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3.77 AVERAGE
3.77 AVERAGE
A frightening moral tale, well written, fun to read, slightly heartbreaking in how very possible it all seems.
adventurous
dark
mysterious
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
hopeful
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
I was excited to return to Atrus as a main character, and happy to meet more people from other Ages. I loved Marrim! As with the other two, it took quite some time to get the story moving-- Miller spent a lot of time setting up the return to D'ni and introducing characters who didn't truly matter to the main conflict of the book.
The main conflict of the book and especially its resolution left a sour taste in my mouth. It felt very much like a white savior narrative. The attempt to excuse it via lore was done halfheartedly and unconvincingly. I had to really remember that it's a product of its time and this was probably pretty standard for what you'd expect from stories like this.
The new characters, however, were a treat with a broad range of personalities and viewpoints. I appreciated the diversity in opinion that the characters presented, making the conflict a little more nuanced than it could have been. Another appreciation I have for it is that even though it's set after the events of the video game (at least Myst, I'm not as sure about the others), it doesn't spoil anything.
All in all, I am glad I read the book, but the trilogy could have been left as a duology and would have been much better that way, in my opinion.
The main conflict of the book and especially its resolution left a sour taste in my mouth. It felt very much like a white savior narrative. The attempt to excuse it via lore was done halfheartedly and unconvincingly. I had to really remember that it's a product of its time and this was probably pretty standard for what you'd expect from stories like this.
The new characters, however, were a treat with a broad range of personalities and viewpoints. I appreciated the diversity in opinion that the characters presented, making the conflict a little more nuanced than it could have been. Another appreciation I have for it is that even though it's set after the events of the video game (at least Myst, I'm not as sure about the others), it doesn't spoil anything.
All in all, I am glad I read the book, but the trilogy could have been left as a duology and would have been much better that way, in my opinion.
adventurous
dark
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This popped up in a vast batch of old sci-fi paperbacks donations at a book sale at the library I work at, and because I loved Myst back in the day, I thought I'd give it a try.
This is not a good book. It's probably not even a good book about a video game, but it did remind me of all the things I loved about Myst (which I spent large chunks of my unschooled teens solving), which is why I'm slightly less hard on it than I otherwise might be.
It's textbook un-woke, mostly male fantasy in many ways, but I see it's the most poorly rated of the Myst novels, so I might see if I can get the others cheap. However, I do have to say that I have always felt that all the Myst games treat Catherine very poorly (she seems, IMO, to have a great deal more potential as a character than any of the male members of her family who are either boring (Atrus), crazily scary (Achenar), or creepily charming (Sirrus) ), and this book is no better than the games at that.
This is not a good book. It's probably not even a good book about a video game, but it did remind me of all the things I loved about Myst (which I spent large chunks of my unschooled teens solving), which is why I'm slightly less hard on it than I otherwise might be.
It's textbook un-woke, mostly male fantasy in many ways, but I see it's the most poorly rated of the Myst novels, so I might see if I can get the others cheap. However, I do have to say that I have always felt that all the Myst games treat Catherine very poorly (she seems, IMO, to have a great deal more potential as a character than any of the male members of her family who are either boring (Atrus), crazily scary (Achenar), or creepily charming (Sirrus) ), and this book is no better than the games at that.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
reflective
tense
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:
No
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This is a fantastic cautionary tale for our times.
*spoiler*
*spoiler*
*spoiler*
*spoiler*
*spoiler*
*spoiler*
A civilization that appears to have marvellous technology but behind the scenes it's all run manually by slaves. I read it shortly after moving to Singapore and was struck by how they depend on migrant labour for everything but treat migrant workers in the most dehumanizing ways.
As part of the Myst universe I felt it also fit in well because it showed the dark side of linking books.
*spoiler*
*spoiler*
*spoiler*
*spoiler*
*spoiler*
*spoiler*
A civilization that appears to have marvellous technology but behind the scenes it's all run manually by slaves. I read it shortly after moving to Singapore and was struck by how they depend on migrant labour for everything but treat migrant workers in the most dehumanizing ways.
As part of the Myst universe I felt it also fit in well because it showed the dark side of linking books.