Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.52 AVERAGE
3.52 AVERAGE
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The most fun I've had reading a science fiction book since I discovered The Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy as a kid.
Try to read it within a few days if you can, it gets a little hard to remember which alien species is which.
Try to read it within a few days if you can, it gets a little hard to remember which alien species is which.
A hilarious Eurovision-in-space with humanity's very existence at stake. I love Valente's near stream-of-consciousness style and descriptions that draw very well deserved comparisons to Douglas Adams. Great, and I'm both looking forward to reading the recently released sequel and seeing Valente at Norwescon in a month.
Hitchhikers Guide meets the “Get Schwifty” episode of Rick & Morty, with a protagonist more radically divine than David Bowie.
This just didn't grab me, I bounced off the affectations of the prose, and didn't find any characters to keep me involved with it. DNF
challenging
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
If, like me, the music and aesthetic of 1970s David Bowie, the writing of Douglas Adams (specifically the Hitchhiker's Guide) and the bonkers-ness of the Eurovision Song Contest float your boat, you could do a lot worse than dive into this slice of pop-crazed sci-fi/fantasy. Regularly laugh-out-loud funny, and imaginative to the max, Valente's writing is so much fun to read, though I could have done without quite as many breathlessly long sentences. It's an interesting structure, telling snippets of the (fairly thin) story about Dess and his bandmate Oort hurling across the galaxy to take part in a song contest that will decide the fate of humanity, interspersed with diversions focused on how this or that alien species came to be as they are, which felt VERY Hitchhiker's (a reference the author gratefully acknowledges in the afterword). Each time one of these starts you can't escape the curiosity of the thought "what will she come up with next?" And you will never predicwhat she does come up with!
All in all, it's a very fun time. Highly recommended.
All in all, it's a very fun time. Highly recommended.
English Review Below.
بدأت قراءة الرواية وأنا متخيلة أني هقرأ كتاب يشبه مسابقة الغناء يوروفيجن فقط لكن في الفضاء، لأني بحبها جدا، وكانت مفاجأة لطيفة أن الكاتبة نفسها من معجبات يوروفيجن، وأن دي رؤيتها للرواية. كل فصل عنوانه هو اسم أغنية من أغاني يوروفيجن.
وبصراحة الرواية دي تضمنت أفضل مشهد غزو فضائي للأرض والأكثرهم إضحاكا. فالقصة الرئيسية هنا هي أن الأرض هتشارك في مسابقة غنائية بين المجرات والكواكب، لكن المشكلة هي أن الخاسر يتم نسف كوكبه وتدمير شعبه، فيصبح الحل الوحيد هو تعيين فرقة روك راح عليها الزمن لإنقاذ الأرض، لكونهم الوحيدين المؤهلين من وجهة نظر الفضائيين.
الجدير بالذكر أن كل أبطال فرقتنا عايشين في بريطانيا ومعاهم الجنسية البريطانية بس محدش منهم إنجليزي الأصل منهم الباكستاني والتركي، فبيطرح تساؤل قوي عن الهويات والجنسيات وكمان مقارنة تدمير البشر لكوكبهم باللي ممكن تعمله مخلوقات فضائية تانية.
الرواية غير مترجمة وأسلوب الكتابة بتاعها صعب شوية، فمش برشحها للمبتدئين، لأن فيه وصف كتير جدا جدا وصفات كتيرة وجمل مطولة ومخلوقات فضائية وكواكب أكثر مما كان بوسعي تذكره مع نهاية الكتاب، لكن في النهاية يظل كان كتابا ممتعا لأقصى حد. وكمان حسيت أن بطلنا الرئيسي "ديسيبل جونز" يشبه "ديفيد بوي" شوية في أسلوبه وملابسه ووصفه.
ورغم أن الكتاب بيتم مقارنته بروايات دليل المسافر عبر المجرة، لكني شايفاه أقرب لمسلسل "ريك أند مورتي" وخصوصا أن أحداث الرواية تشبه بالظبط حلقة "غيت شويفتي" واللي بتبقى مهمة ريك ومورتي أنهم ينقذوا كوكب الأرض من الدمار بغناء أغنية. فاللي بيحبوا ريك ومورتي ومتمرسين شوية في القراءة الإنجليزية، هيحبوا الرواية دي. كمان محبي كوميك وفيلم "سكوت بيلجرم" هيحبوا الرواية عشان الجانب الموسيقى والغرابة والطرافة اللي فيها برضة.
