Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
I didn't hate reading this, but I had some major problems with it. I don't feel like going in to major detail about the ins and outs of what worked for me and what didn't. Overall, the story was a good idea but poorly executed. There were random love triangles and uncomfortably written sexual themes that had no place in the story an completely took me out of the environment. It felt as if free love was just thrown in because it made the authors own personal mental penis hard. The descriptions were lacking, so the reader has to rely heavily on their imagination and do a large amount of guess work as to what the author was trying to convey. I love science-fiction, so it was still fun to read it but at the same time, finishing this book a little bit of a chore. I'd still recommend anyone to read this, just to form their own opinion of it and enjoy it for what it is.
Not at all what I was expecting from the blurb. It had some very interesting parts and parts where they were just traveling. Traveling is usually boring. Writers, please use more jump cuts for the traveling. Get to the destination where the really interesting stuff is. Sure, you try to put interesting side stuff in along the way, but it just gets in the way of where we are traveling to.
This book is definitely a first act of a three act trilogy. I will probably pick up the second book at some point. 3.5 stars.
This book is definitely a first act of a three act trilogy. I will probably pick up the second book at some point. 3.5 stars.
John Varley's Titan exceeded all expectations and became one of the most fun books of the year for me. The world, the characters, and the plot all were great, making the novel a very enjoyable read.
Titan tells the story of a NASA crew that finds themselves violently pulled into a mysterious, alien world. The story focuses around the captain of the ship, Cirocco.
While at first I was a bit put-off by the technical jargon, I was relieved to find that this mostly disappeared. Looking back, it's not too egregious, and I'm sure fans of the genre have come to love this. The story has a great pace and the plot never seems like it hits a snag. Varley does a great job of cultivating a sense of adventure and wonder with his writing. I was also surprised to find that he did a good job of creating dread. While I'm generally a bit of a hard-ass when it comes to putting pictures in novels (and believe me when I saw Titan is chock-full of them), I grew to love the pictures. That isn't to say that Varley's descriptions are sub-par, however.
Fantasy and sci-fi stories often fall prey to being exposition heavy. Titan fixes this problem by having the characters thrust into a foreign setting - placing them in the same position as the readers. We are just as mystified by the colorful cast of creatures that Titan has to offer.
While all the characters aren't flushed out, I don't really believe they have to. The characters that we spend the most time with, Cirocco, has depth, which I appreciate given we follow her so much. I similarly enjoy that she wasn't sexualized.
I can't stop gushing about the book. It was simple, yet interesting. It was suspenseful at parts, comedic in others. I was at the edge of my seat and found it hard to stop reading.
I praised the last novel I read for being a standalone story in a genre where series are the norm. I was going to do the same for Titan, but after completing the book, I learned that it was the first in a trilogy. Despite being the first book, the story doesn't end on a cliffhanger, and as evidenced by my belief, it works well as a solo story. With everything wrapped up, readers are fine to finish the saga here.
However, I myself want to see what else Varley has to offer, so I'll see you all in Wizard, book two of the Gaea trilogy!
If you like sci-fi, or even just a good adventure story, I cannot recommend this book enough.
Titan tells the story of a NASA crew that finds themselves violently pulled into a mysterious, alien world. The story focuses around the captain of the ship, Cirocco.
While at first I was a bit put-off by the technical jargon, I was relieved to find that this mostly disappeared. Looking back, it's not too egregious, and I'm sure fans of the genre have come to love this. The story has a great pace and the plot never seems like it hits a snag. Varley does a great job of cultivating a sense of adventure and wonder with his writing. I was also surprised to find that he did a good job of creating dread. While I'm generally a bit of a hard-ass when it comes to putting pictures in novels (and believe me when I saw Titan is chock-full of them), I grew to love the pictures. That isn't to say that Varley's descriptions are sub-par, however.
Fantasy and sci-fi stories often fall prey to being exposition heavy. Titan fixes this problem by having the characters thrust into a foreign setting - placing them in the same position as the readers. We are just as mystified by the colorful cast of creatures that Titan has to offer.
While all the characters aren't flushed out, I don't really believe they have to. The characters that we spend the most time with, Cirocco, has depth, which I appreciate given we follow her so much. I similarly enjoy that she wasn't sexualized.
I can't stop gushing about the book. It was simple, yet interesting. It was suspenseful at parts, comedic in others. I was at the edge of my seat and found it hard to stop reading.
I praised the last novel I read for being a standalone story in a genre where series are the norm. I was going to do the same for Titan, but after completing the book, I learned that it was the first in a trilogy. Despite being the first book, the story doesn't end on a cliffhanger, and as evidenced by my belief, it works well as a solo story. With everything wrapped up, readers are fine to finish the saga here.
However, I myself want to see what else Varley has to offer, so I'll see you all in Wizard, book two of the Gaea trilogy!
If you like sci-fi, or even just a good adventure story, I cannot recommend this book enough.
This was a waste of an audible credit and my time. I'm sure this was really edgy and shocking for 1979, but this just was not for me.
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
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
I hated this book. Filled with un-necessary hornyness, and it turns into a weird rip off of the wizard of oz . A real slog.
Big, messy, loopy, with a lot of sex and no doubt a lot of assumptions about women and sex, but you know what? It hung together for me. Looking forward to the next one.
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
this took me long af to finish but thats beside the point. there was a lot in this book that pleasantly surprised me. the most central characters being female (AND GAY???) was very unexpected for an older science fiction book and I was very glad for it. but there was also some very unnecessary plot point like the sexual assault... I really don't think that added to the story whatsoever and gene's insanity could've been shown some other way. the male characters that weren't titanides were so annoying i didn't like a single one. but I did enjoy this for its "exploring an unknown world" aspect, the middle portion of the book was my favorite by far. I loved the titanides they were very interesting to me. and gaby and cirocco in the spoke post gene was also very enjoyable. the ending was a little meh in terms of reveal bc it felt a bit wizard of oz gimmicky and lazy since she just explains everything in a conversation. I didn't expect to want to continue with this series but tbh im curious to read the second one. in interested to see how cirocco and gaby develop and what goes down with gaea getting older.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
No plot, no character development, creepy male gaze vibes, disturbing rape scene.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape