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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
like many fellow reviewers, i agree that the beginning and end were very strong. the middle was ... not so strong.
honestly, i interpreted this mostly as a fascinating themed podcast, with the occasional detour back to the original plot of the story. there were so many random things going on, and the epistolary/found footage format really made me believe that i was just kind of hanging out in this extremely believable, often funny, and occasionally moving universe.
character development was pretty questionable, i cant really say if it happened or not since the lead characters were basically either reliving the same day of history over and over again, slogging thorugh bureaucratic BS, or just not intearacting with the reader or each other. i did like most of the characters, and there were some very fascinating and hilarious interactions, but development was questionable (aside from the skill-leveling up that seemed to happen as part of their jobs at DODO).
this story felt like the plot was mostly happening in the background, and the focus was the very nifty world the authors wanted to show off.
i was obsessed with thewalmart / viking berserker part though i really think for me that made this whole book worth it.
and themel/tristan kiss at the end. thank god. i didn't mind the lack of togetherness between them most of the time, although for how long the book was i think they should have interacted more even if only though work messages! but i am the kind of person who considers a successful romance to be chemistry, some tension, and then a chaste peck in the epilogue đ€·
honestly, i interpreted this mostly as a fascinating themed podcast, with the occasional detour back to the original plot of the story. there were so many random things going on, and the epistolary/found footage format really made me believe that i was just kind of hanging out in this extremely believable, often funny, and occasionally moving universe.
character development was pretty questionable, i cant really say if it happened or not since the lead characters were basically either reliving the same day of history over and over again, slogging thorugh bureaucratic BS, or just not intearacting with the reader or each other. i did like most of the characters, and there were some very fascinating and hilarious interactions, but development was questionable (aside from the skill-leveling up that seemed to happen as part of their jobs at DODO).
this story felt like the plot was mostly happening in the background, and the focus was the very nifty world the authors wanted to show off.
i was obsessed with the
and the
Via Audio. The narrators were great, but in all fairness to the author, I'm pretty sure I would have liked this book better if I had read instead of listened. The modern / military epistolary thread was just too heavy handed (i.e. I couldn't skim some of it). There were some parts of this I loved. Others I needed to be able to skim. Great idea, good execution, but in the end the character development wasn't as much as I need to fall for a book.
RATING: 2.5 stars
Could have been great, but it lacked focus in a big way. We were explained all the science but not the magic. Also, I felt like I was reading the notes of the entire backstory. There are things that don't need to be there.
Mainly, I got the feeling that the plot was really thin, so the authors just shoved lots of info about how DODO developed over 5 years, memos, staff convos, parties, amongst other stuff.
There was some action sprinkled throughout, but mostly it was this and then the climax, which was... disapointing. And open.
So, overall, while all the info-dumpy backstory was cool to an extent, it didn't advance the plot and this book is huge. There was just too much detail, too much minutiae about everyday stuff in a government funded organization, sometimes... it was boring. I'm guessing that without the info-dump it would be roughly 300 pages or something.
Could have been great, but it lacked focus in a big way. We were explained all the science but not the magic. Also, I felt like I was reading the notes of the entire backstory. There are things that don't need to be there.
Mainly, I got the feeling that the plot was really thin, so the authors just shoved lots of info about how DODO developed over 5 years, memos, staff convos, parties, amongst other stuff.
There was some action sprinkled throughout, but mostly it was this and then the climax, which was... disapointing. And open.
So, overall, while all the info-dumpy backstory was cool to an extent, it didn't advance the plot and this book is huge. There was just too much detail, too much minutiae about everyday stuff in a government funded organization, sometimes... it was boring. I'm guessing that without the info-dump it would be roughly 300 pages or something.
Did this all hang together? I'm not entirely sure. But holy cow it was a fun and engrossing read. (Like, beyond "almost missing my train stop" into "neglecting my family" level of engrossing read.)
I enjoyed this, but I think it was longer than it needed to be. I really liked the beginning, and the last 150 pages or so were really good, but there was a big section in the middle that dragged a bit. It's a really interesting idea, and reminded me of The Chronicles of St. Mary's in places.
AllmÀnt bra bok. Rolig, lÀttlÀst och intressant. Dock tog sci-fi:en, samt det som intresserade mig som mest, ett kliv tillbaka efter cirka 150 sidor för att göra plats för handlingen. En Äsikt jag brukar ha om lÄnga böcker (de tre som jag lÀst) Àr att de verkligen faller i kvalitet runt 75% (eller 400-500 sidor) in. Jag lÀser hellre en kortare och mer konserterad bok Àn en lÄng bok som tappar stoffet mitt i. Samma med spel som med filmer som med all konst.
NĂ„got som stĂ„r centralt i boken Ă€r den skickliga anvĂ€ndningen av berĂ€ttarperspektiv och framför allt hur mĂ„nga berĂ€ttarperspektiv som lĂ€saren stöter pĂ„. Det delar upp boken i kapitel-liknande segment och hĂ„ller varje del frĂ€sch och unik. Det Ă€r alltid roligt att se en ny form pĂ„ texten och ett nytt sprĂ„k för att förmedla denna vĂ€xling. Detta löper dock risken att bli kaosartat och förvirrande, dĂ€rmed har boken en, vad jag kallar för âförstahands kĂ€llaâ som Ă€r skriven av en primĂ€ra huvudkaraktĂ€ren sist i den kronologiska ordningen. Det behövs att Dr. Stokes hĂ„ller lĂ€saren i handen över denna enorma bok. Det hjĂ€lper ocksĂ„ att hennes delar Ă€r de roligaste och mest lĂ€ttlĂ€sta.
