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chan_fry's reviews
164 reviews
5.0
Bottom line: I learned from this book, and that's the primary reason I read non-fiction. Additionally, I was fascinated, engaged, and in a few cases blown away. With apologies to Richard Dawkins (and Geoffrey Chaucer), I didn't much enjoy the format, but this is a minor complaint. It just felt forced and artificial the way Dawkins attempted to squeeze his story into the series of "tales" as an homage to The Canterbury Tales. Otherwise, the entire book was enjoyable.
Beginning at the present, renowned scientist Dawkins takes the reader on a reverse journey through time, tracing humanity's evolutionary past through a series of "rendezvous" with other animal species (and larger groups). For the most part ignoring extinct species, the tale looks for branching-off points (speciation events); for example, the most recent about 6 million years ago when we last shared an ancestor with chimpanzees. Each rendezvous is accompanied by a helpful graphic showing how far back the story has gone, which animal groups are "joining" us on our "pilgrimage", and which geological eras/epochs are involved.
The Selfish Gene remains my favorite Dawkins book, but this one is powerful in its own right.
4.0
4.4 : This was a fun, epic-in-scope pure sci-fi adventure set in a carefully and creatively built fictional universe that I’d love to revisit when/if Bear revisits it. I don’t think I’ve EVER identified with a character more than I did with Haimey Dz, the first-person narrator (though this is a per-person subjective thing of course; your mileage will certainly vary).
Very little to dislike here; I was left wondering if the few things that bugged me were my own shortcomings as a reader/comprehender. While some readers might shy away from the extensive sections of inner dialog and second-guessing on Haimey’s part — and I’m not always a fan of it — this was part of what made the book so relatable to me.
(I have published a longer review on my website.)
3.0
In the modern context of the Star Wars universe, this original sequel seems almost laughable, but I tried to read it while keeping in mind only the original movie (and original novelization, also written by Foster). In that sense, it’s not terrible, and probably would have been an enjoyable adventure movie.
I most enjoyed Leia taking sniper shots at Darth Vader and later nearly besting the dark lord in a light-saber battle.
The writing is slipshod at times, and the storyline is startlingly simple relative to most Star Wars novels. But I had fun, which is the most important reason I read fiction.
(I have published a longer review on my website.)
5.0
If Solomon’s debut is any indicator of their forthcoming works, they will soon be recognized as a top-tier author. This novel was powerful — a pleasure to read despite the sometimes brutalizing pain oozing from the pages. “It is not a happy book”, as an NPR review noted, yet it’s “like a vaccine”, which sometimes hurts a bit but is well worth it.
Though the style is all Solomon, parts of the story arc reminded me of Heinlein’s Orphans Of The Sky and some of the mood reminded me of Citizen Of The Galaxy — connections that kept popping up in my brain as I read.
This is a must-read.
(I have written a longer review, published to my website.)
2.0
The ending picked up nicely — no spoilers! — plenty of action and the plot really started to get underway just before the book ended. I assume the rest of the story will be spread out over sequels. The world-building was intricate, some of the characters likable. That’s the good.
Where this book failed me was the very slow start, mostly slow rest of it, far too many named characters introduced immediately for me to keep track of (and tons more introduced throughout), and almost constant distractions — in the form of descriptions of body movements that I didn’t understand (and weren’t explained). It didn’t help that I picked it up thinking it was the first book in a series (it said it was), but it turned out to rely on quite a bit that occurred in three earlier books.
(I have published a more detailed review on my website.)