it.
It’s an improvement over the last one. Better, and more interesting plot and plotting; questions about the ship and the circle are answered; there is a murder mystery with a twist. It is also quite myopic. Dee interacts with so few people that the plot is a bit of a razors edge, the solipsism contributing to it feeling contrived, but the consequences feeling somewhat justified. I do think I overall enjoy the plot enough and how it relates to Dee in the end. Had it been more fleshed out, this could have been really great, though.
**Spoiler thoughts**
One of the detractors is that it ends up being technophobic, which feels somewhat antiquated, even if it does walk a certain line, since it’s the arguably true that Dee behaved and acted the way she did, and it does call into question her character, dealing with them in a satisfying way. But the whole morally grey but just self aware A.I thing feels like it there could have been more payoff across the series, rather than it being sprung on solely in this one. It feels like it slightly cheapens it.
booksmacked's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
chlcrc617's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
ipsograph's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
4.0
hanz's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Grief, Gun violence, Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Injury/Injury detail, and Murder
shadyeglenn's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kvothe's review against another edition
4.0
Still good, but much less mystery driven than the first three, which made the book a bit weaker for me and made the ending less rewarding.
mabs's review against another edition
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
librarian_of_trantor's review against another edition
3.0
Disappointing compared to the other books in series. Too much of the action takes place in VR games for my tastes.
SERIOUS SPOILERS TO FOLLOW!!!
It will be interesting to see where Newman takes the story from here. We have an interstellar colony in crisis, built around an enigmatic artifact that appears to be drawing intelligent life there to transcend to some higher plane of existence. Earth suffered a nuclear war that may be the end of human life there. Another ship is on its way to the colony, a ship launched by genocidal religious fanatics who started said war so no one would follow them. But those on the ship who gave the order were killed for that crime, presumably creating serious leadership issues for the rest of the journey and its arrival at the colony. And the AI who runs the ship has become sentient and seems to have some serious mental health issues like all the main human protagonists. The fact that a handful of survivors from the doomed Martian colony are also on their way to the interstellar colony seems like a sidebar. But I could see Newman turning that into an interesting plot twist.
SERIOUS SPOILERS TO FOLLOW!!!
It will be interesting to see where Newman takes the story from here. We have an interstellar colony in crisis, built around an enigmatic artifact that appears to be drawing intelligent life there to transcend to some higher plane of existence. Earth suffered a nuclear war that may be the end of human life there. Another ship is on its way to the colony, a ship launched by genocidal religious fanatics who started said war so no one would follow them. But those on the ship who gave the order were killed for that crime, presumably creating serious leadership issues for the rest of the journey and its arrival at the colony. And the AI who runs the ship has become sentient and seems to have some serious mental health issues like all the main human protagonists. The fact that a handful of survivors from the doomed Martian colony are also on their way to the interstellar colony seems like a sidebar. But I could see Newman turning that into an interesting plot twist.