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thestarman's review
3.0
VERDICT: 3.0 stars overall. Well-written but low on action. Book 1 in a series.
oedipa_maas's review against another edition
4.0
Good sci-fi with unexpected characters, reactions, plot twists, and power dynamics. Refreshing in this often overly dark and very often misogynistic genre.
tahinibread's review against another edition
Like being beaten over the head with a environmentalism shovel by a ‘centrist’ British journalist (derogatory) with a complete lack of self-awareness. Author voice so immediately contemptible I found myself reading with a sneer of disgust.
cmoldes's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
inspiring
reflective
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
4.5
I've been meaning to read this since reading Traviss' Republic Commando series over a decade ago, and she didn't disappoint. A really thoughtful look at a clash of cultures, and what it means to stand by your principles.
salamander_snail's review
adventurous
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Sci-fi is ultimately a means to talk about the things that are important to us in the present day, and Traviss does that immaculately here. City of Pearl is an intriguing journey to the very edges of human space-faring civilisation where we meet creatures and face dilemmas unlike anything we are familiar with. But really it is a story about environmentalism, violence, and what we justify in the name of our principles.
pantsyreads's review against another edition
4.0
(Review originally posted on my livejournal account: http://intoyourlungs.livejournal.com/29688.html)
Why I Read It: This was calico_reaction's Dare for the month of December as well as the selection for The Women of Science Fiction book club.
When I first cracked open this book, I think it's worth mentioning that I had little to no idea what it was actually about. I had even avoided reading the summary for the book. I had reasonably high expectations for it because of calico_reaction's original review for it (which you can read here) but not SUPER high. So it was with glee that I found myself midly surprised at just how much I enjoyed reading this novel.
This might sound kind of calloused of me, but I get kind of annoyed when I read stories that have colonization themes. Of course I hate it when underrepresented people get the short end of the stick, and I do get infuriated by the unfairness (to understate it a bit) of colonization in general, but reading these kinds of stories has also become incredibly predictable. You have the repressed people who are usually attuned to the earth somehow, then the evil Usually Rich and Privileged come along and totally take their land and start killing the earth and stuff!! But there's always one person from the evil side who is sound of mind and joins the victims and saves the day!! Not only is this trend problematic to underreprestented people, but it's become repetitive and boring. So I was mildly concerned at first when it started becoming clear what the storyline of this book would be. Shan was going to be the person from the "evil" side of things who was going to be on the side of the Wess'har and the colonists on Cavanagh's Star. The Earth people were obviously going to be evil and were going to want to take over the planet because they're greed capitalist bastards.
And well, that IS how things play out. BUT, and I can't exactly put my finger on why, I still liked this story. I liked it a lot. In fact, I kind of fell in love with it.
I think the best part of the novel was Aras. He is seriously one of the most awesome characters I have come across recently and I absolutely loved him to pieces. He's an incredibly tragic hero, and yes, he bemoans his fate, but never in an annoying and overbearing way. He's also incredibly charismatic (without even realizing it probably) and intelligent, and capable, but his sad situation makes him vulnerable and thus I was able to connect with him. In a lot of ways he's cold and detached (you would have to be, to kill as many beings as Aras has), which you would THINK would make it difficult to like him, so it was awesome what Traviss did with him.
Shan herself is also an admirable character. She's the typical Bad Ass Female in many ways, but there was a lot of little things that set her apart. For one, Shan is fairly old. She's not OLD OLD, but she's no youngin' either. There's also very little focus on any kind of romance. She has a crush on one of the soldiers but for various reasons they can't hook up (and reading about Shan's frustrations over this was actually quite amusing) but other than that, no romance. She also has a somewhat stable (though not so much by the end of the book) friendship with another woman, Lindsay.
Together though? Shan and Aras are an amazing pair. What I loved most about them was that Aras found Shan childlike in many ways, as well as a comforting presence, and Shan felt the same way about Aras, but for different reasons. There was true comraderie between them and their scenes together were some of my favorite.
I've talked a lot about characters here and very little about the other aspects of the novel, such as the writing or the plot. To be honest, I don't have a whole lot to say other than it was good and I really enjoyed it. The reason I enjoyed it so much though was because I was so invested in the characters. Shan and Aras were obviously my favourites, but the secondary characters were equally awesome and developed (for the most part). Events happened in the story that either made me really happy or really mad, and they did because I cared. So yes, it did have a lot of tropes that I mentioned above that I usually find predictable and thus boring, but because I was so invested in the characters, I didn't care.
