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4.15 AVERAGE
4.15 AVERAGE
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
What if you tried to write Brave New World as a myth in Tennyson's style while high as a kite?
“Biting the Sun” by Tanith Lee; a science fiction novel published in the 70s, but it felt surprisingly modern. It’s also really funny— it’s about a society of people that never experience any sort of consequences, and get their bodies replaced when they die, so there’s plenty of senseless stunts. The people of this utopia are hilariously emotionally stunted because of this, speaking in short slang and falling into emotional drama that reminded me of my middle school days. It’s an eternal middle school, with lots of neat science fiction world-building to go along with it. It’s technology is spectacular, it’s food and monuments really fantastical, it’s all a bit golden-age sci-fi underneath. I won’t spoil the ending, but I liked it a lot and would recommend to anyone looking for something a bit like other classic science fiction, but dipped in “glittering hot pink” a line I stole from Jo Walton’s What Makes This Book Great.
Utopia: No death, no risk, no danger, no work, no money, just sheer comfort and fun and leisure forever. A perfect futuristic society watched over by benevolent AI androids. Who could want more, right? Except if that society isn't your cup of tea, well, living in it can be hellish.
---
Great book -- or rather, two books, since this is apparently Don't Bite the Sun and Drinking Sapphire Wine bundled up in one. They're both utterly necessary, though, so you should definitely read both.
I purposefully picked this up after my latest Iain M. Banks, in order to explore a different take on utopian society. The difference here is that the protagonist is deeply unhappy in the way that juveniles and adolescents are, but she truly doesn't fit in with the rest of her society. The first book, Don't Bite the Sun, is the weaker of the two because it feels like one very, very long drawn-out prologue -- but precisely because of that, it's necessary for what comes next. You have to see her trials and tribulations and false starts and flailing attempts to grasp meaning out of a life that has utterly lost meaning, and to gradually realise that there is no way out. These attempts are what slowly make her more and more sympathetic and likeable, even in all her shallow, superficial airs and shenanigans. What starts off as youthful rebellion evolves into so much more. She grows up.
Which is where Drinking Sapphire Wine comes in, which is much stronger and plot-driven, and I strongly preferred it. The aimless anecdotes turn to a more educated, disillusioned protagonist, and the novel eventually becomes a futuristic Robinson Crusoe and I am totally 100% okay with that. I won't say much else, for fear of spoiling its developments, but it was very good -- the world-building throughout was strong and interesting, the voice witty and fun, and heartwrenching at times.
And a note about the villain:
A few favourite quotes below, as always:
---
Great book -- or rather, two books, since this is apparently Don't Bite the Sun and Drinking Sapphire Wine bundled up in one. They're both utterly necessary, though, so you should definitely read both.
I purposefully picked this up after my latest Iain M. Banks, in order to explore a different take on utopian society. The difference here is that the protagonist is deeply unhappy in the way that juveniles and adolescents are, but she truly doesn't fit in with the rest of her society. The first book, Don't Bite the Sun, is the weaker of the two because it feels like one very, very long drawn-out prologue -- but precisely because of that, it's necessary for what comes next. You have to see her trials and tribulations and false starts and flailing attempts to grasp meaning out of a life that has utterly lost meaning, and to gradually realise that there is no way out. These attempts are what slowly make her more and more sympathetic and likeable, even in all her shallow, superficial airs and shenanigans. What starts off as youthful rebellion evolves into so much more. She grows up.
Which is where Drinking Sapphire Wine comes in, which is much stronger and plot-driven, and I strongly preferred it. The aimless anecdotes turn to a more educated, disillusioned protagonist, and the novel eventually becomes a futuristic Robinson Crusoe and I am totally 100% okay with that. I won't say much else, for fear of spoiling its developments, but it was very good -- the world-building throughout was strong and interesting, the voice witty and fun, and heartwrenching at times.
And a note about the villain:
Spoiler
The slow unveiling of the QRs -- the quasi-robots -- as the baddies was perfectly done, and plays right into genre tropes re: villainous AIs and the Hal-esque It's for your own good malice. Moddik's reveal at the end honestly caught me offguard, though I should've seen it coming. His speech/stunt also oddly presaged Watchmen's Ozymandias' fabulous "I did it thirty-five minutes ago." So well done, Tanith Lee!A few favourite quotes below, as always:
Spoiler
I began to feel lighthearted. Don't ever do that; it tempts some dark and evil force abroad in the universe.
...
It gets cold in the desert at night, particularly up in the mountains; the stars hammer on the rock and strike frost.
...
Danor and Kam sat close to each other, calm as could be, secure in their bond. I didn't feel jealous anymore, but a sort of hollow place had come in my heart, and notices stood on the bare sand of it which read: "Vacant, and never now to be filled."
...
"Then go and investigate your double and leave me in peace, you wretch of a Jang girl," roared Moddik, flapping sleeves and steel tubing and an unseen, nonexistent, ancient sorcerer's white beard.
...
"Do you understand? It's rather neat. The Committee are responsible only for the error in my servicing, not for the bombs. I am responsible for placing the bombs, not for my malfunction. The right hand does not know what the left hand does, so neither hand is guilty. Two parts of a whole, independent of each other, yet they act perfectly as one. But I digress. Maybe I should explain that the moment of my malfunction is several splits in the past, and the signals are already being issued. It will take exactly twelve splits more for them to penetrate the casings of the explosive and trigger the vital nerve. After which there will be something of a bang."
I am adding this book to my Goodreads record in 2016, but I read it more than 10 years ago so my memory is a bit fuzzy.
I remember being surprised, amused, and delighted by this exploration of utopia.
I remember being surprised, amused, and delighted by this exploration of utopia.
what i remember from reading this book in high school: loners can be bossy to keep their privacy.
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
funny
hopeful
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes