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3.99 AVERAGE
3.99 AVERAGE
Dragged so badly. 28% in and it's too much of a slog to endure 18.5 more hours
adventurous
challenging
dark
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It has been just about a month since I finished reading my Netgalley ARC of Exordia. I have had difficulty summarizing, or even providing a slice of my feelings and experiences reading Exordia. It has infected my brain, and if I'm being completely honest I preordered a number of copies for friends who I believe will love this book. Dickinson's The Masquerade was so electrifying that I returned to reading sci-fi and fantasy. Exordia continues to light my brain on fire in the same way The Traitor Baru Cormorant did five years ago.
Seth Dickinson is an extraordinary author who juggles a dazzling number of extremely high concept ideas with compelling and hurt (so hurt!) characters. Exordia is another stellar example of Dickinson's work. I've seen it blurbed as "Michael Crichton meets Marvel's Venom," but I think a more accurate summary would be "Independence Day meets Annihilation." In part for the context of an extraterrestrial encounter, but much more for the phantasmagoric explosion of body horror, fractal imagery, and connection and conflict between people of radically different upbringing and culture trying to work together in apocalyptic circumstances.
The book isn't just rich in ideas, it's smart. The book leaps from perspectives and events to others explosively, dropping the reader in radically new settings and the book expects readers to keep up. It starts off dizzying, but by the midpoint of the novel the reader should be comfortable with the way the narrative shifts its attentions and focus. The novel is a challenging read, and to effectively cover its subject matter, the novel has to be challenging.
Exordia doesn't shy away from challenging themes. Central to the plot is the Kurdish people and their repeated experiences with exploitation and genocide. Many characters are deeply traumatized, having experienced some of the worst things that humans can experience. Other characters are responsible for similar exploitation and genocides. There are elements of body-horror that are troubling, and nauseating, but necessarily powerful.
But even more than the novel is challenging, or smart, or phantasmagoric, it is fun! There were times I was cackling with laughter or joy. In the midst of apocalyptic battle, certain characters take the time to admire the beauty of fighter jet design. (In fact, the love for fighter jets is one of the most thrilling and fun components of the whole novel) At times both characters and narrative seems terminally online, making pop-culture references a mile a minute, that never feel out of place so much as they feel representative of weird, off-putting, empathic, loving, real people. Much of the second half of the novel is fun, bold, and insane in a way that's hard to quantify without heavy spoilers.
The book won't be for everyone, nor will any masterpiece. There will be readers who struggle with the narrative shifts, the elegantly complicated plot lines and ever-expanding cast of characters. But the novel's character doesn't make it any less of a masterpiece, just less of a universal read. While I assume Exordia will actually be more accessible and broadly appealing than Dickinson's The Masquerade, Exordia will still be an acquired taste. But for those who can enjoy it, it is singular in its appeal.
Exordia is a masterpiece. It's so frenetic, explosive, and elegant that I can barely scratch the surface. I would need 6 months and a research team to track down all the references and implications, before I could even begin to write a review that praises Exordia in the way it deserves.
For now, I'll say this: If high concept, character-driven, science fiction is up your alley- if you love Annihilation, Dune, or other such fare, then there's a good shot this will earn a spot on your favorite novels. It's just that good.
Seth Dickinson is an extraordinary author who juggles a dazzling number of extremely high concept ideas with compelling and hurt (so hurt!) characters. Exordia is another stellar example of Dickinson's work. I've seen it blurbed as "Michael Crichton meets Marvel's Venom," but I think a more accurate summary would be "Independence Day meets Annihilation." In part for the context of an extraterrestrial encounter, but much more for the phantasmagoric explosion of body horror, fractal imagery, and connection and conflict between people of radically different upbringing and culture trying to work together in apocalyptic circumstances.
The book isn't just rich in ideas, it's smart. The book leaps from perspectives and events to others explosively, dropping the reader in radically new settings and the book expects readers to keep up. It starts off dizzying, but by the midpoint of the novel the reader should be comfortable with the way the narrative shifts its attentions and focus. The novel is a challenging read, and to effectively cover its subject matter, the novel has to be challenging.
Exordia doesn't shy away from challenging themes. Central to the plot is the Kurdish people and their repeated experiences with exploitation and genocide. Many characters are deeply traumatized, having experienced some of the worst things that humans can experience. Other characters are responsible for similar exploitation and genocides. There are elements of body-horror that are troubling, and nauseating, but necessarily powerful.
But even more than the novel is challenging, or smart, or phantasmagoric, it is fun! There were times I was cackling with laughter or joy. In the midst of apocalyptic battle, certain characters take the time to admire the beauty of fighter jet design. (In fact, the love for fighter jets is one of the most thrilling and fun components of the whole novel) At times both characters and narrative seems terminally online, making pop-culture references a mile a minute, that never feel out of place so much as they feel representative of weird, off-putting, empathic, loving, real people. Much of the second half of the novel is fun, bold, and insane in a way that's hard to quantify without heavy spoilers.
