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zombiezami's review against another edition
4.25
Graphic: Cursing, Death of parent, Gaslighting, Gun violence, Murder, Torture, Fire/Fire injury, Blood, Suicidal thoughts, Body horror, Death, Suicide, and Animal death
Moderate: Grief, Injury/Injury detail, Pregnancy, Confinement, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Colonisation, Genocide, and War
macliffe's review against another edition
Graphic: Violence, Gun violence, and Cursing
uranaishi's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Bullying, Emotional abuse, and Xenophobia
Moderate: Injury/Injury detail, Misogyny, Murder, War, Alcohol, Classism, Abandonment, Confinement, Cursing, Death, Gaslighting, Grief, Gun violence, Physical abuse, Sexism, Toxic relationship, and Blood
Minor: Colonisation, Pregnancy, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Police brutality, and Suicide
ekcd_'s review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
1.5
Where to start?
The characters are utterly forgettable and there is not a single redeemable or meaningful relationship between any of the characters or any facet of the story. They only existed so they could talk to each other as a way to move the plot along. Without the characters the whole book could be reduced to one, drunken rant about “like what if aliens lived on an unstable planet?” He put characters in so it wouldn’t just be a really bizarre lecture
This book reads as 350 pages of history and philosophical waxing and then 50 pages of shitty alien fan fiction that is really just the author patting himself on the back for creating analogies that are complicated enough for readers to think him smart but are ultimately meaningless.
By rooting a story in the present and then layering in completely absurd scientific magic over it really removed me from the story. The physics and math were really inaccessible and honesty glossed over that whole chapter.
Nothing in this story or it’s writing made me care about any of the individuals, civilizations, communities or social movements that were used.
I am gobsmacked that so many people praise this book so highly. I love science fiction and read it almost exclusively. The only thing keeping me from rage quitting half way through was rage reading so I could review this book without people saying “you didn’t finish it so you can’t comment on it”
It gets a 1.5 because I was able to finish it quickly (thank god)
Well screw you, fans of this book, I read it and I disliked it!
Graphic: War, Xenophobia, Violence, Suicide, Police brutality, Hate crime, Gun violence, Genocide, Death, Confinement, Colonisation, Classism, and Blood
Minor: Alcoholism, Blood, Body horror, Gore, Gun violence, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Classism, Colonisation, Cursing, Death, Death of parent, Grief, Infertility, Medical trauma, Murder, Physical abuse, Police brutality, Racial slurs, Racism, Religious bigotry, Suicide, Suicide attempt, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
I don’t regret reading this because at least it gives me something concrete to point my unhinged anger at. Going to drink some tea and read something that I know is good and puref18's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
Graphic: Gun violence, Child death, Gore, Violence, Blood, and Murder
Moderate: War, Torture, Suicide, and Pregnancy
Minor: Drug abuse, Animal cruelty, Racial slurs, Sexism, Racism, Genocide, Infidelity, Domestic abuse, Physical abuse, and Cursing
tungstenmouse's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Graphic: Alcoholism, Blood, Death, Death of parent, Police brutality, and Physical abuse
Moderate: Violence, Torture, Murder, Grief, Death of parent, Cursing, and Blood
Minor: Suicidal thoughts, Genocide, and Confinement
writer_of_minds's review against another edition
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The alien species imagined in this book has qualities that are both unique and interesting, and derived in a straightforward fashion from its native environment. The Chinese historical backdrop was also refreshingly different and educational for this US reader.
The one aspect of the science background that I found dubious was the use of quantum entanglement to communicate faster than light. Though quantum entanglement does seem to affect particles across distance at faster-than-light speeds, it's been my understanding that it does not enable the transfer of *information.* But the plot does not really hang on this point, so it's a fairly minor complaint.
Moderate: Murder, Suicide, Violence, and Cursing
Minor: Torture
Strong language, violence (including gun violence and torture/execution), suicide