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meta_grrrl's review against another edition
4.0
Very dense and a very complex world, which may turn some folks off. Once you get through the first quarter, it flows more. Themes are around core identity, what is gender, nationality, family, and religion? How should. Time be rehabilitated? What is democracy?
Some sloppy editing in some points, but some compelling characters that made up for it. (That first quarter is hard though - expect to reread some parts - there is a payoff later)
Some sloppy editing in some points, but some compelling characters that made up for it. (That first quarter is hard though - expect to reread some parts - there is a payoff later)
lucardus's review against another edition
4.0
Hier ist wieder ein Fall, bei dem der Leser der Autorin intellektuell klar unterlegen ist, zumindest was Philosophie und Geschichte angeht. Ich bin sicher, dass ich nach einem Reread hier den 5. Punkt geben kann, momentan verweigere ich den, da ich stellenweise zu verwirrt war, um alles auseinanderzufädeln. Nicht nur, dass einige Personen den selben Namen tragen, es trägt auch nicht zur Übersichtlichkeit bei, dass geschlechterspezifische Merkmale in der Gesellschaft verpönt sind, so dass man eine andere Person mit "they" bezeichnet und sich das "he" oder "she" nicht gestattet, zuweilen weiß man es auch nicht. Ebenso verpönt ist die offene Ausübung einer Religion, es gibt Sensayer, die in allen denkbaren Religionen (und Sekten/Kulten) bewandert sind und den Menschen zur Seite stehen als eine Art Therapeut und Gesprächspartner in theologischen Fragen. Die Menschheit hat die Nationen aufgegeben, man trägt bestenfalls noch ein Armband oder ein kleines Zeichen seines Strats, seiner Nation, gehört aber einem Hive, einem "Stock" an, der einer bestimmten Philosophie angehört. Dazu kommt, dass man sich einem der drei "Laws" anschließt, wobei man zwischen White (strenge Gesetze), Grey (moderate, liberale Gesetze) und Black (sozusagen gesetzlos) entscheiden kann. Dies wird durch einen Schal kenntlich gemacht.
Ich muss Too Like the Lightning sicherlich noch einmal lesen, um die Feinheiten zu verstehen, denn zunächst ist man einfach so überflutet von den Begriffen und gesellschaftlichen Gepflogenheiten. Und wer sich in Philosophie und Geschichte auskennt, findet hier sicherlich deutlich mehr Freude.
Trotz der streckenweise Verwirrung, dem komplizierten Plot und der ungewöhnlichen Erzählart (es gibt einen Ich-Erzähler und zuweilen einen imaginären Leser, der den Ich-Erzähler rügt, ob seines Erzählens), ist das einer der interessantesten SF-Romane, die ich in den letzten Jahren gelesen habe. Wer sich etwas Kopfweh beim Lesen zutraut und einen gewissen intellektuellen Anspruch beim Leser genießt, wird hier bedient. Leider endet das Buch an einem Cliff-Hänger, der den zweiten Band erfordert. Und den werde ich sicherlich lesen.
Aber erst nach einer Erholungspause. Ada Palmer ist eine der interessantesten neuen Stimmen auf dem Gebiet der SF. Leseempfehlung! Mehrfache, damit man alles kapiert. Ein Durchgang reicht bei mir jedenfalls nicht.
Ich muss Too Like the Lightning sicherlich noch einmal lesen, um die Feinheiten zu verstehen, denn zunächst ist man einfach so überflutet von den Begriffen und gesellschaftlichen Gepflogenheiten. Und wer sich in Philosophie und Geschichte auskennt, findet hier sicherlich deutlich mehr Freude.
Trotz der streckenweise Verwirrung, dem komplizierten Plot und der ungewöhnlichen Erzählart (es gibt einen Ich-Erzähler und zuweilen einen imaginären Leser, der den Ich-Erzähler rügt, ob seines Erzählens), ist das einer der interessantesten SF-Romane, die ich in den letzten Jahren gelesen habe. Wer sich etwas Kopfweh beim Lesen zutraut und einen gewissen intellektuellen Anspruch beim Leser genießt, wird hier bedient. Leider endet das Buch an einem Cliff-Hänger, der den zweiten Band erfordert. Und den werde ich sicherlich lesen.
Aber erst nach einer Erholungspause. Ada Palmer ist eine der interessantesten neuen Stimmen auf dem Gebiet der SF. Leseempfehlung! Mehrfache, damit man alles kapiert. Ein Durchgang reicht bei mir jedenfalls nicht.
tsunni's review against another edition
Incredibly thick and dense prose that felt like wading through mud
feastofblaze's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
timinbc's review against another edition
1.0
Althea Ann makes some good remarks here, but I am going to interpret my similar reaction differently.
Palmer gives us a boy who can bring inanimate objects to life. Wow, what's going to happen with THAT? Well, by page 95 (when I bailed out) we haven't seen the kid again. We've spent the time exploring an artificial society, introducing about 87 uninteresting characters, and learning the strange rules of a new way of using gendered pronouns (roughly speaking, we use he/she based on observed behaviour, and even then only if we know the people fairly well). And nothing of interest happens.