Final Judgment: I usually find stories of James Cameron's Avatar variety to be kind of boring; they're predictable and preachy (despite my caring for the subject matter). So you can imagine my surprise when I ended up loving this story that adopts many similar tropes. Where this novel truly shines is its characters because the main and secondary ones are well-rounded and developed and makes you care. Shan and Aras in particular were a wonderful duo. This is the first in a six book series and I can't wait to read more.
Why I Read It: This was calico_reaction's Dare for the month of December as well as the selection for The Women of Science Fiction book club.
When I first cracked open this book, I think it's worth mentioning that I had little to no idea what it was actually about. I had even avoided reading the summary for the book. I had reasonably high expectations for it because of calico_reaction's original review for it (which you can read here) but not SUPER high. So it was with glee that I found myself midly surprised at just how much I enjoyed reading this novel.
This might sound kind of calloused of me, but I get kind of annoyed when I read stories that have colonization themes. Of course I hate it when underrepresented people get the short end of the stick, and I do get infuriated by the unfairness (to understate it a bit) of colonization in general, but reading these kinds of stories has also become incredibly predictable. You have the repressed people who are usually attuned to the earth somehow, then the evil Usually Rich and Privileged come along and totally take their land and start killing the earth and stuff!! But there's always one person from the evil side who is sound of mind and joins the victims and saves the day!! Not only is this trend problematic to underreprestented people, but it's become repetitive and boring. So I was mildly concerned at first when it started becoming clear what the storyline of this book would be. Shan was going to be the person from the "evil" side of things who was going to be on the side of the Wess'har and the colonists on Cavanagh's Star. The Earth people were obviously going to be evil and were going to want to take over the planet because they're greed capitalist bastards.
And well, that IS how things play out. BUT, and I can't exactly put my finger on why, I still liked this story. I liked it a lot. In fact, I kind of fell in love with it.
I think the best part of the novel was Aras. He is seriously one of the most awesome characters I have come across recently and I absolutely loved him to pieces. He's an incredibly tragic hero, and yes, he bemoans his fate, but never in an annoying and overbearing way. He's also incredibly charismatic (without even realizing it probably) and intelligent, and capable, but his sad situation makes him vulnerable and thus I was able to connect with him. In a lot of ways he's cold and detached (you would have to be, to kill as many beings as Aras has), which you would THINK would make it difficult to like him, so it was awesome what Traviss did with him.
Shan herself is also an admirable character. She's the typical Bad Ass Female in many ways, but there was a lot of little things that set her apart. For one, Shan is fairly old. She's not OLD OLD, but she's no youngin' either. There's also very little focus on any kind of romance. She has a crush on one of the soldiers but for various reasons they can't hook up (and reading about Shan's frustrations over this was actually quite amusing) but other than that, no romance. She also has a somewhat stable (though not so much by the end of the book) friendship with another woman, Lindsay.
Together though? Shan and Aras are an amazing pair. What I loved most about them was that Aras found Shan childlike in many ways, as well as a comforting presence, and Shan felt the same way about Aras, but for different reasons. There was true comraderie between them and their scenes together were some of my favorite.
I've talked a lot about characters here and very little about the other aspects of the novel, such as the writing or the plot. To be honest, I don't have a whole lot to say other than it was good and I really enjoyed it. The reason I enjoyed it so much though was because I was so invested in the characters. Shan and Aras were obviously my favourites, but the secondary characters were equally awesome and developed (for the most part). Events happened in the story that either made me really happy or really mad, and they did because I cared. So yes, it did have a lot of tropes that I mentioned above that I usually find predictable and thus boring, but because I was so invested in the characters, I didn't care.
Final Judgment: I usually find stories of James Cameron's Avatar variety to be kind of boring; they're predictable and preachy (despite my caring for the subject matter). So you can imagine my surprise when I ended up loving this story that adopts many similar tropes. Where this novel truly shines is its characters because the main and secondary ones are well-rounded and developed and makes you care. Shan and Aras in particular were a wonderful duo. This is the first in a six book series and I can't wait to read more.
literally_laura's review against another edition
3.0
I had a bit of a hard time getting into this book. I don't really think that is due to a problem in the writing as much as an overwhelmed brain being unable to process truly unique ideas. I'm very glad I pushed through it, as about 1/3 of the way in everything finally clicked and I ended up really enjoying this book. Humans really are shit, aren't we? I don't think I'll ever look at another plant or animal the same.
adelaidemetzger_robotprophet's review against another edition
4.0
Yes, this is Karen Traviss’ first original novel. Yes, you should read it if you’ve enjoyed her work before. And, yes, there is Karen-drama galore!
