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4.27 AVERAGE
4.27 AVERAGE
It is ALL files and snippets and while that's very interesting world-building, it feels like a book made out of the notes and files you pick up in a videogame, and I can't keep my focus on it unfortunately.
adventurous
emotional
funny
mysterious
sad
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:
No
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This is my second time reading this book and although I remembered loving it the first time, I was not ready for how caught up I would get in the story! I love the unique way that the story is told and the pacing is perfect! It is really hard to put this book down and I think I must have read it in 2 sittings! Would definitely recommend!
It's been a very long time since I listened to a complete book all the way through--so long that I can't help but think of them as "books on tape." It's probably been close to ten years since one of our family trips worked out such that we could all get along with listening to a single book; obviously, the fact that the children are older and have their own phones and earphones, such that they can ignore what I, the driver, am choosing to concentrate on makes a big difference. Anyway, Melissa still listens to recorded books constantly, and she loved this one, and then dove into the two other books in the series. I didn't like hearing the first well enough to feel motivated to read any more, but I did enjoy the story. Epistolary or "found document" stories are hard to pull off, and about halfway through this one I started to get bothered or tired by the fact that the authors obviously couldn't figure out any new clever ways to lay out their story and just ended up having one "voice"--in this case, the retrieved data from the AI which ran the battleship Alexander--essentially play the role of omniscient narrator. If I'm being obliged to read--or, rather, listen--to a story whose very narrative is presumed to be fragmented and ambigious, then I'd like that conceit to be maintained all the way through, since if you set your voices that way, then having one of them--especially a damaged and possibly insane computer!--take on an ordinary story-telling role feels like a bit of a let-down; I kept hoping, all the way up to the end, that AIDAN, the AI, would end up being an unreliable narrator in some sense. But no, what it said really was, as far as the story was concerned. But regardless, the story is fun, a sprawling, tense, frustrating, sometimes melodramatic, but always compelling tale of two teen-ager lovers trying to survive a ridiculously, horrifying six months of space battles, plague-affected killers, and constant miscommunication. A fun listen, in the end.
All I can say is that this was a spectacular book. Its unique approach to story-telling was absolutely mind-blowing through its recounting via e-mails, logs, transcribed audio recordings and the written thoughts of the AI system AIDAN.
I really don't have a lot to say about it because it is such a well-written novel that it doesn't even need much commentary on the side. But what I can say is that it constructs such a compelling illustration of a distant future in which corruption remains a strong pillar, the only difference being rendered by the fact that it does not only dominate the Earth, but also the entire Universe. Space jumps are a thing, humans populate more planets than we could have ever imagined, industries stretch to years made of light.
This is another type of revolution. One instilled by a science-fictional war of interest and by a man-made virus. Kind of ironic reading about a pandemic while stuck in the middle of one. But Phobos was not the only terrifying thing about this book. The self-consciousness of AIDAN is blood-curling. How much it resembles a human being yet it lacks the humanity of it. But just as curious was how it started learning how to feel .
I loved Kady and Ezra as well. They are such well-constructed characters. They feel so real, they exhude the rawness and rebellion of teenagehood. I loved their relationship, their interactions. Absolutely extraordinary.
I really don't have a lot to say about it because it is such a well-written novel that it doesn't even need much commentary on the side. But what I can say is that it constructs such a compelling illustration of a distant future in which corruption remains a strong pillar, the only difference being rendered by the fact that it does not only dominate the Earth, but also the entire Universe. Space jumps are a thing, humans populate more planets than we could have ever imagined, industries stretch to years made of light.
This is another type of revolution. One instilled by a science-fictional war of interest and by a man-made virus. Kind of ironic reading about a pandemic while stuck in the middle of one. But Phobos was not the only terrifying thing about this book. The self-consciousness of AIDAN is blood-curling. How much it resembles a human being yet it lacks the humanity of it. But just as curious was how it started learning how to feel .
I loved Kady and Ezra as well. They are such well-constructed characters. They feel so real, they exhude the rawness and rebellion of teenagehood. I loved their relationship, their interactions. Absolutely extraordinary.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Just as good upon re-read!! Such a compelling story and it’s so hard not to get caught up in the plot! I was trying to pace myself and failed miserably.
adventurous
challenging
dark
sad
tense
