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A review by whichwayis_weston7
Fault Tolerance by Valerie Valdes
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
I wanted to enjoy this as much as the first instalment in the series but unfortunately the cracks in the story telling really are impossible to ignore in the final book. There were passages of strange philosophical rants that pulled me out of the narrative completely and felt more like the author discussing the morality of the character's actions rather than actual introspective conflict.
The 'small universe' problem was also at its worst here - a universe is an impossibly large thing, far too big for the same groups of people to keep showing up in the same locations as each other (the gates help with this but still how would they know?!) It would have felt more in the realms of reality if this was all taking place in one or two galaxies - which are by no means small!
I've been struggling all the way through the series with whether or not I like Eva and at first I thought that was the point of her character arc but there was never enough change or growth for me to go 'okay I like you/forgive you now' and really she's just a terrible person that happens to help save the day.
The pop culture references stopped being that - just references to enjoy like a little aside with the author, and became whole plot points. So basically this one rips-off Voltron... badly. Instead of 5 cat mechs turning into a big humanoid mech... 3 humanoid mechs turn into a big cat mech... do, do ya get it? DO YOU?! And as always not enough psychic cats. Vakar was wonderful though and deserves to be protected at all costs.
The 'small universe' problem was also at its worst here - a universe is an impossibly large thing, far too big for the same groups of people to keep showing up in the same locations as each other (the gates help with this but still how would they know?!) It would have felt more in the realms of reality if this was all taking place in one or two galaxies - which are by no means small!
I've been struggling all the way through the series with whether or not I like Eva and at first I thought that was the point of her character arc but there was never enough change or growth for me to go 'okay I like you/forgive you now' and really she's just a terrible person that happens to help save the day.
The pop culture references stopped being that - just references to enjoy like a little aside with the author, and became whole plot points. So basically this one rips-off Voltron... badly. Instead of 5 cat mechs turning into a big humanoid mech... 3 humanoid mechs turn into a big cat mech... do, do ya get it? DO YOU?! And as always not enough psychic cats. Vakar was wonderful though and deserves to be protected at all costs.