An in-your-face take on the incarceration system. This book is not subtle in its comparisons to gladiatorial combat, slavery, and modern American prisAn in-your-face take on the incarceration system. This book is not subtle in its comparisons to gladiatorial combat, slavery, and modern American prisons. Indeed, the reason I ended up not using it for a poll in my book club was because it was so textual and we're currently living in a time where the veneer of civility is sure looking a bit thin on too many fronts for me to feel good about making people think critically or long about yet another battle we as a society need to fight.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ all of the abuses you can imagine of the prison system. Racism, sexism, queer antagonism, prisoner abuse, debasement, discussion of crimes including rape and incest (hide spoiler)]
Things I appreciated:
-The social call out. The prison complex is a personal bugbear and I am 100% here for scifi that is very little "fi" and loud about how people should be treated like people. And also loud about how exploiting people who are not being treated as people is both what is currently happening and vile.
-The nuance. If I'm staying now in the world, this book plays a lot with different ways of seeing gladiator matches among violent offenders. There are very few sympathetic folks here, but you still do want to sympathize with them because of who they become when they are literally fighting for their humanity.
-The writing. I found several passages beautifully composed.
-The characters and their choices. A wide assortment from a lot of different backgrounds with very strong voices throughout.
What I did not love:
-The ending. I don't think it followed. I think I get what it was trying to say, but I don't think it succeeded in its message. I think it was trying to say that these systems are so strong that even their victims enforce them, but this was not the moment for that. I would have loved the same nuance and humanity from the rest of the book to have presented itself here.
That being said, up until that point I found it poignant and well done....more
There's a lot in this book that, if I'd read it 25 years ago, I might have thought "wow. That's cool." Sadly I'm sadder and wiser noTime of death: 39%
There's a lot in this book that, if I'd read it 25 years ago, I might have thought "wow. That's cool." Sadly I'm sadder and wiser now. I really wanted to like it, but a combination of where things seem to be heading and the narrator just absolutely mutilating the accents, I must declare defeat.
-Capitalism as nation. Way before it was cool, this book was thinking about late stage capitalism and how it might morph. Oddly this one thought something closer to communism might fit well with capitalism, but I appreciated having my pre-conceived notions tested.
-Future tech. It's normal now to have the idea of brain implants for internet access. I really liked that this one had basically Google Glass, long range receivers and the ability to wire in to other electronics. It felt more "plausible" and had interesting limitations.
-Loving family as main characters. A woman who has just recently given birth and her equal partner continue working and living life together. He helps change the baby and holds her on screen. They care about each other. They have strengths and weaknesses but those aren't on gender lines. I think I can count on one hand the number of times I've seen this in any genre fic.
-Environmental collapse. Again, well before clifi was a subgenre, this book took it for granted that the world was going to shift massively, and thought about interesting ways humanity might pivot.
So, why the DNF?
-Bloat. This book talks and talks and talks without adding anything to the plot, character, or world. It also has one of my cardinal sins which is monologues about economics.
-No realism. I'm sorry, you do not bring your baby willingly on an excursion you think might end in murder. You do not turn off your earpiece to your protection in a van with strange men who are all armed when you have zero combat training. Gangsters don't show you their illegal secret lair as a sign of good faith.
-Nonsense plot. This story has the structural integrity of quick sand. Thrash around at all and it will kill you.
-Narrator. You know how the current wisdom is not to do voices for other races? This narrator boldly tried it. And, for some narrators like Kobna Holdbrook-Smith, that might work because they're friggen voice wizards. This narrator is not a voice wizard. She was serviceable, but she read all the Grenadians sound like very bad Irish accents.
-Tech wizardry. Having recently had the misfortune of reading the first book of Tad Williams' Otherland, my patience for badly introduced tech magic is low. I shut off right after we started down this path. This one has the honor of doing it first, perhaps, but I did not feel it was going to be doing anything else in a superlative way, so I find I must lay it to rest.
-Weird exploration of race. A completely unnecessary and strange consideration of trans-race folks (and not in the normal adoption way) happened that wasn't AS cringe as it could have been, but even in the early 90s my question would have been...why?
My GR friend Charles accused me of "hating" this book because it's been a couple of months since I read it and I'm only now reviewing it. That is muchMy GR friend Charles accused me of "hating" this book because it's been a couple of months since I read it and I'm only now reviewing it. That is much more a consequence of life bein' life than it is of my sentiments.