I started reading this book thinking the synopsis makes it seem like it's Eurovision in Space, and it was a nice surprise that the author is actually a fan of Eurovision, and that's the vision she had for the book. The title of each chapter is a title of Eurovision song from across the years, and there are some important songs also splitting the book into parts.
This novel had one of the funniest and most entertaining "alien invasion" chapters/scenes at all. As it's about a song contest in space to prove sentience, and Earth is the newcomer, and whoever places last, gets annihilated, and Earth has to resort to an old rock band, since they're the only one fir for this competition from the point of view of the aliens. Also, it's worth to note that all the main characters despite having the British nationality, living in England, they're all not originally English. This poses a big question of identity and nationality and it's importance or lack thereof. It also poses an important question of "are we sentient?" making us face many of the examples that seriously make me doubt the human race once again.
The writing style is just hard, like it's a rock and roll party in a book form, a lot of adjectives, and it was so busy that it was hard to keep track of some things, but on the other hand, it was wild, hilarious, imaginative and just fun. Also Did anyone else feel that Decibel Jones is somehow inspired by David Bowie? Especially in outfits and attitude and "re-branding"?
It's described as "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" meets Eurovision, but I'd say it's more Rick and Morty, as the events of the book are literally the episode "Get Shwifty". Also the bizareness of everything is just so "Rick and Morty". I also think that fans of "Scott Pilgrim" would enjoy the music aspect and the bizareness.
بدأت قراءة الرواية وأنا متخيلة أني هقرأ كتاب يشبه مسابقة الغناء يوروفيجن فقط لكن في الفضاء، لأني بحبها جدا، وكانت مفاجأة لطيفة أن الكاتبة نفسها من معجبات يوروفيجن، وأن دي رؤيتها للرواية. كل فصل عنوانه هو اسم أغنية من أغاني يوروفيجن.
وبصراحة الرواية دي تضمنت أفضل مشهد غزو فضائي للأرض والأكثرهم إضحاكا. فالقصة الرئيسية هنا هي أن الأرض هتشارك في مسابقة غنائية بين المجرات والكواكب، لكن المشكلة هي أن الخاسر يتم نسف كوكبه وتدمير شعبه، فيصبح الحل الوحيد هو تعيين فرقة روك راح عليها الزمن لإنقاذ الأرض، لكونهم الوحيدين المؤهلين من وجهة نظر الفضائيين.
الجدير بالذكر أن كل أبطال فرقتنا عايشين في بريطانيا ومعاهم الجنسية البريطانية بس محدش منهم إنجليزي الأصل منهم الباكستاني والتركي، فبيطرح تساؤل قوي عن الهويات والجنسيات وكمان مقارنة تدمير البشر لكوكبهم باللي ممكن تعمله مخلوقات فضائية تانية.
الرواية غير مترجمة وأسلوب الكتابة بتاعها صعب شوية، فمش برشحها للمبتدئين، لأن فيه وصف كتير جدا جدا وصفات كتيرة وجمل مطولة ومخلوقات فضائية وكواكب أكثر مما كان بوسعي تذكره مع نهاية الكتاب، لكن في النهاية يظل كان كتابا ممتعا لأقصى حد. وكمان حسيت أن بطلنا الرئيسي "ديسيبل جونز" يشبه "ديفيد بوي" شوية في أسلوبه وملابسه ووصفه.
ورغم أن الكتاب بيتم مقارنته بروايات دليل المسافر عبر المجرة، لكني شايفاه أقرب لمسلسل "ريك أند مورتي" وخصوصا أن أحداث الرواية تشبه بالظبط حلقة "غيت شويفتي" واللي بتبقى مهمة ريك ومورتي أنهم ينقذوا كوكب الأرض من الدمار بغناء أغنية. فاللي بيحبوا ريك ومورتي ومتمرسين شوية في القراءة الإنجليزية، هيحبوا الرواية دي. كمان محبي كوميك وفيلم "سكوت بيلجرم" هيحبوا الرواية عشان الجانب الموسيقى والغرابة والطرافة اللي فيها برضة.
I started reading this book thinking the synopsis makes it seem like it's Eurovision in Space, and it was a nice surprise that the author is actually a fan of Eurovision, and that's the vision she had for the book. The title of each chapter is a title of Eurovision song from across the years, and there are some important songs also splitting the book into parts.
