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makiba's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
Worth a read just for Captain Rollo
Content Warnings
Moderate: Genocide and Xenophobia
cb1984's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Excellent start to a series. The crew felt like a close damily straight away. I absolutely loved the various different sentient species involved. Some were pretty off the wall but all worked really well.
The threat of the architects was interesting too, mainly due to the unknowable motive behind their attacks. And the setup for the rest of the series was good fun.
I did think that some of the characters apart from Idris and Solace could have done with having a bit more of a journey, but to be honest that could easily happen in future books.
Overall, excellent characters, good plot, interesting universe, intriguing setup. Will read the others.
The threat of the architects was interesting too, mainly due to the unknowable motive behind their attacks. And the setup for the rest of the series was good fun.
I did think that some of the characters apart from Idris and Solace could have done with having a bit more of a journey, but to be honest that could easily happen in future books.
Overall, excellent characters, good plot, interesting universe, intriguing setup. Will read the others.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death
Minor: Genocide and War
bluejayreads's review against another edition
3.75
I generally prefer fantasy over scifi, especially scifi as hard as Adrian Tchaikovksy tends to write. But I picked this up because I enjoyed his novella Elder Race and was willing to try something else. This is fairly hard scifi, but it had solid and likeable characters, a strong plot that manages to have our protagonists hopping from planet to planet without ever feeling contrived or like a fetch quest, and some absolutely amazing worldbuilding concepts. So many of the ideas were unique and tied into a great story. The amazing worldbuilding manages to make the whole story feel intricate and vivid, even though the plot isn't particularly complex. Adrian Tchaikovsky is a great writer and I enjoyed the read. I'm on the fence about reading book two - not becuase I think it will be bad or that there isn't room for a sequel, but becuase sequels are usually not quite as good as book one and while I liked this book, I wouldn't say I love it or call it a favorite. But again, this book was good, so I'm not ruling it out.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Injury/Injury detail, War, Violence, and Death
Moderate: Racism, Genocide, Body horror, Ableism, and Blood
Minor: Slavery, Kidnapping, Xenophobia, Gore, and Confinement
Unrealityiono's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Colonisation, Death, Violence, and War
Moderate: Forced institutionalization, Genocide, Medical content, Slavery, Blood, Body horror, Injury/Injury detail, Suicidal thoughts, and Xenophobia
Minor: Ableism, Kidnapping, Murder, and Torture
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