Reviews

The Citadel of Weeping Pearls by Aliette de Bodard

micksland's review against another edition

3.0

3.5 stars

Nominee: 2015 Locus Award for Best Novella

While I enjoyed this novella, I didn’t like it as much as the prequel “On a Red Station, Drifting”. The story is about a space station that goes missing, and a series of families are torn apart by the event. The novella explores parent-child relationships and grief in the face of the missing citizens’ unknown fates.

The writing is absolutely gorgeous and the worldbuilding is excellent. However, the plot is very complex and in my opinion moves much too quickly for the novella format. Several plot threads ended abruptly because there just wasn’t space to explore them. Finally, the ending was extremely abrupt, and I found it to be somewhat unsatisfying. I’ll definitely read other stories in this universe, and I hope the author eventually chooses to explore some of her excellent ideas in a longer work.

sillypunk's review against another edition

5.0

These are all so wonderful: https://blogendorff.com/2019/05/27/book-review-citadel-of-weeping-pearls/

pshotts's review

challenging dark mysterious 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

3.75

mey's review

3.75

It's a story of empire, of politics and war, of time, of mothers and daughters and sisters. The world-building is pretty amazing, and the ending perfect, even if there was little characterisation and plot.

ginnikin's review against another edition

I liked [b:On a Red Station, Drifting|17182955|On a Red Station, Drifting|Aliette de Bodard|https://images.gr-assets.com/books/1356531127s/17182955.jpg|23630347] better, but I think it was because it was tight on two POV characters that I really liked. I didn't bond with any of the characters in this one. I still liked it, though.

karireads's review against another edition

emotional tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

airyen's review

adventurous mysterious sad medium-paced

4.5

anna_hepworth's review

fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

This is an immense, richly detailed setting, with details that are so far into future science that they are magic with pretty labels, and it was an absolute delight to read. Multiple viewpoint characters, across a range of class levels in a highly hierarchical empire, each with a unique inner voice that made reading them so easy to distinguish. 

And while it is, to some extent, a story of political intrigue and space based war, those are the edges of the story, the big picture backdrop to an intensely personal set of stories about family, love, and loss. 

jmronbeck's review

challenging emotional mysterious medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

zoes_human's review against another edition

adventurous

4.0