Jag blev lite besviken nĂ€r jag insĂ„g bokens relativt lilla skala jĂ€mfört med dess sid-antal. NĂ€r man hör att en sci-fi författare tillsammans med en historie-författare ska skriva en bok om hĂ€xor, vetenskap och tidsresande fĂ„r Ă„tminstone jag extremt höga förvĂ€ntningar. Men istĂ€llet för att kolla pĂ„ hur hĂ€xorna faktiskt tar makten över historian och ger oss en alternativ historia och hur enorma skillnaderna Ă€r, fĂ„r vi endast se pĂ„ ytan vad som faktiskt hĂ€nder. NĂ€r det stĂ„r âwhen you interfere with history, there is no telling what will happen in the futureâ pĂ„ bokens utsida förvĂ€ntar jag mig tyvĂ€rr mer.
Det kanske Àr vad som hÀnder i tvÄan.
Men allmÀnt en grym bok.
NĂ„got som stĂ„r centralt i boken Ă€r den skickliga anvĂ€ndningen av berĂ€ttarperspektiv och framför allt hur mĂ„nga berĂ€ttarperspektiv som lĂ€saren stöter pĂ„. Det delar upp boken i kapitel-liknande segment och hĂ„ller varje del frĂ€sch och unik. Det Ă€r alltid roligt att se en ny form pĂ„ texten och ett nytt sprĂ„k för att förmedla denna vĂ€xling. Detta löper dock risken att bli kaosartat och förvirrande, dĂ€rmed har boken en, vad jag kallar för âförstahands kĂ€llaâ som Ă€r skriven av en primĂ€ra huvudkaraktĂ€ren sist i den kronologiska ordningen. Det behövs att Dr. Stokes hĂ„ller lĂ€saren i handen över denna enorma bok. Det hjĂ€lper ocksĂ„ att hennes delar Ă€r de roligaste och mest lĂ€ttlĂ€sta.
Jag blev lite besviken nĂ€r jag insĂ„g bokens relativt lilla skala jĂ€mfört med dess sid-antal. NĂ€r man hör att en sci-fi författare tillsammans med en historie-författare ska skriva en bok om hĂ€xor, vetenskap och tidsresande fĂ„r Ă„tminstone jag extremt höga förvĂ€ntningar. Men istĂ€llet för att kolla pĂ„ hur hĂ€xorna faktiskt tar makten över historian och ger oss en alternativ historia och hur enorma skillnaderna Ă€r, fĂ„r vi endast se pĂ„ ytan vad som faktiskt hĂ€nder. NĂ€r det stĂ„r âwhen you interfere with history, there is no telling what will happen in the futureâ pĂ„ bokens utsida förvĂ€ntar jag mig tyvĂ€rr mer.
Det kanske Àr vad som hÀnder i tvÄan.
Men allmÀnt en grym bok.
dark
hopeful
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Started very interesting, great premise, but by 60% just wanted it to end, long and tedious and predictable. I canât recommend.
Recommended reading for the solar eclipse, seeing as how a solar eclipse in the mid-1800's features prominently(ish).
I am quite pleased with how much I enjoyed this story!
It's a fun science+magic tale involving a nerd, a military dude, more nerds, and witches. And time travel. And machines. And secret government agencies. And naked Vikings.
It sounds pretty messy and it kind of is but not in a frustrating way. Actually, I was impressed with how well-thought-out the logic behind science+magic and time travel was! Typically, I roll my eyes a lot at this kind of thing, whining to myself about how that's just so unrealistic and couldn't ever happen for reasons but this time, I kept thinking, "Yes, that could work! This is genius!"
The two mainmain characters are a tad boring, nothing overly endearing or interesting about them, but the supporting cast is delightful and a little diverse. Not full-spectrum, or anything, but more than just default white people.
Happily, the full-cast audio for this worked perfectly; listening was never a chore.
Unfortunately, this is not a stand-alone. Judging by that ending, there's more story on its way.
I am quite pleased with how much I enjoyed this story!
It's a fun science+magic tale involving a nerd, a military dude, more nerds, and witches. And time travel. And machines. And secret government agencies. And naked Vikings.
It sounds pretty messy and it kind of is but not in a frustrating way. Actually, I was impressed with how well-thought-out the logic behind science+magic and time travel was! Typically, I roll my eyes a lot at this kind of thing, whining to myself about how that's just so unrealistic and couldn't ever happen for reasons but this time, I kept thinking, "Yes, that could work! This is genius!"
The two mainmain characters are a tad boring, nothing overly endearing or interesting about them, but the supporting cast is delightful and a little diverse. Not full-spectrum, or anything, but more than just default white people.
Happily, the full-cast audio for this worked perfectly; listening was never a chore.
Unfortunately, this is not a stand-alone. Judging by that ending, there's more story on its way.
Fun escapism for this time. Audiobook was a lot of fun.