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3.89 AVERAGE
3.89 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Fast paced writing style, easy to read. Lots of action, but often a bit stupid and illogical and superficial. Cardboard characters, adolescent fantasies. Why is there a plot line involving a graphic sex scene with a 15 year old girl. The background story about the Aleutian Islands was interesting, but the whole Babylon backstory seemed utterly nonsense. The ending was initially funny but the last part was a let down. 2½ stars
adventurous
dark
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
This is the most fast-paced, action-packed book that I can remember reading in recent years, it lowkey might have sent me into a slump. Set in a cyberpunk America where pizza delivery guy is one of the most important jobs you could have, it's written in such a vibrant style? I could just see everything that's going on. I think a Spiderverse-style animated adaptation of this would bang.
Religion, Babel, linguistics, and language are some of the things explored in the novel. Incidentally Palestine, I*rael, and Noam Chomsky feature too, but not in the way you might expect given the current political climate.
It's silly and lighthearted in tone, though there was severe info-dumping towards the end. As a gen-z reader (I hate that term, I hate it.. let's say as a reader born in the 21st century), I thought it was cute when Stephenson was explaining the Metaverse, like he was talking about avatars etc in a way so his 90s readers could understand. Then I did a wiki surf, it turns out this book is actually what popularised the word "avatar" in the context of virtual worlds. Haha.
I like the main characters, Hiro and Y.T., their dynamic was entertaining: guy in his 30s and a 15 y.o. teenager. BUT, and it's a big but, there's a sex scene involving Y.T. (and not Hiro, but another guy that would've been much older than her) which was just weird and totally unnecessary.
I think it's a fair rating. Took me 6 weeks this, outrageous!
Religion, Babel, linguistics, and language are some of the things explored in the novel. Incidentally Palestine, I*rael, and Noam Chomsky feature too, but not in the way you might expect given the current political climate.
It's silly and lighthearted in tone, though there was severe info-dumping towards the end. As a gen-z reader (I hate that term, I hate it.. let's say as a reader born in the 21st century), I thought it was cute when Stephenson was explaining the Metaverse, like he was talking about avatars etc in a way so his 90s readers could understand. Then I did a wiki surf, it turns out this book is actually what popularised the word "avatar" in the context of virtual worlds. Haha.
I like the main characters, Hiro and Y.T., their dynamic was entertaining: guy in his 30s and a 15 y.o. teenager. BUT, and it's a big but, there's a sex scene involving Y.T. (and not Hiro, but another guy that would've been much older than her) which was just weird and totally unnecessary.
I think it's a fair rating. Took me 6 weeks this, outrageous!
Super weird. Pretty different that any book I've read in recent memory, even Neuromancer and Ready Player One which had similar themes. Some backstory on how the US fell apart somewhere between Vietnam and the early 90's would have helped my suspension of disbelief, but overall I really liked it. It's something I think I'd need to read again to get all the things I didn't understand or missed the first time and get a better grip on the whole picture. Awesome characters, Y.T. and Hiro were both lots of fun.
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Another lighthearted book before I return to the gauntlet that is the second half books of the red rising series… Admittedly it’s a bit odd for one’s first time reading a genre to start with a satirical book, but I enjoyed it quite a bit all the same. I think I’ve culturally osmosed enough cyberpunk to fully “get it”. The first chapter is hilarious, and so much of the absurdity in the world gets doubled or tripled down on as the book progresses. I love that everything is ridiculously over the top. And I like the characters even if they’re mostly caricature “cool guy/girl” archetypes.
There is also so absolutely wack stuff in here…the book is extremely not politically correct (although I think that’s on brand for cyberpunk) and has some scenes (well, at least one) that would be disturbingly weird if these characters felt at all like real people. As it is, it’s less disturbing and more “just weird”.
The religious explanatory/expository content felt semi awkward at first to me but I got used to it and by the end was good with it, but it definitely felt weird initially, and I think some of the chapters dragged a bit when going from religious story to religious story through time.
The ending was a little ambiguous and i was powering through listening to it and suddenly it ended so I went back and listened to a the last chapters with each of the characters you follow to get a sense of what happened, and ultimately went online to look at some quick summaries to make sure I had the ideas right. Things are open to interpretation but it seems a bit more straightforward when you look at things listed out together. Still, it leaves the story somewhat unfinished, but it was always just a cool/fun snapshot of a story anyway so I’m not that bothered.
The audio quality was just OK, feels like an old recording, but the performance was solid. The interstitial sound effects were funny and wacky but didn’t bother me.
There is also so absolutely wack stuff in here…the book is extremely not politically correct (although I think that’s on brand for cyberpunk) and has some scenes (well, at least one) that would be disturbingly weird if these characters felt at all like real people. As it is, it’s less disturbing and more “just weird”.
The religious explanatory/expository content felt semi awkward at first to me but I got used to it and by the end was good with it, but it definitely felt weird initially, and I think some of the chapters dragged a bit when going from religious story to religious story through time.
The ending was a little ambiguous and i was powering through listening to it and suddenly it ended so I went back and listened to a the last chapters with each of the characters you follow to get a sense of what happened, and ultimately went online to look at some quick summaries to make sure I had the ideas right. Things are open to interpretation but it seems a bit more straightforward when you look at things listed out together. Still, it leaves the story somewhat unfinished, but it was always just a cool/fun snapshot of a story anyway so I’m not that bothered.
The audio quality was just OK, feels like an old recording, but the performance was solid. The interstitial sound effects were funny and wacky but didn’t bother me.