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3.61 AVERAGE
3.61 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
dark
hopeful
informative
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
medium-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Enjoyable, full of potential but a bit underbaked.
adventurous
dark
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
This book was extremely slow to get going. It dropped you right into the world with no preamble, and then used the City Without a Map chapters to fill in the gaps and do more direct world building. The story is told through the perspective of several characters who seem unconnected at first. Things get a lot more interesting as the lines between the characters start to form and you start to get a sense of the direction of the narrative climax (though even that ended up being slower than expected).
Miller jams a lot into this book, but not necessarily in depth. Genocide, survivor's guilt, generational trauma, climate crisis, class disparity, religious zealotry, the inherent evil of being a landlord, xenophobia, and more. Some aspects were more effective than others. The various queer characters and their relationships felt soft and real, and the extended metaphor of "the breaks," a lethal sexually transmitted disease actively neglected by the government was one of the more successful pieces of the book. The story of the near-extermination of the nanobonded by the Americans, together with North/Northwest Indigenous linguistic and cultural references felt another allegory to our reality, but felt so halfhearted that it made me unsure as to whether it was intentional. Meanwhile, pieces like the characterization of Americans (U.S.) as refugees still clinging to their former sense of power, was well done while also easy to forget among the zillion other things happening in the story.
Overall, a solid "fine." I can't think of any circumstances under which I would particularly recommend this book, but I don't mind having read it.
Miller jams a lot into this book, but not necessarily in depth. Genocide, survivor's guilt, generational trauma, climate crisis, class disparity, religious zealotry, the inherent evil of being a landlord, xenophobia, and more. Some aspects were more effective than others. The various queer characters and their relationships felt soft and real, and the extended metaphor of "the breaks," a lethal sexually transmitted disease actively neglected by the government was one of the more successful pieces of the book. The story of the near-extermination of the nanobonded by the Americans, together with North/Northwest Indigenous linguistic and cultural references felt another allegory to our reality, but felt so halfhearted that it made me unsure as to whether it was intentional. Meanwhile, pieces like the characterization of Americans (U.S.) as refugees still clinging to their former sense of power, was well done while also easy to forget among the zillion other things happening in the story.
Overall, a solid "fine." I can't think of any circumstances under which I would particularly recommend this book, but I don't mind having read it.
I would have given this five stars, but if you're going to have psychically bonded animal patronus as such a huge part of a story, you have to work much harder at how you represent and understand them. They are referred to mostly as objects throughout the book, almost always given the pronouns "it" even when in the same paragraph they were referred to as "s/he" and had names. The short glimpses we get into their experiences are bouts of murderous rage. Come on, dude. You fleshed out so much of this world so well and then took a massively important group of characters and barely tried.
I loved the rest of it and how delightfully Gay and Queer it was.
I loved the rest of it and how delightfully Gay and Queer it was.
informative
mysterious
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
What an interesting imagining of a future and the intense bonds of being both a family and a human! This has really elevated my expectations for other authors with the intense-yet-normal diversity within this book.
Poke around too much at something good and you tend to find something bad.
I will caution prospective readers with: this book starts quite slow. You are not dunked into this complex world Miller has concocted and expected to start swimming, he eases you in. I actually really enjoyed it, seeing the mundane day-to-day of our protagonists before it all got so intensely shook up!
And what a compelling tale this was as it ramped up! I found myself enamored with the complexities and layers that came together so satisfyingly. Ankit is by far my favorite, but all the perspectives here were wonderful. And, as I said, immense diversity included not in a way that made it feel “weird” but just… normal. Because diversity is normal! Including non-binary characters, gay love, sapphic love, people of color, and clear intent to center them in the story. (edit: I did not realize while writing this that Miller is himself gay, and that makes me so glad I supported him in getting this book! and also explains this naturalness which I so adore!)
I enjoyed the themes of anti-capitalism in this story, which I think would be even more prevalent in Qaanaaq after the fact that capitalism basically caused their whole situation. It was weirdly cathartic, seeing them dismantling it in their own brutal way. And I haven’t even mentioned the cool technology and the sheer scale of Qaanaaq’s city layout that I somehow actually understood, which is so rare in niche sci-fi like this!
I would not be opposed to Miller conducting another story in this world, and am looking forward to whatever I read of his next regardless! Definitely recommend if you like weird, rebellious, and perspective-hopping sci-fi.
Poke around too much at something good and you tend to find something bad.
I will caution prospective readers with: this book starts quite slow. You are not dunked into this complex world Miller has concocted and expected to start swimming, he eases you in. I actually really enjoyed it, seeing the mundane day-to-day of our protagonists before it all got so intensely shook up!
And what a compelling tale this was as it ramped up! I found myself enamored with the complexities and layers that came together so satisfyingly. Ankit is by far my favorite, but all the perspectives here were wonderful. And, as I said, immense diversity included not in a way that made it feel “weird” but just… normal. Because diversity is normal! Including non-binary characters, gay love, sapphic love, people of color, and clear intent to center them in the story. (edit: I did not realize while writing this that Miller is himself gay, and that makes me so glad I supported him in getting this book! and also explains this naturalness which I so adore!)
I enjoyed the themes of anti-capitalism in this story, which I think would be even more prevalent in Qaanaaq after the fact that capitalism basically caused their whole situation. It was weirdly cathartic, seeing them dismantling it in their own brutal way. And I haven’t even mentioned the cool technology and the sheer scale of Qaanaaq’s city layout that I somehow actually understood, which is so rare in niche sci-fi like this!
I would not be opposed to Miller conducting another story in this world, and am looking forward to whatever I read of his next regardless! Definitely recommend if you like weird, rebellious, and perspective-hopping sci-fi.
adventurous
dark