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kittyg 's review for:
Too Like the Lightning
by Ada Palmer
This book was super hard for me to get into at first, and I found myself really struggling to understand the world and where everything was going. Don't get me wrong, the ideas and innovation was excellent, but the payoff for the plot was just so so, and I didn't feel the urge to buy book 2 after finidhing this one.
This follows a utopian, heavily political world where Mycroft and Carlyle live. It's set in the future of our world, and yet some of the language used is very old in style and feels a little hard to connect with. We're following the story from Mycroft's POV, and we follow his life over the years of him becoming a convict and a kind of civil servant.
What I did like about this story were the political moments where each group would discuss their ideals and manifestos and what they stood for. We have the Humanists and Utopians and a few other groups. Each one is working towards something very different, and the world is no longer countries, but divided by which political group you align with.
One element of the story is focused on a young boy called Bridger who was a really interesting character becuase he had the ability to animate and bring to life inannimate objects like toy soldiers, toy medicines, photographs etc. This was something I would have loved to hear SO much more about, but I feel like his plot is just one small part of the whole.
What I didn't like here was the way that I felt so disconnected from the characters. I think this tries heard to span a lot of characters, places, peoples and parties, and I think that means it was always going to struggle a bit to hold my attention. I like different POVs and worlds, but I feel like I never truly got to know any of the characters and their real motivations in this book. Maybe I missed that side of things more than some, but I like the characters to be really strong and for me these didn't feel that way.
Overall, it's not a bad read as much as it is a confusing and baffling one at times, and an exhilarating and interesting one at others. I liked some sections a lot, but others just didn't work for me so I guess it depends what you are looking for. It's a 2.75* read for me (which I've rounded to 3*s).
This follows a utopian, heavily political world where Mycroft and Carlyle live. It's set in the future of our world, and yet some of the language used is very old in style and feels a little hard to connect with. We're following the story from Mycroft's POV, and we follow his life over the years of him becoming a convict and a kind of civil servant.
What I did like about this story were the political moments where each group would discuss their ideals and manifestos and what they stood for. We have the Humanists and Utopians and a few other groups. Each one is working towards something very different, and the world is no longer countries, but divided by which political group you align with.
One element of the story is focused on a young boy called Bridger who was a really interesting character becuase he had the ability to animate and bring to life inannimate objects like toy soldiers, toy medicines, photographs etc. This was something I would have loved to hear SO much more about, but I feel like his plot is just one small part of the whole.
What I didn't like here was the way that I felt so disconnected from the characters. I think this tries heard to span a lot of characters, places, peoples and parties, and I think that means it was always going to struggle a bit to hold my attention. I like different POVs and worlds, but I feel like I never truly got to know any of the characters and their real motivations in this book. Maybe I missed that side of things more than some, but I like the characters to be really strong and for me these didn't feel that way.
Overall, it's not a bad read as much as it is a confusing and baffling one at times, and an exhilarating and interesting one at others. I liked some sections a lot, but others just didn't work for me so I guess it depends what you are looking for. It's a 2.75* read for me (which I've rounded to 3*s).