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cametoconquer 's review for:
Eifelheim
by Michael Flynn
challenging
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
For the first two thirds of a the book I was convinced I wasn't going to enjoy it that much, but the last third was a vast improvement (for me, at least). If one, on the other hand, is a big fan of Umberto Eco, the first two thirds are superior ;). As many other reviews mention it is a 2/3 Name of the Rose-adjacent, and 1/3 Doomsday book (although to be fair, Doomsday book was published years after the novella, so I am not claiming inspiration here, if anything could be the other way round).
I spent 4 months reading this book even though on average it takes me a week or less per book. This sadly tracked with my experience with Eco. However, as a German-speaker, I enjoyed all Deutsch words, and history and customs of the area, although physics bits usually lost me. The amount of research and work required to write a book like this must have been incredible!
What Doomsday book did better, is making me care more about individual characters. With Eifelheim it was much harder. I felt a bit removed from them, so when characters were dying, it wasn't having the same impact as it did in Doomsday book, at least for me.
I spent 4 months reading this book even though on average it takes me a week or less per book. This sadly tracked with my experience with Eco. However, as a German-speaker, I enjoyed all Deutsch words, and history and customs of the area, although physics bits usually lost me. The amount of research and work required to write a book like this must have been incredible!
What Doomsday book did better, is making me care more about individual characters. With Eifelheim it was much harder. I felt a bit removed from them, so when characters were dying, it wasn't having the same impact as it did in Doomsday book, at least for me.