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thechadow 's review for:
The Spare Man
by Mary Robinette Kowal
3.5/5, rounded up. I want to say up front that I really loved the plot, the universe, and the characters, especially the dog. For the first 2/3s this book was running a strong 4.25 for me. My only complaints in that section was the one time the book got the coriolis effect wrong (got it right everywhere else, kudos!), the way the video jammers operate is impossible to reconcile, and the unavoidable pacing that comes with a murder mystery. A classic case of "if everyone chilled out for a second and communicated effectively, the story would be over sooner." Generally, that makes for an uninteresting book, so it's fine.
The biggest issue I had was that up until the last third or so, a character who suffered an injury actually suffered the consequences of the injury. And in the ending, we get some much more debilitating injuries, but they have basically no effect. Which really ruined how immersive and serious the story was.
If you're less nitpicky than me, then this is probably a 5 star sci-fi murder mystery. With excellent gender and disability stuff going on!
The biggest issue I had was that up until the last third or so, a character who suffered an injury actually suffered the consequences of the injury. And in the ending, we get some much more debilitating injuries, but they have basically no effect.
Spoiler
Her knee BUCKLED out from under her, because of how seriously she had damaged it while immune to pain. Less than 24 hours later, and without the help of the DBPS, she wins a knife fight against someone with experience? Ludicrous.If you're less nitpicky than me, then this is probably a 5 star sci-fi murder mystery. With excellent gender and disability stuff going on!