manuphoto's reviews
872 reviews

The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi

adventurous challenging dark medium-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

3.25

An interesting concept, but I’m not a fan of the execution. The world building feels forced, it doesn’t flow well. The characters are OK but often stereotypical and not always well developed.

The plot is fine but it never really becomes engrossing. The writing is also decent, although Bacigalupi throws in too many words in italics to make for a smooth read.

The criticism of colonialism and capitalism is done in a very on the nose manner, with Thai characters literally telling to white guys “you have exploited us for centuries, it made us angry and resentful”. While I agree that these behaviours should be condemned, I prefer a “show don’t tell approach”. Have us see the ill effects instead of having exposition dumps by characters. It just seems lazy to me.

There is also a study of “what it means to be human”, which is a great theme to tackle in science-fiction. But here, again, it’s very on the nose, not subtle at all, and it’s quite superficial. It just doesn’t feel that well thought out, more like a blast of all the negativity that racism, sexism, slavery, colonialism & co. can produce. Yeah, those are bad… but you’re not bringing anything to the table here by just shouting “slavery is bad”. It just seems to me that an author should be able to convey more of the feelings and consequences that such horrible acts provoke.

And I get it, Thailand in the Summer is hot, you don’t need to remind me almost every page (even though the heat is an serious issue for one of the main characters). It’s like setting your story in space and reminding the reader every other paragraph that the characters are floating around and can’t go out without dying. I-get-it.

There are some very good chapters in the second half of the novel, sections that were real page turners. It didn’t make up for the whole novel, but it has to be said.

Despite a couple of hard scenes (including a rape scene at the beginning, be aware), I didn’t find this novel tough to read per se, but it will also not stay with me, despite its important themes. I think it was trying to achieve too many things in one novel and it got lost along the way. The whole thing is intriguing, but incoherent I’m afraid.

This novel certainly didn’t make want to read more from this author; maybe I’ll revisit him in a few years. It’s not terrible, but it’s not great either. I’m surprised it won the Hugo, especially tied with The City & The City.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Rape

Voyage Au Centre de la Terre by Jules Verne

adventurous funny informative fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

Une lecture très agréable, du Verne classique. La structure est commune à celle des autres Voyages Extraordinaires, avec des faits scientifiques mêlés d’exploits et parsemés d’humour bien senti. 

Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh

adventurous dark emotional reflective slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

First off, be warned, this is a loooong book. Not so much because of the page count, around 700 pages is not that bad per se, but the novel is very dense. It took me more time than average to go through each page. Not any fault of the book or the writing, there is just a lot per page.

That being said, I found the experience worth it. Cyteen is an incredibly rich and enthralling novel. The character development and interactions are amongst the strongest in any sci-fi novel I’ve read (and I’ve read a lot by now), the plot is complex and riveting, the universe is deep and rewards attentive reading.

Despite the density and the complexity, it is not a slog at all. A lot happens! I actually recommend to read it in one block (don’t stop for a week or two reading something else) as you need a relatively fresh memory of previous details to fully appreciate what is going on.

This novels deals a lot with psychology, biology, ethics and sexuality. There are layers upon layers to discover here. The pacing makes it fairly digestible, but this is no light reading. We’re dealing with rape, psychological abuse and other violent acts. 

Nevertheless, it is all done in a brilliant way that makes one think about all those elements in a relevant way. The novel is not written to be scandalous or provocative, but reflective. Cherryh manages a real tour de force here, as it could very easily have gone off the rails. It never does.

It’s not the most entertaining Hugo Award winner I’ve read, but it’s certainly one of the deepest, if not THE deepest. It explores the complexities of the human mind using sci-fi elements in ways that few have even tried. 

All this to say that I’d recommend this novel to sci-fi veterans, people who are relatively well versed in the genre, so that they can appreciate all the human elements without being put off by the complex science-fictional elements of the book. Overall a superb novel, one that will stay with me for quite some time.

Nettle & Bone by T. Kingfisher

adventurous emotional funny fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

A very good read, one that touches sensible subjects with intelligence and creativity.

The plot is fairly simple but addresses something not talked enough about in fantasy books: violence towards women. Kingfisher shows very efficiently how insidious and powerful it is, and how women get stuck in impossible situations. She shows it through kings, princesses and magic, but it applies to any situation. She just chose to show it in a way that would make a nice story, successfully so.

The characters are very relatable and well defined. There aren’t too many of them and they all serve a clear purpose. The book is short and the world building effortless, a blessing compared to some other fantasy works.

