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explikator's Reviews (76)
adventurous
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
The people on the starship "Noah" are on a journey to rescue humankind on another planet. But things are not as they seem in that perfect civilization. There is a killer, psychics, aliens, drugs, revolts and even a war on board. A book that aims too high.
But it's a debut and Ramirez can write. The first 10% are brilliant and balance infodumping, character building and the slow start of a complicated plot. But then the pacing gets out of control and I lost the connection to Hana and Barrens, the main characters, and stopped caring for the "Noah" altogether.
Nothing really new in this book, but I made it through. If David will write another book, I'll check it out. Like most sex scenes in SF or Fantasy, this one was a desaster, too. If you just list analogies, we will never feel with the characters. I'm not interested in what it feels LIKE, I want to feel it. And I really disliked the inner monologues of Hana. That's where all the infodumping happens. Why does she explain the world she lives in to herself?
But it's a debut and Ramirez can write. The first 10% are brilliant and balance infodumping, character building and the slow start of a complicated plot. But then the pacing gets out of control and I lost the connection to Hana and Barrens, the main characters, and stopped caring for the "Noah" altogether.
Nothing really new in this book, but I made it through. If David will write another book, I'll check it out.
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Very well told story that begins like a psychodrama and ends more like a crime story. Especially the voice of nine year old Louis Drax is masterfully crafted and the whole book was a joy to read. And ...
...I really liked the ending. If Louis would have woken up and everybody lived happy together, I would've been really dissapointed.
adventurous
informative
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
What a convincing beginning! And it's really a fresh kind of Sci-Fi, that's for sure. That said: Things get very complicated and very advanced technology is just as difficult to describe as magic systems in Fantasy are.
At about 70% of the plot things are left to the math gurus and I was lost. Thus the twist - the solution to the unsolvable galactic dilemma - felt like deus ex machina for me.
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
I really do like Stephen King's writing. Every once in a while, especially after reading some awful prose - I return to see how it's done. How to write characters that the readers care about. How to describe a personality by the actions. But it seems I've read too much King already. Nowadays I prefer his short stories.
Many characters in this book. Long read. And:
Two male heroes, two male villains and a woman that's independent and strong until she falls in love. The bad guys, father and son, are psychopaths of the worst kind and the heroes are saved by the woman begging for their lifes. But, who cares, in the end this massacre was just a game of some alien teenagers.
Many characters in this book. Long read. And:
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
The first book I've read based on a recommendation from StoryGraph and its title.
The book tells the stories of a German boy and a French girl living in Europe during WWII. It's about the very diverse ways we connect with one another. By birth, by camaraderie, through coincidences or even by hearing voices on the radio.
But it's a book about a great human catastrophe, too. The war tears on these connection and is a traumatic experience not only for Marie-Laure and Werner, but for everyone involved.
And it's a book about St. Malo, a city and a fortress on the western rim of Europe. Built like a star on the brink of the ocean.
The book tells the stories of a German boy and a French girl living in Europe during WWII. It's about the very diverse ways we connect with one another. By birth, by camaraderie, through coincidences or even by hearing voices on the radio.
But it's a book about a great human catastrophe, too. The war tears on these connection and is a traumatic experience not only for Marie-Laure and Werner, but for everyone involved.
And it's a book about St. Malo, a city and a fortress on the western rim of Europe. Built like a star on the brink of the ocean.
I really like the writing and I like Eleanor and Raymond, hope to finish or restart this in the future.
But, right now, romance is not fitting in my life, even if it's as entertaining and surprisingly deep as Eleanors story. Hope she's fine with that.
But, right now, romance is not fitting in my life, even if it's as entertaining and surprisingly deep as Eleanors story. Hope she's fine with that.
Half way through. I am sorry, but I never came to like the artwork. Though it is crisp and sharp with a photographic touch, I'm under the impression that the characters are only acting. And they are acting very badly. I guess that's exactly the flip side of using photographs of real people as reference.
'Real' drawings, even caricatures, are more realistic than drawings made of photos.
'Real' drawings, even caricatures, are more realistic than drawings made of photos.
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I first met Yorick, Ampersand, 335, Dr. Mann and all the Beths 14 years ago. The story was not finished in 2006. Then I forgot about "Y" until "Saga", because the storytelling reminded me of something ...
It's still one of the best graphic novels out there, no doubt. That said: Would it have been invented 2020, it would be a different story, I guess. Western societies changed, women and men are more equal now. One tends to forget the advances we made, because the road is so much longer still.
It's still one of the best graphic novels out there, no doubt. That said: Would it have been invented 2020, it would be a different story, I guess. Western societies changed, women and men are more equal now. One tends to forget the advances we made, because the road is so much longer still.
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Wie Viele habe ich Hesse zu lesen begonnen, als die Pubertät am verwirrendsten war. Damals erschien mir "Unter'm Rad" altmodisch im Stil, aber ich konnte mich mit den Seelennöten des Protagonisten identifizieren.
Dieses Mal, 35 Jahre später, ist die Sprache zwar weiter gealtert, aber natürlich sind die Probleme nicht mehr meine. Die zweite Runde war ein Ausflug in eine Welt vor Plastik, Telefon oder Supermärkten. Schön war das.
Ich hätte wirklich gerne Deutschland vor den Nazis und den Kriegszerstörungen sehen wollen. War, glaube ich, genauso schmuck wie die alten Dörfer und Städte, die ich jetzt in Italien oder Frankreich bewundere.
Dieses Mal, 35 Jahre später, ist die Sprache zwar weiter gealtert, aber natürlich sind die Probleme nicht mehr meine. Die zweite Runde war ein Ausflug in eine Welt vor Plastik, Telefon oder Supermärkten. Schön war das.
Ich hätte wirklich gerne Deutschland vor den Nazis und den Kriegszerstörungen sehen wollen. War, glaube ich, genauso schmuck wie die alten Dörfer und Städte, die ich jetzt in Italien oder Frankreich bewundere.