As usual, Traviss has an extreme connection with her characters and plays off of our emotions to tell the story. I know I shouldn’t have expectations for books because it throws off what the author may have been trying to get across, but I went into this expecting some kind of Karen-drama moment to satisfy my girly, emotional side. I got what I asked for, but the kind of feelings Traviss stirs in you are not simple blues and reds. I didn’t feel simply “angry,” or simply “sad,” (that’s not a mistake, I don’t think I’ve felt “happy” when reading her realistic work). I found myself reacting with--what I can only describe as--a soft storm of sad, angry, disturbed, taught, and thunderous tension with every serious plot turn.
The writer part of me loved this (the more drama the better)! As a reader, I felt as helpless as the unfortunate characters, but you didn’t really expect butterflies and flowers on this hostile-looking alien planet, did you? Traviss does a wonderful job here making you feel for Aras, the primary alien character, who crosses paths with Shan Chail, the primary human character. I wish I had read this earlier in the summer instead of at the beginning of a college semester so I could actually pay attention to all the wonderful themes this book and its characters had to offer, but there was so much philosophy that I missed because I was distracted with real life.
Traviss is amazing. I want to say first off that she’s not just a writer who loves science fiction. This girl has credibility up the wazoo and it’s seen in her writing as she’s served in the Royal Navy and Territorial Army. In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen a Traviss book that isn’t involved with some kind of military plot device. This more technical style of writing may be difficult for some people, but if you can overlook the army talk, this is truly a great piece of literature.
As usual, Traviss has an extreme connection with her characters and plays off of our emotions to tell the story. I know I shouldn’t have expectations for books because it throws off what the author may have been trying to get across, but I went into this expecting some kind of Karen-drama moment to satisfy my girly, emotional side. I got what I asked for, but the kind of feelings Traviss stirs in you are not simple blues and reds. I didn’t feel simply “angry,” or simply “sad,” (that’s not a mistake, I don’t think I’ve felt “happy” when reading her realistic work). I found myself reacting with--what I can only describe as--a soft storm of sad, angry, disturbed, taught, and thunderous tension with every serious plot turn.
The writer part of me loved this (the more drama the better)! As a reader, I felt as helpless as the unfortunate characters, but you didn’t really expect butterflies and flowers on this hostile-looking alien planet, did you? Traviss does a wonderful job here making you feel for Aras, the primary alien character, who crosses paths with Shan Chail, the primary human character. I wish I had read this earlier in the summer instead of at the beginning of a college semester so I could actually pay attention to all the wonderful themes this book and its characters had to offer, but there was so much philosophy that I missed because I was distracted with real life.
Traviss is amazing. I want to say first off that she’s not just a writer who loves science fiction. This girl has credibility up the wazoo and it’s seen in her writing as she’s served in the Royal Navy and Territorial Army. In fact, I don’t think I’ve seen a Traviss book that isn’t involved with some kind of military plot device. This more technical style of writing may be difficult for some people, but if you can overlook the army talk, this is truly a great piece of literature.
pussreboots's review against another edition
2.0
http://pussreboots.pair.com/blog/2016/comments_01/city_of_pearl.html
sarah_d's review
4.0
This book took me a bit to get into, mainly because I have a hard time when, right at the beginning of the book, several unfamiliar terms are introduced with no explanation. My brain gets caught up trying to puzzle out what these terms mean so that I can understand what's happening, and I can't move on until I do.
Luckily, I was ultimately able to move on and I'm glad I did because this was a really, really enjoyable scifi novel. The world Traviss created was compelling, I was interested in the plot and all the different dynamics between the various groups of aliens and humans, and it even made me pause to think a bit about humanity and our values (even our "good" values) and what those might look like to outsiders.
The book was very entertaining and tidied up loose ends in a way that you don't always see in a series, and that might be the best part, that there's a whole series of books following this one! I definitely look forward to reading more.
Luckily, I was ultimately able to move on and I'm glad I did because this was a really, really enjoyable scifi novel. The world Traviss created was compelling, I was interested in the plot and all the different dynamics between the various groups of aliens and humans, and it even made me pause to think a bit about humanity and our values (even our "good" values) and what those might look like to outsiders.
The book was very entertaining and tidied up loose ends in a way that you don't always see in a series, and that might be the best part, that there's a whole series of books following this one! I definitely look forward to reading more.