Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.46 AVERAGE
3.46 AVERAGE
Tade Thompson is a fantastic author. Their Rosewood Trilogy is an evocative work of world-building better than almost any other science fiction series that immediately comes to my mind. I was hopeful that this novel was a fraction as good as those books were, and really shouldn't have had any doubts at all. Far from the Light of Heaven kept my attention the whole way through. I devoured it! Great narrative, great characters, and a locked-room mystery that you'll never solve on your own. This is such a wonderful book. Read it immediately, everyone.
Space opera muy decente con una idea bastante original de especie alienígena que desafortunadamente no acaba de saber delinear con claridad. Aún así, kudos por la idea y por casi conseguir llevarla al papel. Es el clásico asesinato "a puerta cerrada", pero en nave espacial. 4⭐ enteras.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Murderbot-adjacent. Wry AI personalities, out of control AI, hapless humans, etc. Little lacking in wrapping it all up but entertaining.
Saw AFTER reading the book (I don't read reviews/detailed synopsis first) that many people didn't like this but, also, those people seemed mostly to have a problem with THIS author writing outside of 'their' genre. I have no idea who this author is, went into it totally clean, and enjoyed the book FWIW.
Saw AFTER reading the book (I don't read reviews/detailed synopsis first) that many people didn't like this but, also, those people seemed mostly to have a problem with THIS author writing outside of 'their' genre. I have no idea who this author is, went into it totally clean, and enjoyed the book FWIW.
This is the best "not good" book that I actually wanted to finish. It's weird, it has all the ingredients of an awesome sci-fi story but it just kind of misses the mark.
The action sequences were not super well described, the sci-fi concepts were neat at a surface level but not well explored, and the murder mystery angle kind of just meanders along without a compelling conclusion. It felt like ideas, characters and plotlines were casually introduced and discarded and then the book ends.
It might click with other people, but if you're not super into it by the first chunk it doesn't really get better.
The action sequences were not super well described, the sci-fi concepts were neat at a surface level but not well explored, and the murder mystery angle kind of just meanders along without a compelling conclusion. It felt like ideas, characters and plotlines were casually introduced and discarded and then the book ends.
It might click with other people, but if you're not super into it by the first chunk it doesn't really get better.
I absolutely loved this sci-fi space mystery and I’m truly confused as to why it’s so poorly rated on GRs. Is it perfection? No. But it’s by no means bad and I think the mystery is solid - it’s a solid book overall IMO. I zipped through the audiobook and it was by far my most enjoyable audiobook as of late. I am waiting for my Rosewater hold to come in, hopefully much sooner than later.
Boo, this could’ve been a masterpiece!
Essentially this is a “who done it?” murder room mystery set in space. We are introduced to Captain Shell Campion, who wakes from her 10 year sleep to 31 dead passengers. Next we meet Rasheed Fin, an investigator with a mysterious background that has left him on eternal temp leave, and his AI synth Salvo. Lawrence, an old friend of Campion, and his strange daughter Joké make up the players of the mystery.
The group struggle to survive murderous bots, a rogue ship AI, and keeping the ship functional. Also on board are just under 1000 sleeping passengers, which raises the stakes.
The story also includes POVs from people in the Lagos system. From these mixed points of view we learn about the history of Lagos, from its establishment, its aliens, and of the planet Bloodroot. This book also goes further into the politics of space colonization in general, from Earth and beyond.
The world(s) that Tade Thompson made feel very real. If we started space travel and attempting space colonization tomorrow I would not blink an eye if the politics of it all was exactly like in this book.
The disappointing thing is that these details are far more exciting than the main plot of the book! We are also introduced to different aspects of the greater whole of space travel in sections, leading me to go “oh?” several times as I realized what was being introduced. It just didn’t have a good flow.
I think that this just didn’t work as a single novel. The world building distracted from the murder mystery and vice versa. I struggled to care for the characters and the mystery. In fact I kept walking away from the book for weeks and only finished it today because it’s become overdue at the library and I need to return it tomorrow!
Essentially this is a “who done it?” murder room mystery set in space. We are introduced to Captain Shell Campion, who wakes from her 10 year sleep to 31 dead passengers. Next we meet Rasheed Fin, an investigator with a mysterious background that has left him on eternal temp leave, and his AI synth Salvo. Lawrence, an old friend of Campion, and his strange daughter Joké make up the players of the mystery.
The group struggle to survive murderous bots, a rogue ship AI, and keeping the ship functional. Also on board are just under 1000 sleeping passengers, which raises the stakes.
The story also includes POVs from people in the Lagos system. From these mixed points of view we learn about the history of Lagos, from its establishment, its aliens, and of the planet Bloodroot. This book also goes further into the politics of space colonization in general, from Earth and beyond.
The world(s) that Tade Thompson made feel very real. If we started space travel and attempting space colonization tomorrow I would not blink an eye if the politics of it all was exactly like in this book.
The disappointing thing is that these details are far more exciting than the main plot of the book! We are also introduced to different aspects of the greater whole of space travel in sections, leading me to go “oh?” several times as I realized what was being introduced. It just didn’t have a good flow.
I think that this just didn’t work as a single novel. The world building distracted from the murder mystery and vice versa. I struggled to care for the characters and the mystery. In fact I kept walking away from the book for weeks and only finished it today because it’s become overdue at the library and I need to return it tomorrow!
This is a decent read but I can't help but feel it would have been better had it been more targeted. It was part mystery, part action, part social commentary. None of them were bad but I feel I would have preferred depth over breadth, particularly in the latter half.