Reviews

Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky

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yimyamest's review against another edition

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adventurous mysterious reflective 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

3.75

acharpentier's review against another edition

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adventurous challenging tense fast-paced

3.75

chaosetc's review against another edition

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4.0

**** Story
This book was heavily character driven. There were a lot of battles, and politics. (Not a fan of reading about politics.) There was also some great sociology, I loved that part. Some of the dialog dragged a bit for me, and it had a cliffhanger ending (clearly prepping for the sequel).

***** My favorite part was the spacer funeral. Seriously, we should do this.

***/* SciFi
The story started out feeling more like fantasy / magic but over time as the gaps filled in it began to feel more like science fiction. Still, the science was soft. I didn't get any real sense of how far apart the colonies were or where they might be in the universe. And I don't know if there are any theories that might kinda sorta line up with un-space. Still, I ended up liking it.

***** Aliens, AI, Et Al
The other species were really interesting, especially with the idea that humans might be beneath the notice of something sufficiently different. I noticed multiple descriptions of things being spider-like. This guy clearly loves his arachnids, and insects too. The hivers were great.

- Does the dog die?
Animals weren't really mentioned, even when they probably should have been. I mean, entire planets were destroyed. Maybe he was trying to avoid taking a position on whether or not animals think. That'll make more sense if you read the book.

mx5421's review against another edition

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adventurous dark tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

baronvallon's review against another edition

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4.0

This book kept coming up in lists of things I should read, but I was avoiding it. Nothing about it from the jacket cover made it stand out.
Once I got into the book it is so good. The world building is great. The synopsis makes it that Idris is the main character, but the book is written with POV chapters and there are several main characters that we get to know really well.
Absolutely worth the read.