Despite the severity of the main plot, the book is quite lighthearted and very readable. It is also funny and clever.

Its only downside is that the world itself is not that interesting. The kingdoms and magical elements are not very important and well defined. I understand that it’s not the purpose of the novel, and it doesn’t make the reading experience bad in any way, but it explains why I stopped at four stars out of five.

Overall an excellent work, one that I enjoyed reading and that I would easily recommend.

The Uplift War by David Brin

adventurous emotional inspiring medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? A mix
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

A truly excellent read. It is better paced, structured, and executed than the previous entry in the series. David Brin writes a compelling tale with great skill, one that touches many important themes.

From warfare to colonization, from biology to space exploration, from relationships to geopolitics, all these mesh together in a truly engrossing story that I had a lot of fun reading through. All these echo real life situations, as do the best science fiction novels.

All the characters are very well developed, and serve their purpose admirably. Brin even manages to insert a fair dose of humour to make the whole thing easier to digest without ever becoming silly, which is quite a feat.

All in all, I highly recommend this book and I am looking forward to reading the second trilogy.

Végéta by Akira Toriyama

4.0

Alamein: War Without Hate by Colin Smith, John Bierman

5.0

Murder Falcon by Daniel Warren Johnson

adventurous emotional hopeful sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

A very compelling read. Mad Max meets Godzilla with a deep emotional message within the plot.

The story is too bonkers to sum up and really serves to talk about the themes of the book: perseverance, hope, friendship and love. Behind the metal and action mask lies a profound message that resonates on multiple fronts.

A nice discovery (thanks to the great guys at Z Bookstore in Montreal). An action-packed graphic novel that will stay with me for quite some time, that’s rare!

The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman

adventurous emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

5.0

What a lovely read, Gaiman is such a great writer. His characters are always beautifully depicted, his stories flow effortlessly and his ideas are bonkers. I just love his work.

Although aimed at a young public, this book is compelling, elegantly written and fun to read. The story is appealing, the characters relatable and Gaiman’s prose is as good as ever. I just couldn’t put it down, I always wanted to know what was coming next!

The novel oscillates between tender moments for the young protagonist Bod and more somber events, all perfectly balanced. I was touched by the characters and the story, but I was also entertained and curious because of the plot.

It’s the kind of story you can read to children by the fire, but also the kind that you read as an adult to reflect on childhood, family and friends. Gaiman’s masterful writing makes all these themes potent in his novel, without ever becoming cumbersome or boring. 

I really enjoyed that one and I think it’ll stay with me for quite some time. 

The Wanderer by Fritz Leiber

adventurous mysterious slow-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? No

2.25

The premise is quite classic: big dumb object shows up, havoc ensues, how will humanity manage? Dun, dun, duuuun.

Ok, been there, done that, but the story has some scope and interesting elements, at least on the surface. Sadly, the execution is very disappointing.

Leiber choses to have multiple viewpoints for the same storyline, which is ok but he bounces around too much and we lose track and interest somewhat for the main characters.

The prose is alright, nothing fancy but very readable and clear. It’s also pretty bland, which I don’t honestly mind that much if the story or characters captivate me. Here.. I was interested, but never truly captivated. 

After a little over a hundred pages I started to find the book quite repetitive and a bit tedious. But the story made it look like there’ll be a big jump, another big event that would elevate the novel to another level or add a layer of complexity that would make it exciting.

But it never really came about. Some parts are fine, others plain boring and useless. It just makes for a disjointed whole that was slow and not that interesting. Overall, a very underwhelming read. It has some nice ideas and moments, but as a novel, it is bloated and really not that good. Not utterly terrible I’d say.. but not far from it. If I didn’t want to read all the Hugo award winning novels, I’d have DNFed it, and I very rarely do that.

There is also some weird sex in there.. I’m not shocked or anything (remember, I’m French), but I thought it was strange and served no purpose at all except to satisfy some urge. I guess old Fritz needed to get some action and couldn’t… oh well.

Also, I’ve read books written by Leiber in the 40’s, 50’s and 60’s and his sexism and racism haven’t evolved nor improved over those decades. This guy was retrograde even by those days’ standards, really rough. To him, women are irrational and chaotic (although I will say that Margo has some nice moments in this novel) and black people are savages who smoke

weed all day, and only white males can figure things out and actually do something coherent. Brutal… I understand that these feelings were sadly common at the time, but he could have avoided rubbing our noses in them that much.