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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
I found this book pretty absorbing, but I was turned off by the big fat deus ex machina. It's one thing to have an organic, sentient alien space station. It's another thing to have that sentient station come in toward the end, communicate directly and in English with the protagonist, and explain that everything has happened because she's a bit dim and thinks human culture is kind of neat. I dunno, that was a let-down. I like it when authors give you the information to piece together satisfactory explanations for yourself; I don't like it so much when they feel the need to tell you all about how clever they've been.
I don't think the book holds up well. I'm admittedly curious about the other two in the series, but I don't think I'll be rushing right out to get them.
I don't think the book holds up well. I'm admittedly curious about the other two in the series, but I don't think I'll be rushing right out to get them.
adventurous
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The main characters are portrayed as female and I didn't think the male author gave any real insight into them beyond what this male reviewer could have dreamed up. Nor did the fantasy setting drive as much thinking as I had remembered from my previous reading decades ago when the book was knew. I think both I and the genre have moved on. OK for a light read but I'm not going to go on to the sequels, even though I still have them.
Couldn't get into it. Also, the sex scenes before I'd even met the characters felt rushed and also, not safe for work.
Trippy in an old school science fiction sense. Worth a read for its outlandishness but also feels dated somehow. It’s an OK read.
This BigDumbObject/Greek mythology in space mashup won the Locus Award in 1980 and was nominated for Hugo and Nebula. It is the start of a trilogy.
A scientific exploration team finds a hollow, 1000 kilometers huge, Standford torus-like BDO near Saturn. This [b:2001: A Space Odyssey|70535|2001 A Space Odyssey (Space Odyssey, #1)|Arthur C. Clarke|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1386608704s/70535.jpg|208362] intro changes rapidly to a more fantasy oriented narrative: The spaceship gets destroyed and the team members pass through some psychedelic scenes and find themselves within the BDO. The members' psyche was changed, since they are now capable to communicate with the BDO's inhabitants, e.g. whistling to intelligent zeppelins. A couple of them have a different personality, e.g. from strict scientist to emotional.
They get involved in a war between centaur-like beings who speak a language based on music and humanoids similar to angels.
And they decide to ascend hundreds of kilometers to the middle of the torus to speak to the BDO's captain or god or engineers. An epic and heroic deed!
One of the main themes is the recurring notion of sex variants - not that it is explicit but it seems to be very important for Varley: You'll find lesbians, naked-climbing and nude-parachuting ("nice angle", lol), the usual rape scene and sex in space descriptions, here.
There are lot of references to movies and books. I wonder about the mentioning of a [b:Dune|234225|Dune (Dune Chronicles, #1)|Frank Herbert|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1385263142s/234225.jpg|3634639] movie when they talk about that gigantic sandworm: The movie came out in 1984 (ah, Sting as Feyd Harkonnen was hilarious) whereas Titan was published in 1979. Which means that the Dune movie was SF at that time, right?
The world-building is entertaining but not as good as in the similar but much earlier [b:Rendezvous with Rama|112537|Rendezvous with Rama (Rama, #1)|Arthur C. Clarke|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1357153807s/112537.jpg|1882772]. The crazy setup with the fantasy elements comes to a logical conclusion.
Characterizations and character development are excellent, the dialogues and interactions believable.
I only found some of the technical world descriptions confusing and had to google some pictures of the BDO.
In summary, I enjoyed and liked this novel and I'll read at least the second part of the trilogy later on.
A scientific exploration team finds a hollow, 1000 kilometers huge, Standford torus-like BDO near Saturn. This [b:2001: A Space Odyssey|70535|2001 A Space Odyssey (Space Odyssey, #1)|Arthur C. Clarke|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1386608704s/70535.jpg|208362] intro changes rapidly to a more fantasy oriented narrative: The spaceship gets destroyed and the team members pass through some psychedelic scenes and find themselves within the BDO. The members' psyche was changed, since they are now capable to communicate with the BDO's inhabitants, e.g. whistling to intelligent zeppelins. A couple of them have a different personality, e.g. from strict scientist to emotional.
They get involved in a war between centaur-like beings who speak a language based on music and humanoids similar to angels.
And they decide to ascend hundreds of kilometers to the middle of the torus to speak to the BDO's captain or god or engineers. An epic and heroic deed!
One of the main themes is the recurring notion of sex variants - not that it is explicit but it seems to be very important for Varley: You'll find lesbians, naked-climbing and nude-parachuting ("nice angle", lol), the usual rape scene and sex in space descriptions, here.
There are lot of references to movies and books. I wonder about the mentioning of a [b:Dune|234225|Dune (Dune Chronicles, #1)|Frank Herbert|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1385263142s/234225.jpg|3634639] movie when they talk about that gigantic sandworm: The movie came out in 1984 (ah, Sting as Feyd Harkonnen was hilarious) whereas Titan was published in 1979. Which means that the Dune movie was SF at that time, right?
The world-building is entertaining but not as good as in the similar but much earlier [b:Rendezvous with Rama|112537|Rendezvous with Rama (Rama, #1)|Arthur C. Clarke|https://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1357153807s/112537.jpg|1882772]. The crazy setup with the fantasy elements comes to a logical conclusion.
Characterizations and character development are excellent, the dialogues and interactions believable.
I only found some of the technical world descriptions confusing and had to google some pictures of the BDO.
In summary, I enjoyed and liked this novel and I'll read at least the second part of the trilogy later on.
This is solidly written sci-fi, much in the vein of works like Philip José Farmer's Riverworld and Niven's Ringworld. It feels sparse in comparison to Varley's The Ophiuchi Hotline and his short story 'The Persistance of Vison', a truly stunning work.
That said, reading about Cirocco Jones and her, oh so faithful, companion Gabby working their way through the trials and tribulations was entertaining. For me, the sexual politics enlivens what could be a fairly rote sci-fi situation.
That said, reading about Cirocco Jones and her, oh so faithful, companion Gabby working their way through the trials and tribulations was entertaining. For me, the sexual politics enlivens what could be a fairly rote sci-fi situation.
whoever recommended me this as an lgbt book is going to hell. what in the goddamn
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual content
Moderate: Incest
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
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
lighthearted
slow-paced
I had to stop when I got to the cuddly centaurs. I was hoping for something a little harder...