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3.71 AVERAGE
3.71 AVERAGE
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Body horror, Murder
I flipped through a lot of it because I was curious about the plot but the writing didn't grip me. (And I'm annoyed by "lone genius" stories. The Frankenstein references seemed to miss the point of Frankenstein.) My biggest problem with it was that wrt to the pacing, I thought it should be a short story.
It's a weird book, I'm certain many disaster movies were inspired by it.
It's a weird book, I'm certain many disaster movies were inspired by it.
dark
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-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:
Complicated
I think this is the first book I have started reading and given up on this year. The protagonist was awful and annoying, would never have lasted in any lab I've worked in as long as he did in Genetron's, and somehow only became more insufferable when he injected himself with his experiment. Ugh. Fortunately my partner reminded me that I could stop reading the book, and I instantly became three times as happy.
Check out my full, spoiler-free, video review HERE.
Great start and premise, diverges into something not expected but still overall good.
Great start and premise, diverges into something not expected but still overall good.
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
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:
Yes
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
It's a story about a genetically engineered intelligence that sets out to take over the world. I’ve been fascinated with Telhard de Chardin’s idea of the “noosphere” for decades, ever since reading about it in Tom Wolfe’s essay “Sorry, but Your Soul Just Died” (1997). I set out reading this novel cold, with no inkling of its contents other than knowing that Bear takes a rather “out there” approach to crafting his plots in that he pushes popular sci-fi concepts to their absolute extremes. So it was a nice surprise to discover the imagined noosphere that anchors this novel, especially seeing as it was published nearly 20 years before noospherics became popular following 𝘛𝘩𝘦 𝘔𝘢𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘹 films. There’s not much humanity to connect to in this tale, and Bear’s prose isn’t exactly artistic, but the book’s central conceit is absorbing enough to make this a thought provoking science fiction romp that veers off into unexpectedly shocking directions.
dark
hopeful
medium-paced