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thrillhouse57 's review for:
Polostan
by Neal Stephenson
adventurous
challenging
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I almost gave up about 80 pages into this book. The story had yet to focus and Dawn/Autora had yet to emerge as the focal point. That stretch is difficult but once you get through it, you are rewarded.
The sections on Camp Marks and the Chicago World’s Fair are both educational and engrossing. Dawn’s ambivalence to her environment and tenuous circumstances is believable. One could argue that parts of the story tend to idle. There is also a very unrealistic torture scene (nobody could survive more than 30 minutes of that). But that is overcome by a compelling narrative spanning multiple continents, the Soviet counterintelligence apparatus and a “Nurse Rarched on steroids” character.
There’s enough here to pursue volume 2 even if one were to argue the second book is maybe where Stephenson should have begun.
The sections on Camp Marks and the Chicago World’s Fair are both educational and engrossing. Dawn’s ambivalence to her environment and tenuous circumstances is believable. One could argue that parts of the story tend to idle. There is also a very unrealistic torture scene (nobody could survive more than 30 minutes of that). But that is overcome by a compelling narrative spanning multiple continents, the Soviet counterintelligence apparatus and a “Nurse Rarched on steroids” character.
There’s enough here to pursue volume 2 even if one were to argue the second book is maybe where Stephenson should have begun.