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leyaruth42's review
2.0
Meh. The first book was kind of interesting. This one basically became a series of wild goose chases all over the NEO to accomplish the equivalent of the typical "reboot and hope that fixes the problem". It was a bit a struggle to slog through this one. As my library doesn't carry the third book, I'll be ending this trilogy here.
csdaley's review
I didn't finish this book. Hence the no star. I got about 25% of the way and realized I just didn't care.
saphirablue's review against another edition
2.0
*urgs* This one has been disappointing.
The first ~200 pages are bascially the same events/day from different POVs with huge info dumps about these POV characters. I generally like having background on my characters but not in this way. :/
Also, some things that already bothered me in the first book (repeated information/re-telling of the same things and stupid decisions (especially the stupid decisions)) have been in this part too and happened even more often.
After the huge character background info dump the story picks up and some things have been interesting but the "certain something" has been missing. It always felt that the story/character development could be better and more interesting but, sadly, it just didn't happen.
I'm really not sure if I'm going to read the next part. On one hand, I want to know what happened to Earth but on the other hand? *urgs*
The first ~200 pages are bascially the same events/day from different POVs with huge info dumps about these POV characters. I generally like having background on my characters but not in this way. :/
Also, some things that already bothered me in the first book (repeated information/re-telling of the same things and stupid decisions (especially the stupid decisions)) have been in this part too and happened even more often.
After the huge character background info dump the story picks up and some things have been interesting but the "certain something" has been missing. It always felt that the story/character development could be better and more interesting but, sadly, it just didn't happen.
I'm really not sure if I'm going to read the next part. On one hand, I want to know what happened to Earth but on the other hand? *urgs*
gerhard's review
4.0
Warning: the sequel to heaven's Shadow begins almost immediately where the original volume ended so spectacularly, with the so-called alien 'vesicles' transporting a random assortment of people to the Keanu NEO.
Initially, I thought this lack of a proper beginning meant an inevitably weaker middle volume. However, once you get past the problematic beginning, and our intrepid sorties begin to explore the mysterious interior of Keanu, the authors carefully ratchet up the suspense and intrigue.
As with the first volume, the real joy of this is the meticulous world-building and attention to the scientific and socio-political impact of First Contact. Some people will find this boring; I think many diehard SF fans will be in, er, seventh heaven at this clever trilogy, which is shaping up to be one of the more important SF trilogies of recent times.
Hugely enjoyable, exciting to read and fun to try and work out where the authors are going with this. The ending to Heaven's War seems quieter than Heaven's Shadow, but in many respects the implications are much, much bigger. It will be fascinating to see how all this is concluded in Heaven's Fall, out in July, I think.
And an aside: some reviews have commented on the lack of characterisation. I think the characters are perfectly serviceable to the story, and there is sufficient variety and backgrounds to make for interesting interactions (there is even a science fiction writer, a hack who is a bit of a prick, and a source of much humour). The alien creatures are well thought out and truly alien. And there is even a dog and cute moppet of a child ... who turns into a vicious murderer. What is there not to like?
Initially, I thought this lack of a proper beginning meant an inevitably weaker middle volume. However, once you get past the problematic beginning, and our intrepid sorties begin to explore the mysterious interior of Keanu, the authors carefully ratchet up the suspense and intrigue.
As with the first volume, the real joy of this is the meticulous world-building and attention to the scientific and socio-political impact of First Contact. Some people will find this boring; I think many diehard SF fans will be in, er, seventh heaven at this clever trilogy, which is shaping up to be one of the more important SF trilogies of recent times.
Hugely enjoyable, exciting to read and fun to try and work out where the authors are going with this. The ending to Heaven's War seems quieter than Heaven's Shadow, but in many respects the implications are much, much bigger. It will be fascinating to see how all this is concluded in Heaven's Fall, out in July, I think.
And an aside: some reviews have commented on the lack of characterisation. I think the characters are perfectly serviceable to the story, and there is sufficient variety and backgrounds to make for interesting interactions (there is even a science fiction writer, a hack who is a bit of a prick, and a source of much humour). The alien creatures are well thought out and truly alien. And there is even a dog and cute moppet of a child ... who turns into a vicious murderer. What is there not to like?
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