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joshhall13's review against another edition
Tried 4 times. I give up. This narrator killed this book. He's just awful. This book may be better in physical format.
robl's review
4.0
At first I was confused about which characters I was meant to like, but I did enjoy the realisation (revelation?) that it was really up to me!
dragos_d's review
dark
mysterious
relaxing
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
Super interesting idea, stemming from real science. Too bad the superficial characters and dialogue, and clunky prose are slowing it down. The ending was revelatory.
trinkers's review
Did not care about the story or the characters; unnecessarily pretentious writing style
unluckycat13's review against another edition
I'm not confused. I get that the characters are necessarily in different time periods (they have to be based on the amount of time it takes to travel and where they're going). I'm not thrown off by the terminology or mysterious ideas.
I just didn't care about anyone and I don't care about what they're doing. I only care about the cool alien archeology, which seems to be the part the author is the least interested in. Everyone is cruel, unmemorable, and unlikable. The plot builds so slowly that there's very little there to hook you. It's a bingo of tropes like assassin's and rich guys outside of time all doing vaguely sci-fi things at you with no respect for your time or interest.
I just didn't care about anyone and I don't care about what they're doing. I only care about the cool alien archeology, which seems to be the part the author is the least interested in. Everyone is cruel, unmemorable, and unlikable. The plot builds so slowly that there's very little there to hook you. It's a bingo of tropes like assassin's and rich guys outside of time all doing vaguely sci-fi things at you with no respect for your time or interest.
sara_badvibez's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
jstrahan's review
5.0
Exactly my shit. Intricately realised sci-fi universe, big questions about what constitutes humanity. Manages to get you to empathise with a very warped, strange cast of characters, and has a very fun solution to the Fermi paradox
euzie's review
2.0
This was a first. Usually if it's a book that I don't finish that decision is made early. I got to page 420 out of 520 and just realised I really really didn't care
gnosfir's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
julcoh's review
5.0
Hard science fiction on an awesome scale. I haven't adventured into a world so complex and intertwined since James Clavell's Shogun.
Reynolds' use of a technology he calls "reefersleep", cryogenically freezing someone for indefinite periods, allows the main story trunks of this novel to span several hundreds of years. The history and backstories range over millions and sometimes billions of years into the past and future.
I thought the character building was, although probably the weakest part of the book, fairly good at least later in the story. What makes it worth reading is the speculation on technology, aliens, and AI. There are Alpha, Beta, and Gamma level AIs in the book, with corresponding levels of sentience. The comparisons between differing models of consciousness of the several alien species, humans, and AIs are refreshing and interesting to read.
This is hard science fiction at its finest, and technologies are described to the delight of my inner engineer. I need to read the next in the series.
Reynolds' use of a technology he calls "reefersleep", cryogenically freezing someone for indefinite periods, allows the main story trunks of this novel to span several hundreds of years. The history and backstories range over millions and sometimes billions of years into the past and future.
I thought the character building was, although probably the weakest part of the book, fairly good at least later in the story. What makes it worth reading is the speculation on technology, aliens, and AI. There are Alpha, Beta, and Gamma level AIs in the book, with corresponding levels of sentience. The comparisons between differing models of consciousness of the several alien species, humans, and AIs are refreshing and interesting to read.
This is hard science fiction at its finest, and technologies are described to the delight of my inner engineer. I need to read the next in the series.