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3.81 AVERAGE
3.81 AVERAGE
literally perfect
I loved the reveal, loved that viv was a cs girlie
a bit repetitive and too crazy flowy ag times and I didn't care for all the characters but Viv/zanj were compelling enough that I devoured it love original books
I loved the reveal, loved that viv was a cs girlie
a bit repetitive and too crazy flowy ag times and I didn't care for all the characters but Viv/zanj were compelling enough that I devoured it love original books
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I wanted to love this so much? I had no idea what I was getting into, picking it up on a whim at my favorite used bookstore, thinking it a Sci fi fantasy space opera of sorts. I didn't realize until a few chapters in that it was strangely reminiscent of Journey to the west, and Google confirmed that. I was then so incredibly excited - I was OBSESSED with sunwukong in my childhood, I don't know how many times I rewatched. but I got more and more tired as I read on. the adventures dragged. the prose dragged. the last 15% were a pain to get through, I nearly DNF-ed that far in. and I shouldn't second guess when I want to DNF, because finishing it wasn't even worth it. I wish this had done journey to the west proper justice.
From a relatively conventional start, in which our heroine and protagonist (tech billionaire who happens to be a genius, of Taiwanese descent, and lesbian) is under threat from shadowy others who wish to stop her newest project and her outspoken ways from getting further traction, our story takes a radical departure from the tech-thriller world to go full-on, nitrous-fueled, universe-spanning space opera.
There’s a story here about isolation, trust, and our need for friends and for intimacy, but to be honest, the main point is really the imagination of the author. He creates for us a deadly, dire universe in which the ability of people, AIs, or other sentient beings to rise above a certain technological level is prevented by a near-omnipotent Empress on one side, and The Bleed (a primal, devouring chaos) on the other.
The story begins with Vivian Liao going on the lam, disappearing herself so that she can break into the key facility that will allow her to distribute her genius technology to everyone. She is interrupted in that attempt, is injured and awakens on a mostly-empty space station parked above a star — and in the middle of a fight between killer robots (who are trying to assassinate her) and space-going religious zealots (who are trying to rescue her).
From that point on, the story itself is relentless, taking Vivian across a span of planets, space going fleets, and interesting, if frequently murdery characters. No spoilers here, folks, because most of the fun in this book is in the journey itself. Highly recommended as a brief escape from the commonplace or the mundane.
There’s a story here about isolation, trust, and our need for friends and for intimacy, but to be honest, the main point is really the imagination of the author. He creates for us a deadly, dire universe in which the ability of people, AIs, or other sentient beings to rise above a certain technological level is prevented by a near-omnipotent Empress on one side, and The Bleed (a primal, devouring chaos) on the other.
The story begins with Vivian Liao going on the lam, disappearing herself so that she can break into the key facility that will allow her to distribute her genius technology to everyone. She is interrupted in that attempt, is injured and awakens on a mostly-empty space station parked above a star — and in the middle of a fight between killer robots (who are trying to assassinate her) and space-going religious zealots (who are trying to rescue her).
From that point on, the story itself is relentless, taking Vivian across a span of planets, space going fleets, and interesting, if frequently murdery characters. No spoilers here, folks, because most of the fun in this book is in the journey itself. Highly recommended as a brief escape from the commonplace or the mundane.
Excellent read. Good fun, fast-paced with some very interesting world building. I really loved this.
I really liked this! Like other work by Max Gladstone, Empress of Forever is... smart. By that I mean it's not a casual read - you have to pause to work out the worldbuilding, because he tends to create in a way that may not instantly click (at least to my mind, which struggles with abstraction). But it's a fun read, and a worthwhile one. Vivian is a somewhat frustrating but ever entertaining Asian-lesbian-Tony-Stark sort of protagonist, but the clearly Monkey-King-inspired Zanj is the one who takes everyone's hearts. Journey to the West meets Rogue One meets Guardians of the Galaxy meets Iron Man meets Craft Sequence meets Sailor Moon - but from all those inspirations you can really only get a completely new work.
I really wanted to love this book. I loved the first few chapters. But once we got into space, I just totally lost interest. Might love it more another time.
adventurous
emotional
funny
hopeful
inspiring
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
I continue to keep making the mistake of listening to audio books when clearly the medium rarely works well for me. So please take this review with a massive grain of salt.
I wanted to like this book so much, but in the end, I felt like it was too long and the pacing was kind of strange (although it’s hard to describe what was strange about the pacing. It felt very episodic in a way? And kind of like the same story beats were being repeated each chapter.) I can see how this might be a great book for some folks, but it just didn’t land for me.
I wanted to like this book so much, but in the end, I felt like it was too long and the pacing was kind of strange (although it’s hard to describe what was strange about the pacing. It felt very episodic in a way? And kind of like the same story beats were being repeated each chapter.) I can see how this might be a great book for some folks, but it just didn’t land for me.
Guardians of the Galaxy was fun. This takes itself way too seriously.
I quite liked the cyberpunk aspects at the start but then it just got more and more far-fetched. It stopped trying to make any sort of sense and just became rather florid and over-written for my tastes.
The characterisation felt rather flat to me. I couldn't understand why any of the other characters liked Viv or cared about her. I didn't.
Finally the ending was so deeply metaphysical it left me going "Huh?". Perhaps I have too literal a mind.
I quite liked the cyberpunk aspects at the start but then it just got more and more far-fetched. It stopped trying to make any sort of sense and just became rather florid and over-written for my tastes.
The characterisation felt rather flat to me. I couldn't understand why any of the other characters liked Viv or cared about her. I didn't.
Finally the ending was so deeply metaphysical it left me going "Huh?". Perhaps I have too literal a mind.
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes