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3.49 AVERAGE
3.49 AVERAGE
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I can appreciate the world building on this and the imagination to fully realize the politics and interconnectedness of everything in both Mars and the glimpses we had at what capitalism to the extreme would create on Earth. Overall though, I felt the book tried a few too many things at once, and never really picked a lane what kind of book it wanted to be. Mystery? Philosophical discussion? Character study? Also, some threads that seemed important in the first third just kind of died (Eko) and the philosophical moments felt forced and sometimes trying to hard to have big revelations. Pace slowed down significantly towards the end and it started to feel like a chore to get through. Points for the creation of the world, but overall not my favorite read.
The characters in this book think and talk a lot about big issues - different political systems, ideals, activism. There is also a lot of thought about what it means to leave your home world that applies to leaving your home country. It's an interesting book about those things that happens to have a bit of sci-fi, but it is a bit long.
The premise was fascinating, which was why I picked up the book. The book itself was much more philosophical than I expected, which I took time to adjust to but ended up appreciating for what it was.
Pros:
The ideas/philosophy. I thought Jingfang did a good job setting out the two competing 'utopias' of Mars and Earth, and how each thought the other was really a dystopia. There wasn't any right system, just different values, and beneath it humanity was largely the same on each planet. I could definitely see why the 'vagabonds' who had spent time on both felt so isolated and questioning. Within the Mars colony, too, the major choice between staying in the city or going to the crater was an interesting argument. The setting was well-realized overall, with the importance of glass and magnets on Mars, and the impact of the low gravity and lack of resources on the colony.
I thought it wrapped up very well. It was hard to see how a book like this would be able to end effectively, but I thought she pulled it off. It didn't definitively answer the questions it raised, but there was change and the promise of more, and Luoying found a future that she could look be happy with, on the shuttle. Very circular, with how the novel started.
I thought the play the vagabonds put on was rather clever, and normally I don't really enjoy on-the-nose play-within-the-novel type things. I was also
Cons:
Like a lot of philosophical or ideas-based sci-fi, I thought that a lot of the characters were relatively flat in favor of the ideas that were being debated. The Doctor that Luoying talks with as a mentor-like figure seems to exist largely to drop pearls of wisdom. While the vagabonds are searching and grasping for answers (and the film-maker), almost all of the other characters in the novel are firmly convinced of their respective philosophies and don't change much. That's not to say they don't have character - thankfully there aren't really any complete mouthpieces and the characters have lives and their own separate desires - but it felt to me like the character was often secondary to the ideas that the author was getting at. Also the film-maker seemed like a deuteragonist for the first third, then pretty much dropped out of the book? Which kind of threw me.
While there wasn't one main character, the foremost character was Luoying and she was quite passive overall, which helped the book drag at points for me. She did a lot of reflecting and listening to her friends' and mentors' advice, but one consequence of her being 'stuck' between worlds was that she mostly went along with what other people were passionate about than her own interest. As noted above, though, I did enjoy how her story resolved.
Kind of nit-picky, but I was mildly irritated that all of the politically/technically powerful people in the story were men.
While this book wasn't what I expected based on the description, I thought it was a worthwhile read.
Pros:
The ideas/philosophy. I thought Jingfang did a good job setting out the two competing 'utopias' of Mars and Earth, and how each thought the other was really a dystopia. There wasn't any right system, just different values, and beneath it humanity was largely the same on each planet. I could definitely see why the 'vagabonds' who had spent time on both felt so isolated and questioning. Within the Mars colony, too, the major choice between staying in the city or going to the crater was an interesting argument. The setting was well-realized overall, with the importance of glass and magnets on Mars, and the impact of the low gravity and lack of resources on the colony.
I thought it wrapped up very well. It was hard to see how a book like this would be able to end effectively, but I thought she pulled it off. It didn't definitively answer the questions it raised, but there was change and the promise of more, and Luoying found a future that she could look be happy with, on the shuttle. Very circular, with how the novel started.
I thought the play the vagabonds put on was rather clever, and normally I don't really enjoy on-the-nose play-within-the-novel type things. I was also
Cons:
Like a lot of philosophical or ideas-based sci-fi, I thought that a lot of the characters were relatively flat in favor of the ideas that were being debated. The Doctor that Luoying talks with as a mentor-like figure seems to exist largely to drop pearls of wisdom. While the vagabonds are searching and grasping for answers (and the film-maker), almost all of the other characters in the novel are firmly convinced of their respective philosophies and don't change much. That's not to say they don't have character - thankfully there aren't really any complete mouthpieces and the characters have lives and their own separate desires - but it felt to me like the character was often secondary to the ideas that the author was getting at. Also the film-maker seemed like a deuteragonist for the first third, then pretty much dropped out of the book? Which kind of threw me.
While there wasn't one main character, the foremost character was Luoying and she was quite passive overall, which helped the book drag at points for me. She did a lot of reflecting and listening to her friends' and mentors' advice, but one consequence of her being 'stuck' between worlds was that she mostly went along with what other people were passionate about than her own interest. As noted above, though, I did enjoy how her story resolved.
Kind of nit-picky, but I was mildly irritated that all of the politically/technically powerful people in the story were men.
While this book wasn't what I expected based on the description, I thought it was a worthwhile read.
La versión corta sobre el libro es esta:
¿Lo recomiendo? Pues más bien no, tiene cosas chulas, pero solo recomendaría leer algunos pasajes, no el tochal entero.
