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clunttoo's review
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
It’s a very ambitious book. The world building is great and all of the lore re: androids and the amusement park and the history of Hope City is super engaging. The characters, however, are flat and dull. Eliana is the character we spend the most time with, and she’s extremely inconsistent and seems to devolve over the course of the story, which is a little disheartening.
The prose isn’t great either, but the dialogue makes up for that by being snappy and entertaining.
The prose isn’t great either, but the dialogue makes up for that by being snappy and entertaining.
hamja's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-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
2.5
colossal's review
4.0
Android noir set in Antarctica.
Oh? You're still here? I thought you'd have switched over to amazon to hit buy several times by now.
In an alternate 20th century Hope City is an Antarctic colony built around nuclear power plants which supply power to the Argentine mainland. It's a domed city which encloses a human settlement supported by sentient maintenance drones and an abandoned amusement park which houses a handful of sentient androids. The story is about a Eliana, a PI saving to leave for the mainland, her boyfriend, a gangster named Diego, the leader of the androids, a former pleasure android Sofia and a cyborg noblewoman Marianella. There's also the gangster boss Cabrera and Sofia's wonderful right-hand android Luciano.
All of these characters are beautifully realized, from Eliana's confusion around staying or leaving, Diego's love for Eliana and also his father-figure Cabrera, Marianella's one-foot-in-both-worlds issues and Sofia's desperate struggle to overcome her programming. Almost every main character is torn by their duality and it's just wonderfully played out.
However, I will say that this feels incomplete. It very much feels like a duology, and like when I read [b:The Assassin's Curse|13533650|The Assassin's Curse (The Assassin's Curse, #1)|Cassandra Rose Clarke|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335967954s/13533650.jpg|18229805] there's absolutely no indication anywhere I can find that there's going to be a second volume. It's actually this incompleteness that makes me drop a star for an otherwise wonderful book.
For context these were the last three books I gave 4 star reviews to:
[bc:Last Song Before Night|23704941|Last Song Before Night|Ilana C. Myer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1432245329s/23704941.jpg|43314142] [bc:This Census-Taker|25489159|This Census-Taker|China Miéville|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1439829142s/25489159.jpg|45263607] [bc:Infidel|11470277|Infidel|Kameron Hurley|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1317841525s/11470277.jpg|16404567]
Oh? You're still here? I thought you'd have switched over to amazon to hit buy several times by now.
In an alternate 20th century Hope City is an Antarctic colony built around nuclear power plants which supply power to the Argentine mainland. It's a domed city which encloses a human settlement supported by sentient maintenance drones and an abandoned amusement park which houses a handful of sentient androids. The story is about a Eliana, a PI saving to leave for the mainland, her boyfriend, a gangster named Diego, the leader of the androids, a former pleasure android Sofia and a cyborg noblewoman Marianella. There's also the gangster boss Cabrera and Sofia's wonderful right-hand android Luciano.
All of these characters are beautifully realized, from Eliana's confusion around staying or leaving, Diego's love for Eliana and also his father-figure Cabrera, Marianella's one-foot-in-both-worlds issues and Sofia's desperate struggle to overcome her programming. Almost every main character is torn by their duality and it's just wonderfully played out.
However, I will say that this feels incomplete. It very much feels like a duology, and like when I read [b:The Assassin's Curse|13533650|The Assassin's Curse (The Assassin's Curse, #1)|Cassandra Rose Clarke|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1335967954s/13533650.jpg|18229805] there's absolutely no indication anywhere I can find that there's going to be a second volume. It's actually this incompleteness that makes me drop a star for an otherwise wonderful book.
For context these were the last three books I gave 4 star reviews to:
[bc:Last Song Before Night|23704941|Last Song Before Night|Ilana C. Myer|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1432245329s/23704941.jpg|43314142] [bc:This Census-Taker|25489159|This Census-Taker|China Miéville|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1439829142s/25489159.jpg|45263607] [bc:Infidel|11470277|Infidel|Kameron Hurley|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1317841525s/11470277.jpg|16404567]
derek_hudgin's review
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
slow-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? No
3.75
Slow-paced Sci-Fi political drama.
