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pjohanneson's review against another edition
4.0
The stakes start out high and get higher all the time. I couldn’t stop turning pages, especially in the last half of the book, which I read in a single sitting.
The ending, while compelling, felt like it could be fleshed out somewhat. Several disasters involving the Fragment’s unstoppable force vs. an island’s immovable object were delivered in a few paragraphs, and it felt rushed.
It’s an eco-disaster novel with political overtones, and it’s a first-contact novel, all in 200-and-a-bit efficient pages.
lilyn_g's review
3.0
Okay, so there's something I need to get off my chest immediately. It is a relatively small thing, but it bothered me immensely. At one point, a character says, when talking about eclipses, that the moon is getting closer to the earth. No. No, it's really not. I wanted to credit it as the mom guiding the kid along and letting him try out ideas even if they weren't right, but that's not the way it read. So, for the record, the moon is actually getting further away from the Earth, at the rate of 1.6 in/ 4 cm per year. Now, this leads me to my next problem - while I enjoyed this book quite a bit, after running into this goof relatively early on, I had trouble believing any of the science.
...and that's a problem, when you're reading a book like 'Fragment'. The science has to be something that either feels believable or just real enough that you can suspend belief for it. So when you hit a piece of actual science that's wrong early on, it's a major strike against it.
However, that aside, I did legitimately enjoy 'Fragment'. It's a quick read that doesn't waste any unnecessary time or words laying out how things got to the point they're at. This is a very action-oriented read, and, though I love some of KSR's works dearly, it is nice to see someone tell the story he likes to tell, but actually get to the point in a timely fashion.
I also appreciated the uniqueness of the plot. While parts of the ice shelves breaking off are frequently talked about, it's not often that we actually see it happen in a book. (The only time that even come close to matching up is in the very beginning of the movie 'The Day After Tomorrow'.) The whale piece of 'Fragment' wasn't something I was super interested in, but I did like how the author put it together. I could see it playing out easily on the big screen.
Craig Russell is a talented author. There was one particularly scene in this book that gave me the "Hope for mankind" shiver. You know that scene where good people come out of nowhere, unexpectedly to do the right thing? It's cheesy and frequently done, but also very emotionally effective. There are a few other scenes where he relays the drama just perfectly as well.
While I liked the brevity of the book, I do feel like he skimmed through the overview of the environmental impact of the Fragment maybe a bit too quickly. (Also, there was this scene involving a lava-bomb that had me giving the book the stink-eye.) However, I'm willing to forgive it to a certain extent because we certainly get enough of those scenes in other books and movies. The ending was a bit hard to suspend belief on, but we all need a feel good movie-ending every once in a while.
Overall, 'Fragment' was a good read that held my attention easily. It seems strange to even acknowledge that a cli-fi book can be so small, but I'm so glad that it was. Sometimes we want the drama without the drone. This Craig Russell delivers in spades. A good story to add to your library if you're a cli-fi fan.
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the author for review consideration.