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3.65 AVERAGE
3.65 AVERAGE
3.7 stars? 3.8? I'm rounding up to 4 on the coolness factor.
This is the first Samuel Delany book I've ever read, and on the whole I really enjoyed it. The science fiction technology that underlies the book is really cool, and for the most part he hits the right balance between under and over explaining it. He tells you enough for you to get an idea of how it works, and the way that it affects the society, but not so much that it becomes a distraction from the plot.
Speaking of the plot, this one takes off pretty much from page one and continues almost non-stop until the end of the book. There's a nice mixture of action and character development/philosophical discussion, though if I had to pick I would say that the latter outshines the former in this particular book. On the negative side, it felt like the overarching story was rushed, the book is short, and I would have loved for another hundred pages or so to flesh out some of the ideas (though I know that's not really a liberty that was afforded science fiction writers of that era, who were severely limited by time, money, and space restraints). I especially wanted to hear more about how discorporation worked, as well as more details into the tri-relationships of the navigators. It only became a noticeable problem to me at the very end of the book. The conclusion comes quickly and kind of out of the blue, and everything wraps up too neatly for my taste. The use of language, as a science fiction concept and as a philosophical concept, was really well done. Delany's way with words is played to its full strength in scenes dealing directly with Babel-17.
The characters are enjoyable, as well. Rydra Wong is an engaging protagonist, and though she does seem a little too skillful in some areas, it wasn't egregious. I would have liked for some of the other characters to get more development time, but there's only so much that can be fit in to a book of this length. I will say that, though I really enjoyed the prose of the book, the poetry left me wanting.
I'm glad that I finally got around to reading this book. I know that there will be many more of his books on my to-read list in the future.
This is the first Samuel Delany book I've ever read, and on the whole I really enjoyed it. The science fiction technology that underlies the book is really cool, and for the most part he hits the right balance between under and over explaining it. He tells you enough for you to get an idea of how it works, and the way that it affects the society, but not so much that it becomes a distraction from the plot.
Speaking of the plot, this one takes off pretty much from page one and continues almost non-stop until the end of the book. There's a nice mixture of action and character development/philosophical discussion, though if I had to pick I would say that the latter outshines the former in this particular book. On the negative side, it felt like the overarching story was rushed, the book is short, and I would have loved for another hundred pages or so to flesh out some of the ideas (though I know that's not really a liberty that was afforded science fiction writers of that era, who were severely limited by time, money, and space restraints). I especially wanted to hear more about how discorporation worked, as well as more details into the tri-relationships of the navigators. It only became a noticeable problem to me at the very end of the book. The conclusion comes quickly and kind of out of the blue, and everything wraps up too neatly for my taste. The use of language, as a science fiction concept and as a philosophical concept, was really well done. Delany's way with words is played to its full strength in scenes dealing directly with Babel-17.
The characters are enjoyable, as well. Rydra Wong is an engaging protagonist, and though she does seem a little too skillful in some areas, it wasn't egregious. I would have liked for some of the other characters to get more development time, but there's only so much that can be fit in to a book of this length. I will say that, though I really enjoyed the prose of the book, the poetry left me wanting.
I'm glad that I finally got around to reading this book. I know that there will be many more of his books on my to-read list in the future.
challenging
dark
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
challenging
emotional
funny
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
adventurous
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Kind of a weird one to rate. On the one hand, there are so many ideas in here that I would be astonished if it wasn't an inspiration for later works - Snow Crash with NLP-magic, even Blindsight with the weirdo crew sent to investigate a mysterious signal - but on the other hand it doesn't quite cohere. I think this is more noticable because Delany is a good writer, so I felt the lack more.
but seriously, it's a sfnal kitchen sink! you've got the mysterious Babel-17 signal, extreme body-modded starship pilots wrestling in zero-g to prove their reflex dominance, navigator-ghosts for hyperspace ("hyperstasis") navigation and(?) mind-pattern storage for later clone-resurrection, intergalactic alliances and alien civilizations, and psi... only most of this doesn't matter to the plot, which ends up turning on justBabel-17 as NLP super-language and our protagonist discovering that she has telepathy . And our protagonist is kind of a Mary Sue, the smartest and best poet and the most beautiful etc etc.
but again, Delany almost makes it all work, and that's to his credit. There are some extremely fun sequences (the wrestling, a certain dinner party gone wrong) and bonkers ideas. I've heard that this, Nova, and Einstein Intersection are improvements (in some order) on similar themes, so I'm interested in exploring that further.
but seriously, it's a sfnal kitchen sink! you've got the mysterious Babel-17 signal, extreme body-modded starship pilots wrestling in zero-g to prove their reflex dominance, navigator-ghosts for hyperspace ("hyperstasis") navigation and(?) mind-pattern storage for later clone-resurrection, intergalactic alliances and alien civilizations, and psi... only most of this doesn't matter to the plot, which ends up turning on just
but again, Delany almost makes it all work, and that's to his credit. There are some extremely fun sequences (the wrestling, a certain dinner party gone wrong) and bonkers ideas. I've heard that this, Nova, and Einstein Intersection are improvements (in some order) on similar themes, so I'm interested in exploring that further.
I thought this was really interesting!! some poetic and experimental writing (as you’d expect with the subject matter). really interesting worldbuilding elements with some unique cultures, all sorts of body modification, and casual queerness and polyamory. and a cool main character!
There's a fun spaceship crew of interesting and unique characters though I didn’t feel like I had enough time to get to know most of them tbh. I feel like I was just really getting into things when I got to the end! I wish there was more!! Though I do appreciate how succinct the main plot was - it had a specific point to make and didn't feel the need to go on forever.
There's a fun spaceship crew of interesting and unique characters though I didn’t feel like I had enough time to get to know most of them tbh. I feel like I was just really getting into things when I got to the end! I wish there was more!! Though I do appreciate how succinct the main plot was - it had a specific point to make and didn't feel the need to go on forever.
I love the concept of languages changing the way you think and interact with the world taken to extreme levels in a sci-fi context - like obviously irl the theory has its issues (and I think there's some inaccuracies in here even) but yknow. There’s definitely a few things that didn’t age great but overall I enjoyed it!
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Mysterious autism superpowers! Delightful horniness! Linguistics!
adventurous
challenging
mysterious