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fluffigruff's review
adventurous
mysterious
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
Hamilton's biggest flaw is that for a science fiction writer, he is extremely conservative - which is a polite way of saying he's not very imaginative.
The politics of the future? All varying shades of 1990s neoliberal capitalism in the metropole, viewed through the eyes of a 1990s Western liberal, with no mention of the genocides or hyperexploitation it all depends on, and no recognizance that, you know, other human cultures exist.
The structures built by a deeply inhuman alien race? Well naturally they're pretty much the same as Western human architectures, right down to similar industrial facilities and "boxy" houses.
The technological possibilities of an entire galaxy? One character, speaking in Hamilton's voice, says technology always has one solution, and elaborates "cars to travel over land, rockets to fly into space". The rest of the book bears this out. It's a depressing lack of technological creativity for science fiction.
And for god's sake Hamilton should really get into the habit of orgasming BEFORE he writes any scenes for any of his female characters. The patriarchal sexualization is single-minded, relentless, and exhausting.
This is the kind of book where a wife who is literally decades older, more experienced, and more socially and technically competent than her husband says baffling unprompted shit like "Thanks, baby, I know I'm a pain to live with sometimes" and "I'm sorry I'm being a bitch" every time her petulant child-husband so much as breathes near her.
Speaking of that particular couple, they and their "middle-class" America-coded family are the most excruciatingly unsympathetic part of the entire book...and that includes all the trillionaires and murderers. We're clearly meant to view them as the "relatable" viewpoint characters, but I had to put down the book for a quick fortifying prayer every time they appeared on the page. Pretty early on I began rooting desperately for one alien species or another to end their insufferable existence before I had to read more of their entitled settler-liberal drama.
Even putting aside the treatment of female characters, this is the kind of book that casually invents such charmingly misogynist turns of phrase as "employment-whore trailer parks" instead of, say, "worktowns".
It's also interesting (and disappointing) that nearly all Hamilton's characters are capitalists, nobility, or at the very least well-paid professionals. None of them have any conception that poverty even exists under capitalism, let alone that capitalism requires it. And this makes the world these characters inhabit, and the stories Hamilton is trying to tell in it, fundamentally unsympathetic and implausible.
Even the one "socialist" character - who is clearly an anarchist yet is repeatedly described as a Marxist - is written to believe ridiculous things like "criminals are the worst capitalists of all". Yes, Hamilton means "criminals" as in "people that cops put in jail"; it is not an allusion to, for example, military contractors or imperial governors, as any actual socialist (or anarchist) might mean by that phrase. It's pretty obvious Hamilton has never spoken to a socialist in his life - or at least hasn't bothered to ask them any basic questions like "How do you view criminal law under capitalism?"
The book has some fun setpieces and interesting scenarios, but not enough to make up for the unimaginative slog of nearly identical sociopathic wealthy characters, their depressing political and economic fantasies, or Hamilton's unironically hagiographic treatment of either.
The politics of the future? All varying shades of 1990s neoliberal capitalism in the metropole, viewed through the eyes of a 1990s Western liberal, with no mention of the genocides or hyperexploitation it all depends on, and no recognizance that, you know, other human cultures exist.
The structures built by a deeply inhuman alien race? Well naturally they're pretty much the same as Western human architectures, right down to similar industrial facilities and "boxy" houses.
The technological possibilities of an entire galaxy? One character, speaking in Hamilton's voice, says technology always has one solution, and elaborates "cars to travel over land, rockets to fly into space". The rest of the book bears this out. It's a depressing lack of technological creativity for science fiction.
And for god's sake Hamilton should really get into the habit of orgasming BEFORE he writes any scenes for any of his female characters. The patriarchal sexualization is single-minded, relentless, and exhausting.
This is the kind of book where a wife who is literally decades older, more experienced, and more socially and technically competent than her husband says baffling unprompted shit like "Thanks, baby, I know I'm a pain to live with sometimes" and "I'm sorry I'm being a bitch" every time her petulant child-husband so much as breathes near her.
Speaking of that particular couple, they and their "middle-class" America-coded family are the most excruciatingly unsympathetic part of the entire book...and that includes all the trillionaires and murderers. We're clearly meant to view them as the "relatable" viewpoint characters, but I had to put down the book for a quick fortifying prayer every time they appeared on the page. Pretty early on I began rooting desperately for one alien species or another to end their insufferable existence before I had to read more of their entitled settler-liberal drama.
Even putting aside the treatment of female characters, this is the kind of book that casually invents such charmingly misogynist turns of phrase as "employment-whore trailer parks" instead of, say, "worktowns".
It's also interesting (and disappointing) that nearly all Hamilton's characters are capitalists, nobility, or at the very least well-paid professionals. None of them have any conception that poverty even exists under capitalism, let alone that capitalism requires it. And this makes the world these characters inhabit, and the stories Hamilton is trying to tell in it, fundamentally unsympathetic and implausible.
Even the one "socialist" character - who is clearly an anarchist yet is repeatedly described as a Marxist - is written to believe ridiculous things like "criminals are the worst capitalists of all". Yes, Hamilton means "criminals" as in "people that cops put in jail"; it is not an allusion to, for example, military contractors or imperial governors, as any actual socialist (or anarchist) might mean by that phrase. It's pretty obvious Hamilton has never spoken to a socialist in his life - or at least hasn't bothered to ask them any basic questions like "How do you view criminal law under capitalism?"
The book has some fun setpieces and interesting scenarios, but not enough to make up for the unimaginative slog of nearly identical sociopathic wealthy characters, their depressing political and economic fantasies, or Hamilton's unironically hagiographic treatment of either.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Misogyny