Reviews - The Mimicking of Known Successes

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2.08k reviews for:

The Mimicking of Known Successes

Malka Older

3.64 AVERAGE

samurajdreamer's review

2.75

lighthearted reflective medium-paced

blast_range's review against another edition

3.0

emotional funny fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

mel024's review against another edition

3.25

mysterious medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

a sci-fi take on sherlock holmes that isn’t quite smart enough to actually meet the sherlock criteria; this book was simply way too short for everything older wanted to include. her world building is interesting and she wanted to give it a chance to shine but in doing so completely swallowed the plot. in good sci fi you have to trust your readers to be cool with what’s different and just roll with it; i was hand held way too much. the relationship was unconvincing and relied heavily on past connections between the characters that had happened entirely off screen. i liked the setting and world enough to finish but it didn’t grab me and the mystery didn’t feel satisfying; i was let down by the introduction of multiple characters late in the game just to solve it.

sophiawollenteit's review against another edition

4.0

adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

tinyoldmanlogan's review against another edition

3.75

adventurous lighthearted fast-paced

eli_abroad's review against another edition

3.5

adventurous mysterious relaxing medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

This was a quick, pleasant SciFi mystery set in a future when humans had to abandon Earth and seek refuge on Mars. The writing is intelligent with the thought-provoking idea of humans as environmental refugees rather than explorers or colonizers, and unpacks some of the baggage that would accompany an involuntary exodus (OMG - could it be that migrants would actually prefer to be in their home countries? really?)

Along with anthropological preservation, Older incorporates tantalizing ideas such as the ‘mazooleum’, a place for resurrected species whose genetic info had been collected before extinction. Not only does the story question the viability of living on a planet with potentially no other life larger than microbes, but considers everything that would be left behind on Earth should an exodus occur. “How would Earth ever be restored if the animals and plants could not be reconstituted, or could not be cared for once they were?”

Even though I enjoyed this cozy SciFi mystery with a tease of second-chance love between Sherlock and Watson, I just couldn't fully connect with the work. The worldbuilding isn’t exactly lacking, but I had a difficult time picturing the world or scenes being described, and couldn’t feel a sense of atmosphere. Maybe there were too many conflicting vibes - the gasses set the scene for a Sherlock-esque foggy London, the distant outpost/platforms and galing, empty wind emulated the wild west, the university threw ivy league campus into the mix, and the train stations made me think of DC Metro late on a Sunday. In any case, the positives outweighed my disconnection, so I had a pleasant experience and definitely plan to continue to the next installments.