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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
It had its moments. But there were a lot of moments that didn't capture my interest at all--I spent a lot of time zoning out during this book.
Maybe it was a good book, but it definitely wasn't a book for me. Too political, too introspective, and too little actual plot. And a lot of the dialogue sounded super unnatural...
Poor Enka. That part hurt me.
Maybe it was a good book, but it definitely wasn't a book for me. Too political, too introspective, and too little actual plot. And a lot of the dialogue sounded super unnatural...
Poor Enka. That part hurt me.
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The central metaphor is SO interesting I just wish the book were good.
challenging
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This was an interesting book, especially considering that it was originally intended for a Chinese audience. What I liked about the book were the philosophical parts. It was not hard to draw parallels between Mars/Earth and China/West, though clearly it was not a clearcut copy of these parties. She approaches this differences in a fair manner and I really enjoyed seeing her pull from the history of the PRC to make Mars.
What I did not like was how this felt like a draft more than a finished work. I never came to like any of the characters. There was a lot of strange information and events included that made the book longer, but didn't really add anything. It was also really hard to get a sense of the overall plot until about 500 pages in. Then ending was nice though.
Overall, it was a thought-provoking book that I would recommend to those interested in seeing how a contemporary and well-respected Chinese author explored modern geopolitics in a sci-fi setting. It was not my favorite work by her, but I am glad I read it.
What I did not like was how this felt like a draft more than a finished work. I never came to like any of the characters. There was a lot of strange information and events included that made the book longer, but didn't really add anything. It was also really hard to get a sense of the overall plot until about 500 pages in. Then ending was nice though.
Overall, it was a thought-provoking book that I would recommend to those interested in seeing how a contemporary and well-respected Chinese author explored modern geopolitics in a sci-fi setting. It was not my favorite work by her, but I am glad I read it.
This is a really interesting book that I couldn't quite get a handle on. Even though it involved teens in space, it wasn't a quick read and it didn't get very action-packed. The writing is really thoughtful and the author has a real talent for using prose to describe beautiful and complex concepts and feelings. However, I felt that sometimes the imagery and "thoughtfulness" got in the way of the plot, although there were still some great plot highs and lows to witness. The author built a really fascinating environment and some really compelling characters, but there were so many of them that I felt I didn't really get to see much development in each character, even in such a long book. A lot of background and even current events were only briefly touched upon, when I felt they deserved much deeper discussion and explanation. This just wasn't a very plot-heavy book, which really frustrated me when there were so many interesting avenues to explore. I wasn't expecting a thriller, but it's got a lot of nuance and allegory and references to French philosophy, many of which likely went over my head. Overall, I think some great stories got told, I just don't think I was well-suited to appreciate the full depth of the book.
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I haven't read much Chinese science fiction so my sample size might not be big enough to make these generalizations, but what Hao Jingfang and Liu Cixin have in common, at least, is that they use science fiction very conceptually. Their books explore philosophical ideas through their characters. There isn't always a lot of action because the point of the books is to discuss these ideas.
In Vagabonds, the question being asked is "how can societal change happen effectively?" In this book, Earth remains a consumer-oriented capitalist society. Everything is monetized- ideas, art, technology. On Earth, the angle is always toward making profit. On Mars, everything is organized toward building knowledge. Once each person is of age, they choose an atelier and spend the rest of their lives working in this area, whether it be flight technology or fashion. Everyone competes to produce new ideas and add to the body of knowledge that Mars is building.
A group of young people have recently returned to Mars after spending five years on Earth, ostensibly having been working on their educations but in reality being hostages to keep war from breaking out between the planets. These young people have had the chance to see more than one point of view, and this means that the scales have fallen from their eyes.
