Scan barcode
rhogregoire's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Heavily influenced by current trash geopolitics - the US exports all it's garbage to China to deal with. Translated from Chinese; the translation is well done.
Initially, this sets up to be geopolitical SF in the intersection between technology and labor. Halfway through, it seems like it switches to a story about the merging of humans and AI.
There's almost two stories in here - one about the tech trash / labor intersect, and one about the human / tech intersect. I think the author should have picked one and developed it. Instead, we get two half-developed stories that don't mesh well. It ends up being confusing and hard to follow, especially the techobabble infodumps halfway through the book. They're related to major plot points, but they're hard to follow and I ended up losing them.
Overall it starts as a good comment on how the tech used to improve the lives of the upper class comes at the expense of the lower class and developing countries. But even though it centers so heavily around labor, it falls short of actually saying something about it to switch to the human / AI storyline. The implication that the upper class will change because the waste people helped them in a storm is unsatisfying, to say the least. I wish it had actually said something - real liberation requires the dismantling of capitalism, and the book falls well short of that.
Initially, this sets up to be geopolitical SF in the intersection between technology and labor. Halfway through, it seems like it switches to a story about the merging of humans and AI.
There's almost two stories in here - one about the tech trash / labor intersect, and one about the human / tech intersect. I think the author should have picked one and developed it. Instead, we get two half-developed stories that don't mesh well. It ends up being confusing and hard to follow, especially the techobabble infodumps halfway through the book. They're related to major plot points, but they're hard to follow and I ended up losing them.
Overall it starts as a good comment on how the tech used to improve the lives of the upper class comes at the expense of the lower class and developing countries. But even though it centers so heavily around labor, it falls short of actually saying something about it to switch to the human / AI storyline. The implication that the upper class will change because the waste people helped them in a storm is unsatisfying, to say the least. I wish it had actually said something - real liberation requires the dismantling of capitalism, and the book falls well short of that.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail
Moderate: Child death, Drug abuse, and Sexual violence
More...