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A review by kynan
Central Station by Lavie Tidhar
4.0
Some of my favourite books, science-fiction or otherwise, are the ones where, after you finish them, you can close your eyes and still "remember" the places you visited, their relationships to other places and the visceral elements (the smells, the tastes, the energy) of the place. [a:Paolo Bacigalupi|1226977|Paolo Bacigalupi|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1375566282p2/1226977.jpg]'s Bangkok from [b:The Windup Girl|6597651|The Windup Girl|Paolo Bacigalupi|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1278940608l/6597651._SY75_.jpg|6791425], [a:P. Djèlí Clark|15117586|P. Djèlí Clark|https://images.gr-assets.com/authors/1638309414p2/15117586.jpg]'s Cairo from [b:The Haunting of Tram Car 015|36546128|The Haunting of Tram Car 015 (Dead Djinn Universe, #0.3)|P. Djèlí Clark|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1537226167l/36546128._SY75_.jpg|58277622] and of course the sprawling Castle from [b:Gormenghast|258392|Gormenghast (Gormenghast, #2)|Mervyn Peake|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1480786154l/258392._SY75_.jpg|3599885]. The latter I think is a most apt comparison in this case as this book's title is quite accurate! This book is essentially a glorious world-building exercise, deftly sketching the eponymous station via stories whose characters all move in tangential but interrelated plot-arcs.
Whilst Central Station is the star of the show (and I did wonder to myself just why it was necessary to map out the relatively limited environs that make up the station) there are a number of other characters that pass through the story. This is actually the only real gripe I have about the book: although there are a huge number of concepts and characters that we get a glimpse of, it's just a glimpse. The viewfinder is pointed squarely on Central Station and if the character steps out of frame, well, so be it. Prepare yourself for no closure on any of the subplots relating to character or history.
Central Station is the first (only?) space-elevator built by humanity and is located smack in the middle of the Tel Aviv. It's location is, I suspect, a function of chance history - something that is alluded to but not specifically defined in the book. This is one of the relatively rare post-singularity...that's all I wrote, another one on the forgot-to-review shelf.
Whilst Central Station is the star of the show (and I did wonder to myself just why it was necessary to map out the relatively limited environs that make up the station) there are a number of other characters that pass through the story. This is actually the only real gripe I have about the book: although there are a huge number of concepts and characters that we get a glimpse of, it's just a glimpse. The viewfinder is pointed squarely on Central Station and if the character steps out of frame, well, so be it. Prepare yourself for no closure on any of the subplots relating to character or history.
Central Station is the first (only?) space-elevator built by humanity and is located smack in the middle of the Tel Aviv. It's location is, I suspect, a function of chance history - something that is alluded to but not specifically defined in the book. This is one of the relatively rare post-singularity...that's all I wrote, another one on the forgot-to-review shelf.