The young vagabond student travelers now can see the chinks in Martian society. While in theory Mars is about selflessly producing knowledge, in reality budgets are determined by who has the flashiest new theory or invention and ateliers are dominated by older people so that younger people must play politics in order to get a large enough share of the budget that they can produce something new, become known, and therefore become entitled to more of the budget themselves. Its actually a lot like the current academic world, in which young idealistic graduate students work under professors, who might or might not be ethical and altruistic when it comes to giving their young subordinates credit.
These young people see flaws that they hadn't seen before, but they don't know what to do about it. Some of them want "revolution", although they can't say what they want the outcome of that revolution to be. Some want to manipulate the system and gain recognition and power. Some want the approval of their peers and will go along with whatever those peers decide, and some just want to survive doing something that they love. One main character, Lioying, vacillates back and forth. She knows that her parents were involved in a previous protest but doesn't know the full story. She isn't exactly satisfied with the current system, but she can't settle on a particular way to improve things.
This disenchantment with the system is cyclical, just as it is in our recent history. Young people are repeating arguments similar to those which were also espoused fifty years ago. In Vagabonds, it's ironic that some young people want to change things back to the way they were before the previous revolution changed things and moved things forward (in theory).
Hao Jingfang doesn't give an answer to the question she asks, except perhaps to eschew violence as an effective way to make changes happen. She hints that nothing is new under the sun and that systems will always fall into corruption regardless of the good intentions of those who create them. She seems to say that the only change we can be sure of is the change that we make individually in how we live and how we treat others. Honestly, as often as I'm overwhelmed with all that's wrong in the world and how unlikely it seems that anything can be fixed, this seems as good a philosophy as any to me, and it's one that I can follow.
In Vagabonds, the question being asked is "how can societal change happen effectively?" In this book, Earth remains a consumer-oriented capitalist society. Everything is monetized- ideas, art, technology. On Earth, the angle is always toward making profit. On Mars, everything is organized toward building knowledge. Once each person is of age, they choose an atelier and spend the rest of their lives working in this area, whether it be flight technology or fashion. Everyone competes to produce new ideas and add to the body of knowledge that Mars is building.
A group of young people have recently returned to Mars after spending five years on Earth, ostensibly having been working on their educations but in reality being hostages to keep war from breaking out between the planets. These young people have had the chance to see more than one point of view, and this means that the scales have fallen from their eyes.
The young vagabond student travelers now can see the chinks in Martian society. While in theory Mars is about selflessly producing knowledge, in reality budgets are determined by who has the flashiest new theory or invention and ateliers are dominated by older people so that younger people must play politics in order to get a large enough share of the budget that they can produce something new, become known, and therefore become entitled to more of the budget themselves. Its actually a lot like the current academic world, in which young idealistic graduate students work under professors, who might or might not be ethical and altruistic when it comes to giving their young subordinates credit.
These young people see flaws that they hadn't seen before, but they don't know what to do about it. Some of them want "revolution", although they can't say what they want the outcome of that revolution to be. Some want to manipulate the system and gain recognition and power. Some want the approval of their peers and will go along with whatever those peers decide, and some just want to survive doing something that they love. One main character, Lioying, vacillates back and forth. She knows that her parents were involved in a previous protest but doesn't know the full story. She isn't exactly satisfied with the current system, but she can't settle on a particular way to improve things.
This disenchantment with the system is cyclical, just as it is in our recent history. Young people are repeating arguments similar to those which were also espoused fifty years ago. In Vagabonds, it's ironic that some young people want to change things back to the way they were before the previous revolution changed things and moved things forward (in theory).
Hao Jingfang doesn't give an answer to the question she asks, except perhaps to eschew violence as an effective way to make changes happen. She hints that nothing is new under the sun and that systems will always fall into corruption regardless of the good intentions of those who create them. She seems to say that the only change we can be sure of is the change that we make individually in how we live and how we treat others. Honestly, as often as I'm overwhelmed with all that's wrong in the world and how unlikely it seems that anything can be fixed, this seems as good a philosophy as any to me, and it's one that I can follow.