You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
challenging
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
N/A
Loveable characters:
N/A
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
the first third of this book reminded me of This Is How You Lose The Time War, and the other two thirds reminded me of everything I didn't like about the Annihilation sequels.
It's very experimental prose, and that increases as it goes along. I think it achieved what it wanted to, and some parts worked better than other - I really did enjoy the first chunk, which was the chunk with a story, and three dead astronauts, and love. I liked the abstraction and the absurdism and the elements of repetition. And then it kept going and the rest felt - much less rewarding to get through. Much less worth it. I think the author achieved his goal, but I struggle to think of an audience who really wants to read this.
So yeah, sure! I am open to tricky and incomprehensible prose. I am much less interested in freeform bog poetry. It was a fine read but I would not recommend it to anyone who is not already a diehard VanderMeer fan.
It's very experimental prose, and that increases as it goes along. I think it achieved what it wanted to, and some parts worked better than other - I really did enjoy the first chunk, which was the chunk with a story, and three dead astronauts, and love. I liked the abstraction and the absurdism and the elements of repetition. And then it kept going and the rest felt - much less rewarding to get through. Much less worth it. I think the author achieved his goal, but I struggle to think of an audience who really wants to read this.
So yeah, sure! I am open to tricky and incomprehensible prose. I am much less interested in freeform bog poetry. It was a fine read but I would not recommend it to anyone who is not already a diehard VanderMeer fan.
Jfc, VanderMeer! I love his prose, but this went off the rails and wandered in the weeds.
i loved the first half of this book abit way too much not to give it a 5 star rating. the characters were just way more interesting to me than the few minor characters in the middle until it got to charlie X.
i rather really just stay with the three abit more.
i rather really just stay with the three abit more.
challenging
dark
reflective
relaxing
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
It's like a beat poem and a fever dream had a child.
I wanted to be obsessed with this book, to give it a solid five stars. To be fair to Vandermeer, if I had read the first book in the trilogy I may have understood more than fleeting passages of beauty and been able to gain a sense of a narrative strain. Or perhaps the quantum somewhen-ness of all my confusion really was part of the point. This book was the type I enjoyed with my eyes blurred, not trying to look too closely at it. I am grateful for its splendor, but wouldn’t recommend it to any of my friends.