The book won't be for everyone, nor will any masterpiece. There will be readers who struggle with the narrative shifts, the elegantly complicated plot lines and ever-expanding cast of characters. But the novel's character doesn't make it any less of a masterpiece, just less of a universal read. While I assume Exordia will actually be more accessible and broadly appealing than Dickinson's The Masquerade, Exordia will still be an acquired taste. But for those who can enjoy it, it is singular in its appeal.
Exordia is a masterpiece. It's so frenetic, explosive, and elegant that I can barely scratch the surface. I would need 6 months and a research team to track down all the references and implications, before I could even begin to write a review that praises Exordia in the way it deserves.
For now, I'll say this: If high concept, character-driven, science fiction is up your alley- if you love Annihilation, Dune, or other such fare, then there's a good shot this will earn a spot on your favorite novels. It's just that good.
Ahoy there me mateys! This novel deals with first contact and I was so ready for it. Sadly I abandoned ship at 48%. The first 20% or so was great. Anna is a survivor of genocide and a former refugee. She lives in NYC and frankly has a rather uninspired life. Until one day, she goes to Central Park and finds an alien that apparently only she can see. I loved the entire set-up of Anna and the alien's relationship. Of course two aliens are at war which leads to trouble for the humans.
After the excellent start, an alien artifact ends up being in Kurdistan, which just happens to be where Anna is from. The alien goes to get the item and leaves Anna behind. Anna gets drawn right back in. Then the book turns into a military sci-fi where aliens are barely present, lots of nuclear bombs fall, and all the human factions are fighting with each other. There are multiple POV switches and flashbacks which made me lose track of the narrative. The massive info-dumps about "cool" science ideas and physics did not help and only substantially slowed down the pacing. The many, many added characters were rather two-dimensional. It was also strange in that it felt the story was supposed to take place in modern day but then randomly would talk about Obama as president.
I ended up getting more and more frustrated even though I wanted to see what the Space Empire was going to do about the renegade aliens. Apparently this book was also expanded from a short story, ends on a cliff hanger, and is the first of a series. Would I have gotten the answers I wanted if I continued reading? Not sure but mateys this was sadly a slog. Arrrr!
After the excellent start, an alien artifact ends up being in Kurdistan, which just happens to be where Anna is from. The alien goes to get the item and leaves Anna behind. Anna gets drawn right back in. Then the book turns into a military sci-fi where aliens are barely present, lots of nuclear bombs fall, and all the human factions are fighting with each other. There are multiple POV switches and flashbacks which made me lose track of the narrative. The massive info-dumps about "cool" science ideas and physics did not help and only substantially slowed down the pacing. The many, many added characters were rather two-dimensional. It was also strange in that it felt the story was supposed to take place in modern day but then randomly would talk about Obama as president.
I ended up getting more and more frustrated even though I wanted to see what the Space Empire was going to do about the renegade aliens. Apparently this book was also expanded from a short story, ends on a cliff hanger, and is the first of a series. Would I have gotten the answers I wanted if I continued reading? Not sure but mateys this was sadly a slog. Arrrr!
4.5 stars. It's like early career Micheal Chricton and Tom Clancy decided to co-author a mashup of Ptedator and Blindsight, with the moral psychology of the Second Apocalypse and a flavoring of genre-saaviness and Kurdish punk feminism. Going into it without much foreknowledge, I loved the wild change of...everything after chapter 1.
James Cameron should abandon Avatar and film this instead.
James Cameron should abandon Avatar and film this instead.
Horrific insanity at its most intelligent, Dickinson has created something unique, genius, compelling, terrifying and unapologetically original. First contact, genocide, ethical philosophy, war trauma, religion and science fiction that swings from deeply researched realism to the physics of plot armor, I cannot give it five stars because ethically I cannot give this book five stars. Dickinson has a knack for being horrifying in the most uncomfortable, unconventional ways.
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:
Yes
Terrible. Slow. The exciting, new, interesting stuff is hidden behind a standard military thriller. Book is obsessed with sex, without ever being vulgar. But everything reminds every character of sex. Regardless of what is happening. Book is completely open for a sequel, which I will not read.
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
This is a hell of a trip of a novel, in the best kind of way. I picked this up because the tagline of "Michael Crichton meets Venom" was already intriguing, and then it turned out it went full Evangelion with its exploration of metaphysics and math and first contact with other races, along with being devastatingly funny and blunt at times, and oh, did I mention that at one point the universe is almost based on a model of hatefucking between two dudes who use the woman in their triad to express their own desires through, and there's a virus that carries by being read and comprehended? This is an absolutely wild roller coaster ride of a novel, and it's making me want to go back and try to see how I feel about Baru Comorant again. Technically, this could also be summed up with the "Be not afraid! ...Be a little more afraid" meme as well, which is the mark of a fun novel. Also, this is one of the Destiny 2 lore writers, so you know this shit is going to be wild. Just go and pick it up, and enjoy.
Seth Dickinson asks, “what if the trolley problem had more physics, aliens, and wacky flesh antics?” I’ll never get tired of the way he creates characters that love so deeply they completely ruin each other’s lives