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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
adventurous
medium-paced
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
adventurous
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
3.5 rounded up. Very fun, enjoyed, felt like it should’ve been multiple books- A LOT squeezed in.
I never really connected with the stakes or the characters here. I kept hoping that the nonsense words, taken from abstract ideas in our world and stretched and stretched until they no longer resembled our reality, weren't a fixture of the writing. Unfortunately that's almost all there is to this book.
There's the central conceit of the Cloud, the Grey nanites, fleets of cathedral spaceships, and shapeshifting aliens who are never clearly described except by passing details because they essentially never look quite the same from scene to scene. A character that is on-screen for probably 90% of the book is slashed out on the canvas in like two meager sentences. Everything is phrased as a computation even when it has physical presence. The primitive warlike race turns out to be savant ship pilots. The "power curve" of character growth is basically "start at the top", and the only reason the party is not overpowered is because the enemies thrown at them are even more ridiculous. The goalposts get moved several times with twists that I didn't predict but nevertheless found dull as they prolonged my suffering.
Viv is an indifferent character to start with, but her relationships with the rest of the ship's crew feel artificial and static, and I never come to understand why they even care about each other. Zanj could also be considered to be the most compelling and least one-dimensional of the crew, with her flaws and rage.
Way down my list of complaints are the extremely jarring, poorly-integrated, weak jokes about software development, agile, tech entrepreneurship, etc. to remind you about how Viv resembles to the Jobs and Musks and Gates of the real world. I think there's even a standup reference. There's actually nothing about Viv's original background that was necessary for this story to happen - she could have as easily been a highly driven oil mogul, or pharmaceutical warlord. Anything with wealth, power, and a cutthroat attitude could fill in this blank.
There's the central conceit of the Cloud, the Grey nanites, fleets of cathedral spaceships, and shapeshifting aliens who are never clearly described except by passing details because they essentially never look quite the same from scene to scene. A character that is on-screen for probably 90% of the book is slashed out on the canvas in like two meager sentences. Everything is phrased as a computation even when it has physical presence. The primitive warlike race turns out to be savant ship pilots. The "power curve" of character growth is basically "start at the top", and the only reason the party is not overpowered is because the enemies thrown at them are even more ridiculous. The goalposts get moved several times with twists that I didn't predict but nevertheless found dull as they prolonged my suffering.
Viv is an indifferent character to start with, but her relationships with the rest of the ship's crew feel artificial and static, and I never come to understand why they even care about each other. Zanj could also be considered to be the most compelling and least one-dimensional of the crew, with her flaws and rage.
Way down my list of complaints are the extremely jarring, poorly-integrated, weak jokes about software development, agile, tech entrepreneurship, etc. to remind you about how Viv resembles to the Jobs and Musks and Gates of the real world. I think there's even a standup reference. There's actually nothing about Viv's original background that was necessary for this story to happen - she could have as easily been a highly driven oil mogul, or pharmaceutical warlord. Anything with wealth, power, and a cutthroat attitude could fill in this blank.
OK wow. I don't give 5 stars often but [a:Max Gladstone|3405346|Max Gladstone|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1440009008p2/3405346.jpg] can hold a lot of complexity in his writing. OK so I figured out certain things about halfway through the book. There were still surprises for me at the end. Yes, I saw the parallels that he states clearly in his acknowledgements but it's nice to have confirmed. Go read this. It's worth this many pages. When you stop thinking it is, put it down for a day or two, pick it back up and prepare to be amazed again.
Science fiction that's not like anything else out there but kept me interested the whole way through.
Ugh. This dragged on forever. The length could have been cut down A LOT.
adventurous
challenging
funny
inspiring
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Extremely well written, and extremely written-in-the-outfall-from-november-2016, and extremely laser focused on not so much the importance of friendship as much as its absolute necessity. When we give up on what we owe to each other, when we meet power with power, when we sacrifice our humanity, it doesn't end well.
Also probably Max Gladstone's move from fantasy to SF is his most fantastical yet.
Also probably Max Gladstone's move from fantasy to SF is his most fantastical yet.