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embereye's review against another edition
4.0
This was a decent SF novel and is the beginning of a bit of a saga, but works fine as a single volume. There's a bit of a vegan/environmental theme to it, and there's a bit of consequences for the belief by humans that they are above all else... and it can be heavy handed in places, but I still found it fairly enjoyable.
captnpanda's review against another edition
4.0
City of Pearl starts in an intriguing disjointed way, trying to figure out who exactly is being thrown at you and what their significance is to the setting. It was just enough to keep me intrigued and keep me reading.
It rewards you with the interesting dilemma of how Humans perceive life outside of earth, what is the morality of exploring and sampling alien life for the sake of research and science. At first I was worried that a book that is 15 years old would come across as outdated in a moral dilemma sense, but these trials and tribulations still felt very relate-able to society today.
While Shan was a very hot and cold character to me. I would like her and then dislike her in the very next paragraph. Still having her as a focal point for a majority of the story was fitting as she has to face many challenges both with appeasing the Locals and also making her crew happy as well. The sense of her being "stuck" in the middle of Human and Alien affairs eventually transitions to the bigger scope of things, where it is no longer only Shan between Alien Political affairs and what she feels is right but now all of human race.
All in all it was a very interesting read, some events that take place which have vital important to the plot did seem a bit mulled over and rushed, only briefly revisited before the end of the book, which is the only thing keeping this book from 5 stars for me. Even most of the other characters that you are introduced to are shown such insignificance with only a few still reaching barely mentioning. It branched as far as the ending, where every loose end was wrapped up in a neat brief little bow. I would have found myself more disappointed if I didn't know this was a series. I was hoping for a more climatic almost cliffhanger ending. Even with those faults, this series has a fan so far that will keep reading.
It rewards you with the interesting dilemma of how Humans perceive life outside of earth, what is the morality of exploring and sampling alien life for the sake of research and science. At first I was worried that a book that is 15 years old would come across as outdated in a moral dilemma sense, but these trials and tribulations still felt very relate-able to society today.
While Shan was a very hot and cold character to me. I would like her and then dislike her in the very next paragraph. Still having her as a focal point for a majority of the story was fitting as she has to face many challenges both with appeasing the Locals and also making her crew happy as well. The sense of her being "stuck" in the middle of Human and Alien affairs eventually transitions to the bigger scope of things, where it is no longer only Shan between Alien Political affairs and what she feels is right but now all of human race.
All in all it was a very interesting read, some events that take place which have vital important to the plot did seem a bit mulled over and rushed, only briefly revisited before the end of the book, which is the only thing keeping this book from 5 stars for me. Even most of the other characters that you are introduced to are shown such insignificance with only a few still reaching barely mentioning. It branched as far as the ending, where every loose end was wrapped up in a neat brief little bow. I would have found myself more disappointed if I didn't know this was a series. I was hoping for a more climatic almost cliffhanger ending. Even with those faults, this series has a fan so far that will keep reading.
petealdin's review against another edition
5.0
I bought this book based on reading Traviss' Star Wars novels and wasn't disappointed. Very very good space opera with some terrific points of differences, including a parasite that basically allows the host to live forever as well pick up the dna of other species.
The environmental message in all the Wess'Har books is a little preachy, but it does suit the main character Fran. All of the characters are 3 dimensional, with their own foibles and values.
I loved it. Hope you do (did) too.
The environmental message in all the Wess'Har books is a little preachy, but it does suit the main character Fran. All of the characters are 3 dimensional, with their own foibles and values.
I loved it. Hope you do (did) too.
paradoxically's review against another edition
3.0
I both enjoyed and didn't enjoy this at the same time. For one, it's very extreme in its views. There are little or no greys in the picture, it's basically black and white, this is good and this is terrible. So yes, very preachy. On the other hand, the story was somewhat compelling, and I did enjoy the book as I read more of it. It brings up several interesting points of discussion (even if Shan is very firm on her opinions of said points of discussion).
That said, I disliked the fact that all of the scientists were terrible people who were either obnoxious or completely morally defunct (or both at once). They were all portrayed as money hungry people who were, quite frankly, rather stupid as well as narrow minded and shallow. It bugged me.
As for Shan herself--it was a mixed bag of feelings. I liked her, but her views were a bit too extremist for me (her hate for the human race just sort of made me shrug). Her personality however? That I liked. The directness, the stubbornness, the way she did what she thought was best every time with no compromise was refreshing to see. Those traits made me like her. I just disliked some of her thoughts, ha. Aras, too, was fun to read. Lonely and detached, he made an interesting read by way how differently he thought.
So both good and bad. I liked reading it and I disliked it as well. Solid 3 stars from me.
That said, I disliked the fact that all of the scientists were terrible people who were either obnoxious or completely morally defunct (or both at once). They were all portrayed as money hungry people who were, quite frankly, rather stupid as well as narrow minded and shallow. It bugged me.
As for Shan herself--it was a mixed bag of feelings. I liked her, but her views were a bit too extremist for me (her hate for the human race just sort of made me shrug). Her personality however? That I liked. The directness, the stubbornness, the way she did what she thought was best every time with no compromise was refreshing to see. Those traits made me like her. I just disliked some of her thoughts, ha. Aras, too, was fun to read. Lonely and detached, he made an interesting read by way how differently he thought.
So both good and bad. I liked reading it and I disliked it as well. Solid 3 stars from me.
eric_conrad's review against another edition
4.0
Biological Future
Thoughts on life respecting other means of life. Thoughts on what first contact would mean for the human race. Thoughts on what religion will be like in the future. All of these thoughts made this book a success for me. Plus having two very engaging characters made this book a great reading experience.
Thoughts on life respecting other means of life. Thoughts on what first contact would mean for the human race. Thoughts on what religion will be like in the future. All of these thoughts made this book a success for me. Plus having two very engaging characters made this book a great reading experience.
sweetpeppah's review against another edition
3.0
a smart book... lots of ideas and philosophies flying around, which i liked. military, environmental, cultural, gender and moral conflicts at every turn. possibly over-complex... it certainly doesn't fit any typical space opera plot mold :) i found the characters a little flat, but they were sympathetic and i enjoyed sharing the story with them.
lauric_acid's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-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
4.5
wildflowerz76's review against another edition
1.0
I got this rec from a list of SF/F books with strong female protagonists. And maybe this one fits in that category, but I couldn't get far enough to tell. None of the character's story was filled out enough for me to care about them. I was extremely bored. Around page 70 or so, I kept skipping large sections hoping for something-ANYTHING to happen. I didn't. So I'm lemming this one. To be fair, I generally don't read a whole lot of SF, though I am a fan of Rama and the Vorkosigan series. I passed this one on the husband to see if he'd be into it.
fbone's review against another edition
2.0
This was 392 pages of nothingness. The world creation was ok but minimal. There was such a good opportunity for more development but Traviss didn't take advantage of it. The storyline was straightforward with no surprises. The book just ended neatly with no climax. Nothing here.
patrickkanouse's review
4.0
Very impressed with this book. Great story. Great characters. I will be reading the rest of the series based on this.