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mrawdon's reviews
206 reviews
The Dispatcher by John Scalzi
dark
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The Stars Are Legion by Kameron Hurley
3.0
This book was okay, but it’s being marketed as space opera, and it’s really an odyssey through a “sufficiently advanced technology” fantasy land, combined with the angst of self-discovery and betrayal, so I had a fair amount of whiplash compared to what I’d expected. The space opera bits are peripheral and not really developed. The tech is largely biological which gives it an unusual - sometimes disgusting - feel.
As a story it’s decent, although the sort of “building oneself up from abject nothingness” tales seem to of necessity involve a bunch of flailing around plotwise. That main characters’s arc has a couple of surprises, yet the ultimate destination seems pretty clear early on. There’s a strong Wizard of Oz feel to it which might be deliberate.
The elements of the story I most enjoyed - the conflict among the different worlds - reminded me strongly of Karl Schroeder’s Virga series, so if that’s what you enjoyed most about Stars, then I recommend that series to you.
As a story it’s decent, although the sort of “building oneself up from abject nothingness” tales seem to of necessity involve a bunch of flailing around plotwise. That main characters’s arc has a couple of surprises, yet the ultimate destination seems pretty clear early on. There’s a strong Wizard of Oz feel to it which might be deliberate.
The elements of the story I most enjoyed - the conflict among the different worlds - reminded me strongly of Karl Schroeder’s Virga series, so if that’s what you enjoyed most about Stars, then I recommend that series to you.