WHAT ABOUT THE MAGIC KID?
As I put this book down, I fantasized the boy (can I call them a boy?) bringing a plastic Godzilla to life 100' tall and telling it to kill all the characters we've met so far so we can get on with the story.
I award Palmer a point for noting that singular "they" requires "themself" as its reflexive.
But they has offered me a really interesting story, then withdrawn it in favour of 100 pages of "look what a clever author I am." Sorry, I want the story and I want it now.
There have been other stories that explored pronouns and artificial societies. They generally didn't impress me either, but the ones I recall didn't leave the story behind.
I won't say you won't like this book. Obviously many have and will, but I am not among them.
Palmer gives us a boy who can bring inanimate objects to life. Wow, what's going to happen with THAT? Well, by page 95 (when I bailed out) we haven't seen the kid again. We've spent the time exploring an artificial society, introducing about 87 uninteresting characters, and learning the strange rules of a new way of using gendered pronouns (roughly speaking, we use he/she based on observed behaviour, and even then only if we know the people fairly well). And nothing of interest happens.
WHAT ABOUT THE MAGIC KID?
As I put this book down, I fantasized the boy (can I call them a boy?) bringing a plastic Godzilla to life 100' tall and telling it to kill all the characters we've met so far so we can get on with the story.
I award Palmer a point for noting that singular "they" requires "themself" as its reflexive.
But they has offered me a really interesting story, then withdrawn it in favour of 100 pages of "look what a clever author I am." Sorry, I want the story and I want it now.
There have been other stories that explored pronouns and artificial societies. They generally didn't impress me either, but the ones I recall didn't leave the story behind.
I won't say you won't like this book. Obviously many have and will, but I am not among them.
echan's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
truthlessofcanada's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Tough book to review.
To sum it up I thought almost every scene on the micro level was very good, but for a while I started to just feel like I had no idea where it was going, and what is was actually about at a macro level. But, the final chapter really reigned it in, and felt like it brought me back on course.
Ada Palmer deserves an incredible amount of credit for the world she has created, she has basically invented a new form of government/society, and made it feel plausible. Also this book has an incredibly interesting frame narrative, and narrator, who I could see being off putting cause being in his head is just at times very strange.
Also lots of distinctive supporting characters, and fantastic writing.
Really it was just a very impressive book, that I would say was very dense, but not incredibly challenging or confusing to me. Although that varies, lots of people will read something I find extremely confusing and have no problems, and then read something I don't find confusing and be lost. And while this is a challenging novel, I do not think it is an outlier compared to lots of other reasonably dense stories I have read.
This book also has a lot of political intrigue, and I do have to say I found a lot of it to be pretty obtuse, like I got the general idea, but if you are someone who as they read has to figure everything out, and why everyone is doing everything, this will be really tough. Maybe I actually didn't follow this particularly well, maybe I am simply more at peace with missing things.
Every scene with Bridger in it was amazing.
8.8/10
To sum it up I thought almost every scene on the micro level was very good, but for a while I started to just feel like I had no idea where it was going, and what is was actually about at a macro level. But, the final chapter really reigned it in, and felt like it brought me back on course.
Ada Palmer deserves an incredible amount of credit for the world she has created, she has basically invented a new form of government/society, and made it feel plausible. Also this book has an incredibly interesting frame narrative, and narrator, who I could see being off putting cause being in his head is just at times very strange.
Also lots of distinctive supporting characters, and fantastic writing.
Really it was just a very impressive book, that I would say was very dense, but not incredibly challenging or confusing to me. Although that varies, lots of people will read something I find extremely confusing and have no problems, and then read something I don't find confusing and be lost. And while this is a challenging novel, I do not think it is an outlier compared to lots of other reasonably dense stories I have read.
This book also has a lot of political intrigue, and I do have to say I found a lot of it to be pretty obtuse, like I got the general idea, but if you are someone who as they read has to figure everything out, and why everyone is doing everything, this will be really tough. Maybe I actually didn't follow this particularly well, maybe I am simply more at peace with missing things.
Every scene with Bridger in it was amazing.
8.8/10
testaroscia's review against another edition
3.0
I have a feeling I am going to regret the 3 stars, a bit like I regret them for my first Joe Abercrombie but the feelings are the same: excellent writing, an obvious set up for ongoing trilogy, introduction of plenty of characters, but a lack of a narrative arc in book one lets it down. Suggested to me from a fellow Neal Stephenson the difference, I think lies in that m Stephenson is a writer that likes to learn a lot about his subject, whereas Palmer is very learned about her subject that likes to write. Palmer's choice of a single person POV does not help in the flow as the number of characters, with interchangeable names, never get defined beyond what Mycroft describes them as. You will also need a wiki fan page to sort out not just the characters but the various groups described. Having said that, i am pretty optimistic that things will gel in book two. As someone that went to kindergarten with a Doria Pamphilj, I will be back for a second helping.
iain_dwyer's review against another edition
mysterious
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I found the pace slow. I got most of the way to the end but didn't end up finishing the story. There are some interesting ideas here about alternate ways to organize society, but the characters felt flat and under developed.