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A review by truthlessofcanada
Too Like the Lightning by Ada Palmer
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Tough book to review.
To sum it up I thought almost every scene on the micro level was very good, but for a while I started to just feel like I had no idea where it was going, and what is was actually about at a macro level. But, the final chapter really reigned it in, and felt like it brought me back on course.
Ada Palmer deserves an incredible amount of credit for the world she has created, she has basically invented a new form of government/society, and made it feel plausible. Also this book has an incredibly interesting frame narrative, and narrator, who I could see being off putting cause being in his head is just at times very strange.
Also lots of distinctive supporting characters, and fantastic writing.
Really it was just a very impressive book, that I would say was very dense, but not incredibly challenging or confusing to me. Although that varies, lots of people will read something I find extremely confusing and have no problems, and then read something I don't find confusing and be lost. And while this is a challenging novel, I do not think it is an outlier compared to lots of other reasonably dense stories I have read.
This book also has a lot of political intrigue, and I do have to say I found a lot of it to be pretty obtuse, like I got the general idea, but if you are someone who as they read has to figure everything out, and why everyone is doing everything, this will be really tough. Maybe I actually didn't follow this particularly well, maybe I am simply more at peace with missing things.
Every scene with Bridger in it was amazing.
8.8/10
To sum it up I thought almost every scene on the micro level was very good, but for a while I started to just feel like I had no idea where it was going, and what is was actually about at a macro level. But, the final chapter really reigned it in, and felt like it brought me back on course.
Ada Palmer deserves an incredible amount of credit for the world she has created, she has basically invented a new form of government/society, and made it feel plausible. Also this book has an incredibly interesting frame narrative, and narrator, who I could see being off putting cause being in his head is just at times very strange.
Also lots of distinctive supporting characters, and fantastic writing.
Really it was just a very impressive book, that I would say was very dense, but not incredibly challenging or confusing to me. Although that varies, lots of people will read something I find extremely confusing and have no problems, and then read something I don't find confusing and be lost. And while this is a challenging novel, I do not think it is an outlier compared to lots of other reasonably dense stories I have read.
This book also has a lot of political intrigue, and I do have to say I found a lot of it to be pretty obtuse, like I got the general idea, but if you are someone who as they read has to figure everything out, and why everyone is doing everything, this will be really tough. Maybe I actually didn't follow this particularly well, maybe I am simply more at peace with missing things.
Every scene with Bridger in it was amazing.
8.8/10