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slowreaderpeter's Reviews (208)

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Loveable characters: Yes

I don’t have much of a review for this one. This series is genuinely just charming and fun and delightful. I have a great time whenever I return to the world and the characters, and thoroughly enjoyed the twists in this entry! Can’t wait to finish the series!
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Plot or Character Driven: A mix

This book was a difficult read and a fascinating one. At times cold and clinical, and others heart wrenching and filled with emotion.

Perhaps the most difficult part of this read, and what took me the longest to adjust to, was the way the author bounced around in time a bit. And I don’t mean how each chapter is largely set in a different year. I mean how within each chapter, that character we focus on drifts from “present” to memory to other memory at will, and we just have to keep up. Keeping timelines straight, or just what time we are in, proved challenging at times.

Beyond that, this was a brutal book about the little ordinary things humans do, focusing primarily on the cruel and the sad. And how these acts linger over time and between people. How single events can persist in our memories, and how they can affect people differently. It is a book about collective trauma, and how even if we put the work in to heal, there are no guarantees.

Despite this, I would not call this a bleak book. Sad, most definitely. But there is something encouraging in seeing time elapse and people finding ways to cope. 
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Loveable characters: Complicated
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Oh, this was a fascinating book to read. Set on the eve of a revolution, we follow various characters as events unfold in a city under occupation.

Following the last priest of a god, a tavern keeper, an immigrant sorcerer/antiquities dealer, a student, an academic, a factory foreman, and a gang member as Ilmar inches closer and closer to rebellion. The writing in this book feels unique. At times it is both immaculate and precise, other times it feels vague and lacking. But it all seems to fit with the narrative being built. All the various players around the city, their motivations, their goals, their dreams. The students spout romanticized ideas of revolution, the factory foreman is grounded and logical, and aristocrats want to maintain control. All the perspectives twist and turn to make sure we know what is happening, but never what will happen, or to whom.

The themes in this book are not always the most subtle (more so than some of the naming conventions at least), but neither are they slapping you in the face to make sure you understand. The story expects you to keep up with it. And the way the world is built gradually, and through all the different perspectives, gives you almost an intimate viewing of the city and its factions.

This book is far from perfect, but it is one of the more fascinating fantasy reads I’ve had over the past few years. It also feels very topical and timely considering world events. I would definitely recommend this book to almost anyone, but especially those who have a keen interest in politics and the power of people. 
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This was such a comforting book, and I enjoyed reading it start to finish! My only criticism was that, perhaps, there might have been a little too much in terms of lore and figures in the court and places and titles and formal uses of language and families. It was all a lot to absorb. That said, it was only occasionally a hindrance, and did not affect my enjoyment of the book (I almost wrote “our enjoyment,” which will make more sense once you read the novel). All-in-all, I very much recommend this book. I would say that if you are a fan of the works of Becky Chambers, this might scratch a similar itch, if more fantasy-inspired than science fiction.
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Plot or Character Driven: Plot
Strong character development: Complicated

This is such a difficult book to review by itself, so I am choosing to review it as a review of the whole trilogy instead. Each book is a fascinating and interesting experiment in creativity, plausibility, and existentialism. But they are each lacking in a specific and individual way, though each of those is hard to articulate or quantify. The culmination of the trilogy is truly greater than the sum of its individual parts, and that it why I choose to give it 5 stars.

The scope of this trilogy is almost baffling, beginning from finite and contained, to galaxy spanning, to…well, I won’t say for spoilers sake. But the ideas and concept outlines through each, and they way they all logically build on themselves is truly amazing to read.

Throughout the trilogy, Cixin Liu seems to be torn between hopefully optimism and existential dread. Ultimately, I’m still not sure how to classify him. But the ride was truly an experience that I recommend, especially for those who love science fiction. 
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Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Honestly, this trilogy was phenomenal start to finish almost across the board. Super creative and unique in both the world and the specific choices in language made by Barker. I would definitely recommend to anyone looking for a unique and innovative fantasy.

That said, I think the final third of the book, at times, dragged a smidge. Nothing drastic mind you, but at times it belabored and reiterated a couple thoughts, ideas, or character changes perhaps a bit more than was necessary. That said, still wonderfully done. 
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Plot or Character Driven: Character
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes

I’ve already written a review for a different edition of this book, so I’ll keep my reread review short. Adore this book so much. I never used to understand when people would say how much they loved and adored an author with such a personal sense of connection. Then I read this, and it made sense. Never before or since have I felt so at home in an author’s words the way I do Becky Chambers. And I wish everyone had the chance to experience her. 
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This was a fascinating book, and a very difficult one to review. It was neither as profound nor as fear-inducing as I had hoped it might be. But it was a very interesting character study and exploration of the unknown and unknowable.

The strangest and stillness of the world was met with the messiness of human and humanity in a way I cannot quite articulate. But that is perhaps my biggest takeaway, or just the thing that may linger with me longer.

Of VanderMeer’s writing, it is specific and clinical and almost poetic at times. I very much enjoyed his prose and would encourage you to focus on just the words themselves at times.

And overall interesting read that I will need more time to think on. I will definitely continue with the series as I have absolutely no clue what they might do next. 
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Strong character development: No
Diverse cast of characters: No

I’m not gonna lie, this book was a bear to get through. I really enjoyed the first two books of this series. I thought they started well, had interesting and different characters, and I loved the world and mythos that Gwynne was creating. But this book was just exhausting to read.

Right from the jump we were thrust into the action, and it didn’t let up for the entire first half of the book. Almost 250 pages of straight fight sequences, battles, and quick action to get us to other battles. It just never let up.

Additionally, outside of maybe one character, the character development kind of halted in this book. All of the various characters all became a bit same-y. At a certain point their depth all drifted away and they were all just looking for revenge and glory. And those things can only maintain interest for so long, especially if that’s every single character.

We did have a brief down spell to start the second half of the book where things slowed down, offered a little character work. This was easily the most enjoyable portion of the story for me, though I’ve seen reviews that had the opposite opinion. After that, it was right back to the first half of the book with constant action and repetitive language by Gwynne. All the fights blended together. 

All-in-all, a solid and interesting first 2/3s of a trilogy that was really let down by its final installment. 
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A very solid and enjoyable sequel to The Bone Ships. While the first book took a solid 100 pages to get used to - through new terminology and worldbuilding - Call of the Bone Ships was easy to sink back into. The world was familiar and comforting, but never felt lazy. It was challenging us at all times, and the story remained creative and clever throughout.

Jordon’s character development across the first two books of this series is truly impressive. We see genuinely growth, genuine change, and without the melodramatic tendencies and emotional swings I see in many contemporary fantasy works. Not to sell short the development of other characters whose perspectives we do not read through. An impressive task by Barker.

I think the biggest thing this book did better than its predecessor is its pacing. Due to sheer terminology and adjusting to the prose, The Bone Ships began remarkably slow. Almost painful at times. And then the final 100-120 pages of the book felt like it was dragging things out by cramming in extra adventure, additional conclusions. But this book fell under no such thing. A much more evenly paced book from the jump, and a rather quick read now that I was familiar with the language.

All-in-all, a great sequel and one of the most creative series I’ve read in a while.