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3.76 AVERAGE
3.76 AVERAGE
Let's just say that Rajaniemi's got a lot of ideas running around in his head. Lots of stuff going on in this book. Not a lot of back story, and what did came out in dribs and drabs. Kind of a jarring, disjointed read. I didn't find any of the characters likeable,except maybe Perhonen. I found that the book just kinda wound down at the end. Edgy? Maybe... I won't be jumping to read the next installment.
It was not for me. The writing was too confusing
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
challenging
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Style over substance in a world of plot armour
Do I love the lack of exposition and the alien feel of this world and the self-indulgent wordplay in French, in Finnish, and in Greek mythology references? Sure.
Is the reference to space war between Russia and the US while Paris is YOLO in the middle cool? The references to philosophers and mathematicians who sound too unhinged to be real, but are? The core theme about how exomemory is basically the internet and how we rely on it for the 'truth', absolutely chilling, blockchain notwithstanding?
Do I enjoy the Arsène Lupin Easter egg at the end, which is straight out if the ending of <i>Arsène Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes</i>? Cute
Is this novel basically a story of an OP science-wizard and his angry Finnish bodyguard slap-fighting withthe Matrix Architect ? It is.
This book falls hard into Deus-Ex-Machina-Is-Always-Boring, and even if the series fixes it in follow-up books, I can't bring myself to care.
Do you want to read some good '4D chess' with strong themes? Try <i>[book:The Practical Guide to Evil|32195178]</i>
Do I love the lack of exposition and the alien feel of this world and the self-indulgent wordplay in French, in Finnish, and in Greek mythology references? Sure.
Do I enjoy the Arsène Lupin Easter egg at the end, which is straight out if the ending of <i>Arsène Lupin versus Herlock Sholmes</i>? Cute
Is this novel basically a story of an OP science-wizard and his angry Finnish bodyguard slap-fighting with
This book falls hard into Deus-Ex-Machina-Is-Always-Boring, and even if the series fixes it in follow-up books, I can't bring myself to care.
Do you want to read some good '4D chess' with strong themes? Try <i>[book:The Practical Guide to Evil|32195178]</i>
adventurous
challenging
funny
medium-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
This is an imperfect book, and there were probably bits in the middle where I might have given up, if I gave up on books more often. I'm glad I didn't.
My basic gripe with this book was that there was just too much going on for a (nowadays) relatively short 330 pages--I'm rarely want to want books to be longer, but this time I think it would have helped. Or maybe Rajaniemi could have made things a little clear. It didn't help that things/groups like Zoku, Quiet, Cryptarchs, phoboi, tzaddikim, and gogol pirates get brought up with too little description, at least for the jumble of ideas to crystalize in my head.
It all came together at the twist--it wasn't until then that some of those groups became fully explained, I think the other may have been holding back some explanation just for the twist.
The other, minor, thing that bugged me was that I didn't feel the world was fully flushed out. Maybe the author had it pictured in his mind, but it was fragmented in mine--maybe because of the issue above, maybe for other reasons.
But I did ultimately like this, I like the way that memory was finally discussed and undermined in the end (though the memory tech seemed underexamined, unquestioned, until then). The end also made sense of the plot which had, unfortunately, suffered the same kind of unclarity through the first half of the book. (What were Mieli and the thief after? I just found it easy to get lost in this book; a reread would do wonders for my appreciation, though I'm not planning it immediately)
My basic gripe with this book was that there was just too much going on for a (nowadays) relatively short 330 pages--I'm rarely want to want books to be longer, but this time I think it would have helped. Or maybe Rajaniemi could have made things a little clear. It didn't help that things/groups like Zoku, Quiet, Cryptarchs, phoboi, tzaddikim, and gogol pirates get brought up with too little description, at least for the jumble of ideas to crystalize in my head.
It all came together at the twist--it wasn't until then that some of those groups became fully explained, I think the other may have been holding back some explanation just for the twist.
The other, minor, thing that bugged me was that I didn't feel the world was fully flushed out. Maybe the author had it pictured in his mind, but it was fragmented in mine--maybe because of the issue above, maybe for other reasons.
But I did ultimately like this, I like the way that memory was finally discussed and undermined in the end (though the memory tech seemed underexamined, unquestioned, until then). The end also made sense of the plot which had, unfortunately, suffered the same kind of unclarity through the first half of the book. (What were Mieli and the thief after? I just found it easy to get lost in this book; a reread would do wonders for my appreciation, though I'm not planning it immediately)
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Audiobook. Couldn't follow it at times. Will probably revisit with a physical copy at some point.
I felt that there were some good ideas in this book however I really didn't manage to put them together and make sense of them. Parts of it made sense to me, other parts really made no sense to me whatsoever. This may indeed not be the authors fault, but a lack of sci-fi intelligence on my part!
Complex, sometimes hard to follow, but a wonderful mind bender.