Loved the setting & premise of the book: city within a dome of Antarctica. Reliant on mainland money and power to keep it going, and power starts failing in the dead of winter months while those who strive for more independence are growing more anxious and powerful.
I didn’t love the execution though. I felt like a lot and nothing happened most of the time. The character focused chapters worked well for the most part, but some of the main events or information came from a passing mention rather than reading it happen. It wasn’t a big deal until the party scene roughly 1/2 or 2/3 of the way through the book.
Elaina is essentially the protagonist of the story, maybe Marinella. Either way, the Midwinter Ball scene was told from Diego’s perspective, a minor player in the grand scheme of things. Elaina learning that he was more than a mob errand boy was a huge moment for her character and decisions. We should have seen that revelation from her perspective
Overall, the array of characters who all had different agendas were mishmashed together in a way that wasn’t satisfying. I think taking away the forced perspectives and leaving the story as a general 3rd person telling would have helped more.
Loved the setting & premise of the book: city within a dome of Antarctica. Reliant on mainland money and power to keep it going, and power starts failing in the dead of winter months while those who strive for more independence are growing more anxious and powerful.
I didn’t love the execution though. I felt like a lot and nothing happened most of the time. The character focused chapters worked well for the most part, but some of the main events or information came from a passing mention rather than reading it happen. It wasn’t a big deal until the party scene roughly 1/2 or 2/3 of the way through the book.
Overall, the array of characters who all had different agendas were mishmashed together in a way that wasn’t satisfying. I think taking away the forced perspectives and leaving the story as a general 3rd person telling would have helped more.
robynldouglas's review
4.0
Antarctica! Androids! Gangsters! Drones! Politics! What isn't there to love in here, really? An enjoyable alternative universe tale of a South Pole colony and the strivings of its inhabitants.
katherineg's review against another edition
3.0
Didn't quite live up to the awesomeness of its premise - a dystopian noir mystery set in a domed colony in Antarctica with robots that are becoming self-aware, gangsters, etc. Suffered a bit from slow pacing and a lack of any humor or warmth. Overall it was a solid read, but I didn't enjoy it as much as Clarke's Assassin's Curse books.
bullintheheather's review
5.0
On Antarctica, the mouldering ruins of an amusement park celebrating androids, intelligent machines, and the future of tomorrow are the basis for a small town at the end of nowhere: Hope City. Most of its denizens have never seen the mainlands or the sun, and some dream of escaping the hard realities of this domed city forever. We meet four characters, whose hopes and plans for Hope City are not just disparate but fundamentally incompatible.
The book was fast paced and drew me in immediately- I read this in almost a single sitting and at the end was a little disappointed it couldn't just keep going. The mysteries of the city are the main undercurrent, but it's the depth of the characters that draws you in.
The book was fast paced and drew me in immediately- I read this in almost a single sitting and at the end was a little disappointed it couldn't just keep going. The mysteries of the city are the main undercurrent, but it's the depth of the characters that draws you in.
celiaedf12's review
3.0
I liked the concept of this book - people living in Antartica under a dome, political struggles, robots fighting for freedom - but the story just didn't grab me for some reason.
kribu's review
4.0
Somewhere between three and four stars. Hard to decide with this one, really.
It took me a long while to actually get into this book - the pace was very slow to begin with (at least for me) and trying to make sense of the world (I suppose .. Argentinian android noir in Antarctica in a rather alternative timeline in a somewhat unspecified time (1970s? 1980s? thereabouts?)) took some time, but once it got going, and I was drawn into this world and the characters and the actual plot started to unravel, it was really quite good.
I think.
Possibly.
Anyway, yeah. Odd book, one I had to be in the mood for reading, but one I really don't regret reading.
It took me a long while to actually get into this book - the pace was very slow to begin with (at least for me) and trying to make sense of the world (I suppose .. Argentinian android noir in Antarctica in a rather alternative timeline in a somewhat unspecified time (1970s? 1980s? thereabouts?)) took some time, but once it got going, and I was drawn into this world and the characters and the actual plot started to unravel, it was really quite good.
I think.
Possibly.
Anyway, yeah. Odd book, one I had to be in the mood for reading, but one I really don't regret reading.