This novel had one of the funniest and most entertaining "alien invasion" chapters/scenes at all. As it's about a song contest in space to prove sentience, and Earth is the newcomer, and whoever places last, gets annihilated, and Earth has to resort to an old rock band, since they're the only one fir for this competition from the point of view of the aliens. Also, it's worth to note that all the main characters despite having the British nationality, living in England, they're all not originally English. This poses a big question of identity and nationality and it's importance or lack thereof. It also poses an important question of "are we sentient?" making us face many of the examples that seriously make me doubt the human race once again.
The writing style is just hard, like it's a rock and roll party in a book form, a lot of adjectives, and it was so busy that it was hard to keep track of some things, but on the other hand, it was wild, hilarious, imaginative and just fun. Also Did anyone else feel that Decibel Jones is somehow inspired by David Bowie? Especially in outfits and attitude and "re-branding"?
It's described as "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy" meets Eurovision, but I'd say it's more Rick and Morty, as the events of the book are literally the episode "Get Shwifty". Also the bizareness of everything is just so "Rick and Morty". I also think that fans of "Scott Pilgrim" would enjoy the music aspect and the bizareness.
Hitchhikers Guide to the Galaxy but make it Eurovision. Sweet, very funny, maybe a little lacking in the plot department
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Edit: I came back and decided to round my 3.5 up because there really were lots of great moments that stuck with me--the Esca arriving on Earth, the various aliens trying to kill or maim Decibel and Oort, the semifinals, the "sex" scene, "Everything Just Gets So Fucked Up Sometimes," etc. It just took a lot of sludging through alien backstories to get there.
I'm a big Catherynne Valente fan and I was really looking forward to this one, but I think it's ended up one of my least favorite of her works, which is really a shame. The concept is truly excellent, and I love the over-the-top style and all of Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeros. Unfortunately, a huge chunk of the book is taken up by infodumping about random alien species. And I wanted that to be cool and fun and interesting but it mostly... wasn't, not because the ideas weren't cool, but because the descriptions were so long and tenuously connected to what was actually happening with the characters and you end up going, "Okay, and why do I care about this?" about a dozen times.
The first 10% of the book is interesting, and then it stalls out until the 60% mark (when we actually arrive at Space Eurovision, which is what I'm reading the book for), where it does pick up but it keeps dropping in and out from there. The actual plot could easily have been written as a short story or novella, and the rest of the book is world-building--but not in ways that feel really connected to the main plot or characters. It sort of feels like the author was having a little too much fun coming up with all these cool random alien concepts, which hey, no shade, but it didn't make for gripping reading.
I did love the weird-as-fuck ending, and the general joy and glitter and fun. The vibes of the book were on point. But something about the actual construction fell down for me. I would have liked a lot more of Decibel Jones and Oort, who we really only spent a couple of hours with. It gets half a star just for this line, though:
Overall, still an enjoyable read, and even my least favorite Catherynne Valente book is going to be a three stars minimum. Love what she was trying to do, just wasn't as amazing as I wanted it to be.
I'm a big Catherynne Valente fan and I was really looking forward to this one, but I think it's ended up one of my least favorite of her works, which is really a shame. The concept is truly excellent, and I love the over-the-top style and all of Decibel Jones and the Absolute Zeros. Unfortunately, a huge chunk of the book is taken up by infodumping about random alien species. And I wanted that to be cool and fun and interesting but it mostly... wasn't, not because the ideas weren't cool, but because the descriptions were so long and tenuously connected to what was actually happening with the characters and you end up going, "Okay, and why do I care about this?" about a dozen times.
The first 10% of the book is interesting, and then it stalls out until the 60% mark (when we actually arrive at Space Eurovision, which is what I'm reading the book for), where it does pick up but it keeps dropping in and out from there. The actual plot could easily have been written as a short story or novella, and the rest of the book is world-building--but not in ways that feel really connected to the main plot or characters. It sort of feels like the author was having a little too much fun coming up with all these cool random alien concepts, which hey, no shade, but it didn't make for gripping reading.
I did love the weird-as-fuck ending, and the general joy and glitter and fun. The vibes of the book were on point. But something about the actual construction fell down for me. I would have liked a lot more of Decibel Jones and Oort, who we really only spent a couple of hours with. It gets half a star just for this line, though:
Because the opposite of fascism isn’t anarchy, it’s theater. When the world is fucked, you go to the theater, you go to the shine, and when the bad men come, all there is left to do is sing them down.
Overall, still an enjoyable read, and even my least favorite Catherynne Valente book is going to be a three stars minimum. Love what she was trying to do, just wasn't as amazing as I wanted it to be.
funny
lighthearted
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes