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thehappybooker's review against another edition
5.0
What happens when an A-list writer combines a detective story with time-travel themes? Five stars, that's what.
It introduced me to one of my new favorite sci-fi toys: the bobble, which encompasses a large or small area into an impermeable bubble that stops everything inside it, enabling people to pop out of the bubble many years later - even millions of years later.
Great quote (p 261 in ebook): "Biological evolution has no special tendency toward sapience; it heads blindly toward local optima."
I'm not going to spoil the book's plot, but it has at its center a heartbroken, grief-stricken woman who must piece together the circumstances of her beloved's death, and an unusual detective who helps her solve the mystery. Highly recommended.
It introduced me to one of my new favorite sci-fi toys: the bobble, which encompasses a large or small area into an impermeable bubble that stops everything inside it, enabling people to pop out of the bubble many years later - even millions of years later.
Great quote (p 261 in ebook): "Biological evolution has no special tendency toward sapience; it heads blindly toward local optima."
I'm not going to spoil the book's plot, but it has at its center a heartbroken, grief-stricken woman who must piece together the circumstances of her beloved's death, and an unusual detective who helps her solve the mystery. Highly recommended.
elliottback's review against another edition
5.0
What if you could bobble yourself safely away in stasis while the years pass? And what if inside your bobble you were safe from anything in the universe? That's the premise!
sashkello's review against another edition
4.0
Well, dragging myself through the first book was quite worth it, as I enjoyed this sequel quite a bit. A murder mystery + political intrigue with a very interesting sci-fi twist which adds another dimension to the story. I felt like the tucked-in love story towards the end was a bit unnecessary, but that's a minor quibble.
jessring's review against another edition
5.0
This is a murder-mystery, sci-fi gem. Classic but not dated.
Imagine a technology that allowed you to encase yourself in an indestructible bobble where you are in stasis until the bobble opens after a predetermined amount of time - a year, 10 years, 10,000 years. Some might play the stock market then bobble themselves for 100 years and come out to claim their riches. Some might just want to travel ahead to enjoy a more advanced civilization. What would happen when this technology is abused and used against people? What would happen if you came out of your bobble and everything was gone?
This is part of a series but a very stand-alone book. I was advised to read this first but I will be going back to read The Peace War.
Imagine a technology that allowed you to encase yourself in an indestructible bobble where you are in stasis until the bobble opens after a predetermined amount of time - a year, 10 years, 10,000 years. Some might play the stock market then bobble themselves for 100 years and come out to claim their riches. Some might just want to travel ahead to enjoy a more advanced civilization. What would happen when this technology is abused and used against people? What would happen if you came out of your bobble and everything was gone?
This is part of a series but a very stand-alone book. I was advised to read this first but I will be going back to read The Peace War.
heagma's review against another edition
4.0
MiR is a great thrilling book.
" For those who are marooned without hope of rescue" gives a more special meaning when reading the victim's diary . That was a truly sense of loneliness.
I did not read the first book but it was not necessary to enjoy this one.
" For those who are marooned without hope of rescue" gives a more special meaning when reading the victim's diary . That was a truly sense of loneliness.
I did not read the first book but it was not necessary to enjoy this one.
cstack's review against another edition
5.0
A well-paced murder mystery in a creative setting (and pretty short!)
Cool ideas in the book:
- Humans + sufficiently high tech = effective gods
- What happens at the singularity? By definition, nobody knows.
- One weird trick to experience vast stretches of time and witness geologic/cosmologic-scale developments
- What's an acceptable cost to ensure the continuation of humankind?
Notes on second reading:
- This book and its sequel have a pretty unique time travel mechanic. You can only travel forward in time, but you're basically unlimited in how far you can go. I also love that it explores all the different ways you can exploit the technology (e.g. "nuking out")
- This form of time travel really plays into the fantasy I have as a fan of science and sci-fi: living to see all the things you learn about the future. Both technological advances, and large-scale processes like tectonic shifts, climate change, procession of orbits, lifecycle of stars, the death of the universe.
- This book has an interesting answer to the fermi paradox: civilizations eventually reach a singularity and transcend comprehension. It's a play on a similar theory that civilizations eventually self annihilate.
Cool ideas in the book:
- Humans + sufficiently high tech = effective gods
- What happens at the singularity? By definition, nobody knows.
- One weird trick to experience vast stretches of time and witness geologic/cosmologic-scale developments
- What's an acceptable cost to ensure the continuation of humankind?
Notes on second reading:
- This book and its sequel have a pretty unique time travel mechanic. You can only travel forward in time, but you're basically unlimited in how far you can go. I also love that it explores all the different ways you can exploit the technology (e.g. "nuking out")
- This form of time travel really plays into the fantasy I have as a fan of science and sci-fi: living to see all the things you learn about the future. Both technological advances, and large-scale processes like tectonic shifts, climate change, procession of orbits, lifecycle of stars, the death of the universe.
- This book has an interesting answer to the fermi paradox: civilizations eventually reach a singularity and transcend comprehension. It's a play on a similar theory that civilizations eventually self annihilate.
morninglightmountain's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
tincan6's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
3.5
Part sci-fi, part survival story, and part mystery. It slogs a little in the middle as it tries to carry all these genres, using mystery premise to explore its world at expense of a thrilling mystery. It's well done in the beginning, with fascinating concepts, and the ending is decent.
ladamic's review against another edition
3.0
The future in this book is incredibly interestingly imagined. But there is no action (unless you count some tame arguing, database lookups and reading a diary of someone living with monkeys as action) for the first 70+% of this book. The Agatha Christie murder mystery framing could have worked, but somehow did not add excitement to the plot.
thomcat's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyed the first book, rating brought down by several elements that didn't belong. Those are gone here, but this murder mystery isn't as good. Both books were released together (adding a short story between) in one volume later on. Unlike the other two, this novel would not stand on its own.
The tale kicks off with little introduction, nearly in media res. I fumbled to figure out whether Will was Wili (no) and Della was Della (yes), and where they fit in this timeline. Turns out they are now a LONG ways past the time of the first novel, and that past is eventually explored. Will is a cop, a police detective, and was a pretty good one. After he disappeared, his son wrote stories about him, making him out to be Sherlock Holmes. This element would have been great to introduce earlier.
If you haven't figured out from the previous paragraph, time plays a major role in this novel, and time travel is only one way - downstream. This is an interesting aspect, and the author uses this to discuss the end of humanity - were we taken out by an enemy or did we "move on" due to the singularity? The author's views seem clear by the end of the book. He also published an essay a few years later titled "The Coming Technological Singularity".
This book, the first book, the series - all good, but not great. The author is more well known for his trilogy starting with "A Fire Upon the Deep" and his short stories. I rated his collection "True Names and other Dangers" five stars, and would recommend anyone start there.
The tale kicks off with little introduction, nearly in media res. I fumbled to figure out whether Will was Wili (no) and Della was Della (yes), and where they fit in this timeline. Turns out they are now a LONG ways past the time of the first novel, and that past is eventually explored. Will is a cop, a police detective, and was a pretty good one. After he disappeared, his son wrote stories about him, making him out to be Sherlock Holmes. This element would have been great to introduce earlier.
If you haven't figured out from the previous paragraph, time plays a major role in this novel, and time travel is only one way - downstream. This is an interesting aspect, and the author uses this to discuss the end of humanity - were we taken out by an enemy or did we "move on" due to the singularity? The author's views seem clear by the end of the book. He also published an essay a few years later titled "The Coming Technological Singularity".
This book, the first book, the series - all good, but not great. The author is more well known for his trilogy starting with "A Fire Upon the Deep" and his short stories. I rated his collection "True Names and other Dangers" five stars, and would recommend anyone start there.