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Para la versión larga voy a escribir un texto más bien largo (lo cual me hace relativa gracia cuando acabo de usar ese meme).
Lo primero que quiero destacar del texto es la estructura narrativa: es rara. Hay una sensación constante de no saber a dónde se está dirigiendo esto. Me recuerda mucho a los manga slice of life donde simplemente cuentan el día a día de los personajes, pero aquí parece siempre que hay algo más. Es una sensación extraña, parece que solo te quiere contar el día a día los estudiantes que han vuelto de la Tierra, pero luego lo entremezcla todo con conspiraciones (flojitas). No está en ninguno de los dos lados y la lectura se hace cuesta arriba.
La forma de narrarlo es también muy distinta. Es como si la autora nos estuviese contando un cuento antes de irnos a acostar (POV: tienes 8 años y viene tu progenitor@ a leerte el librito de buenas noches).
Segundo, los personajes. No les cogido cariñó.
No pido tampoco que todas las historias tengan personajes cojonudos, tridimensionales, con múltiples capas y bla bla bla. Pero es que aquí directamente me ha dado igual el 90% de todos los presentes. Ni siquiera me ha llegado Luoying que acapara el foco de la acción la mitad del tiempo.
A su favor tengo que decir que el capítulo de Hans (el antepenúltimo) me ha hecho empatizar con el personaje en escasas 15 páginas lo cual es sorprendente teniendo en cuenta todo lo anterior.
Que da rabia porque parece que Hao Jingfang parece que sabe hacerlo, pero con los personajes que llevan todo el foco como que no ha apetecido.
Tercero y último, más quejas. Las ideas están bien, pero es que hay escrito mucho para decir poco. Mogollón de palabras para unas reflexiones que bien ordenadas cabrían en cincuenta páginas (siendo generosos).
La obra de teator. No hay tropo que más me joda que este. Tiene que estar muy bien contado para que a mí me cuele, y no ha sido el caso. Me ha parecido un recurso muy vago como forma de presentar ideas contrapuestas.
Conclusiones: meh. Tenía un potencial que al final como que no. Si te interesa el planteamiento dame un toque, te cuento las tres ideas básicas que maneja, te digo un par de páginas y si quieres hablamos del tema.
¿Lo recomiendo? Pues más bien no, tiene cosas chulas, pero solo recomendaría leer algunos pasajes, no el tochal entero.
----------------------------------------------
Para la versión larga voy a escribir un texto más bien largo (lo cual me hace relativa gracia cuando acabo de usar ese meme).
Lo primero que quiero destacar del texto es la estructura narrativa: es rara. Hay una sensación constante de no saber a dónde se está dirigiendo esto. Me recuerda mucho a los manga slice of life donde simplemente cuentan el día a día de los personajes, pero aquí parece siempre que hay algo más. Es una sensación extraña, parece que solo te quiere contar el día a día los estudiantes que han vuelto de la Tierra, pero luego lo entremezcla todo con conspiraciones (flojitas). No está en ninguno de los dos lados y la lectura se hace cuesta arriba.
La forma de narrarlo es también muy distinta. Es como si la autora nos estuviese contando un cuento antes de irnos a acostar (POV: tienes 8 años y viene tu progenitor@ a leerte el librito de buenas noches).
Segundo, los personajes. No les cogido cariñó.
No pido tampoco que todas las historias tengan personajes cojonudos, tridimensionales, con múltiples capas y bla bla bla. Pero es que aquí directamente me ha dado igual el 90% de todos los presentes. Ni siquiera me ha llegado Luoying que acapara el foco de la acción la mitad del tiempo.
A su favor tengo que decir que el capítulo de Hans (el antepenúltimo) me ha hecho empatizar con el personaje en escasas 15 páginas lo cual es sorprendente teniendo en cuenta todo lo anterior.
Que da rabia porque parece que Hao Jingfang parece que sabe hacerlo, pero con los personajes que llevan todo el foco como que no ha apetecido.
Tercero y último, más quejas. Las ideas están bien, pero es que hay escrito mucho para decir poco. Mogollón de palabras para unas reflexiones que bien ordenadas cabrían en cincuenta páginas (siendo generosos).
La obra de teator. No hay tropo que más me joda que este. Tiene que estar muy bien contado para que a mí me cuele, y no ha sido el caso. Me ha parecido un recurso muy vago como forma de presentar ideas contrapuestas.
Spoiler
Y bueno, ¿lo de que Igor desaparezca al final del Libro I y ya nada, un par de líneas y listo, casi reduciendo el conflicto Marte-Tierra a la nada?Conclusiones: meh. Tenía un potencial que al final como que no. Si te interesa el planteamiento dame un toque, te cuento las tres ideas básicas que maneja, te digo un par de páginas y si quieres hablamos del tema.
The worst supposedly science fiction book I've ever read
La temática y trasfondos son muy interesantes, pero es muy superficial y aburrido.
adventurous
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Aquí os dejo mi reseña, como siempre sin spoilers, en forma de podcast:
https://sons.red/2021/02/11/79-vagabundos-hao-jingfang/
También podéis escuchar Librorum podcast en ivoox, itunes (Apple Podcasts), Spotify y allá donde os plazca.
https://sons.red/2021/02/11/79-vagabundos-hao-jingfang/
También podéis escuchar Librorum podcast en ivoox, itunes (Apple Podcasts), Spotify y allá donde os plazca.