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3.14 AVERAGE
3.14 AVERAGE
Well, that was disappointing. I thoroughly enjoyed Smith's "Skylark" series, but where that was an implausible pinballing around the galaxy that came from a single discovery, this book starts from a grandiose base and then keeps trying to build on that idea. In some ways it reads like a loosely-connected anthology, with much of the first part spread across hundreds of years and completely different characters. When it does settle down, the characters feel very flat and I really don't care for any of them, with near-genocide as a means of escape laughed off. That's on top of the usual issues of reading some material from this era that has not aged well. I have the rest of this series sitting on my to-read pile, so I hope it improves.
adventurous
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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, War
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Vomit
Chemical warfare
Great stuff. They don't write sci-fi like this any more. Absolutely non-stop action.
Not everything old is a golden classic.
It’s not just that it’s extremely aged, in all aspects and especially women’s equal rights, it’s also incredibly poor writing, it’s hard to imagine that this was a long running popular series.
It’s not just that it’s extremely aged, in all aspects and especially women’s equal rights, it’s also incredibly poor writing, it’s hard to imagine that this was a long running popular series.
Audiobook. I might have enjoyed this more as a kid. Light on substance, heavy on action, and fairly typical golden-age SF plot and style. The pace was enjoyable enough, especially for a space opera, but I won't continue the series.
It was interesting to see this is where Dan Simmons got the names for Hyperion and Endymion.
It was interesting to see this is where Dan Simmons got the names for Hyperion and Endymion.
Genocide. Racism. Sexism. Bad dialog. Melodrama. But if you can get past all that it was an okay book. Let's hope that the historical value outweighs the negative side of this as I continue the series.
My boyfriend recommended this book to me a while ago as it's one of his favourites. Thankfully he's not the sort of person who gets upset or offended when I don't share his opinions!
I really liked the premise of the book, particularly the concept of iron being so important to the alien species. However, the lack of character development really let it down. I honestly couldn't distinguish between a lot of the human characters (who were all white Americans and all but one male). I also strongly disliked the ending and the general macho feel. I know it's partly due to the time in which this book was written, but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy it! I actually enjoyed this book a lot more when my boyfriend read it aloud to me. I've found that action scenes in novels tend to be a bit disappointing and lacklustre, but read aloud they seem to take on a bit more excitement.
I'm sort of curious to read more of Doc Smith's books, partly because I haven't explored much early science fiction and partly because my boyfriend has an awful lot of them. I just won't be adding them to the top of my reading list. Maybe the audiobooks would be more enjoyable though.
I really liked the premise of the book, particularly the concept of iron being so important to the alien species. However, the lack of character development really let it down. I honestly couldn't distinguish between a lot of the human characters (who were all white Americans and all but one male). I also strongly disliked the ending and the general macho feel. I know it's partly due to the time in which this book was written, but that doesn't mean I have to enjoy it! I actually enjoyed this book a lot more when my boyfriend read it aloud to me. I've found that action scenes in novels tend to be a bit disappointing and lacklustre, but read aloud they seem to take on a bit more excitement.
I'm sort of curious to read more of Doc Smith's books, partly because I haven't explored much early science fiction and partly because my boyfriend has an awful lot of them. I just won't be adding them to the top of my reading list. Maybe the audiobooks would be more enjoyable though.