A review by kagedbooks
Exordia by Seth Dickinson

challenging dark sad tense fast-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? A mix
  • Strong character development? It's complicated
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? Yes
  • Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

2.75


What the hell did I just read? 

That question pretty much sums up my thoughts at the end of this overly complicated trolley problem of a book. 

Exordia by Seth Dickinson opens on a really interesting premise of Anna Sinjari a survivor of genocide and now an unhappy office worker making first contact with an eight headed alien that’s casually eating the turtles out of a pond in the middle of Central Park. 

It only gets weirder from there as she gets pulled into an alien war for something referred Blackbird that has appeared on earth.  Neither side of this war seems overly concerned over what happens to the planet and humans being humans have taken both sides and yet must work together to try and stop the inevitable destruction of earth. 

The premise here is really strong but for me, the story lost its way a bit by shifting the focus to other characters, being really into the hard science of it, and using a lot of military jargon. 

I listened to the audio which is just over 26 hours, and while Sulin Hasso does a great job narrating the story if they would’ve shaved some pages/hours off it I think it would’ve been a better story. 

This book I think is trying to trigger a lot of introspection while keeping the action going but doesn’t really ever give the reader a chance to breathe and take in the implications before moving on. 

I believe this book has a very specific audience that will truly appreciate it, but while I did like many elements of it I think ultimately I’m not going to be in that camp of loving it. 

I do thank NetGalley and Macmillan Audio for the opportunity to listen to this book early.  I received this book for free from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review. This does not affect my opinion of the book or the content of my review.
Expand filter menu Content Warnings