I did not hate it. For this type of book to have been published in 1996, I can appreciate its significance and the import it had on the genre. I appreciate it as foundational to the genre. I can see how it shaped the hard social scifi of the next decade. I think it contemplated the paths current day humanity has before it in a prescient and honest way. That said, my money will forever be on Pandora's Star by Hamilton if I have to pick a multi generational epic based on economic differences.
-Gene splicing vs. body modification. In the 90s, cloning and genetic modification were a Big Topic. By sequencing a human's full DNA and cloning a sheep, we launched dozens of branches of science and ethics regarding the use of the human genome. It was also a time when we were considering how best to support people with limb differences, mobility issues, and body dysmorphia. As a child who grew up with this in the news, I remember, and I think this book is iconic for its contemplation of all the different outcomes over dozens of years.
-The immediacy of the writing. I always admire authors who can approach epics and maintain the same energy at each stage. You'd think someone would get tired of a character after narrating their activities for a few centuries, but Sterling was dogged.
-The internal consistency: The author made premises and built off of them. I'm not sure what else anyone can expect from SF. It was complex, nuanced, logical, and followed to its natural conclusion.
Things that did not work for me:
-Reaganism in SF. I'm no longer a child. I have seen how certain policies played out in real life and frankly, I'm over it. The 80s died. The 80s fucked me and mine hard. It was great while it lasted, but it did not last, and now in the cold light of late stage capitalism, the shine has worn off.
-Style. Again, Hamilton gets my vote for a book that survives the future. This one was an important stepping stone, but it is not the end all be all, and I'm not sure it's the best of its ilk. Perhaps fortunately, perhaps unfortunately, the generation spanning works in SF before this are fewer, and then about a decade later there were so many they become almost impossible to distinguish, so it gets compared against Foundation and then more pop culture works from my young adulthood.
So, I did like it, and find it extremely relevant to the history of SF, but I'm not sure I'd call it the future of SF either....more
An unfortunately generic story. Something about a sister, something about gene alteration and monsters and gen ships being threatened. I hardly recallAn unfortunately generic story. Something about a sister, something about gene alteration and monsters and gen ships being threatened. I hardly recall any details less than a month later. ...more
A well written scifi noir. It has all the hallmarks of a noir story, with the ultra violence, the lusty ladies, the hard used detective etc. I thoughtA well written scifi noir. It has all the hallmarks of a noir story, with the ultra violence, the lusty ladies, the hard used detective etc. I thought its take on gene manipulation/eternal life seeking was interesting and had cool implications for the world that were mostly internally consistent.
A fine noir, just not one that made me jump up and down for joy on any of the scales I internally use when I'm considering how I feel about a book.
I don't know what happened, but Nancy Kress lost all craft for this book.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ sexual assault, sick child, loss of a child,I don't know what happened, but Nancy Kress lost all craft for this book.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ sexual assault, sick child, loss of a child, cancer, loss of a partner, terrorism, mass shootings, social media attacks (hide spoiler)]
Things that were great:
-The concept. How we live knowing that consciousness is just a sort of Descartes "I doubt (or I think) therefore I am" is very interesting.
-Cast of characters: Outside our legal framework and capitalism, these were cool characters to get to know.
-The world. I was super interested in exploring consciousness in the world of social media attacks in particular, it seemed like we'd go somewhere where shame was fabricated, which would have been very cool.
The rest:
-Bad writing. I'm sorry but there was no connective tissue, everything was surface level, telegraphed painfully, nothing led to something else, and it was overdone by at least 100 pages.
-Bad plotting. As an offshoot of my first point, the plot here was painfully spare and obvious.
-Dialogue. Also painful.
-We don't deal with the pain. There's a lot of big topics and we just do not feel the impact of them.
I'd tried Beggars in Spain and found it also not emotionally resonant. Unfortunately I just don't think this author has a style I can appreciate.
I am sad. This could have been a fun satire. Instead it was a mildly amusing reverie. Nothing positive, and the negatives are all "what did we read thI am sad. This could have been a fun satire. Instead it was a mildly amusing reverie. Nothing positive, and the negatives are all "what did we read this for?" type questions.
It was fine, in the end, like its characters--brainless and surface deep....more
I don't know for sure if this series is based on a campaign the author ran/joined, but it sure feels like one.
My problem with books that feel like thaI don't know for sure if this series is based on a campaign the author ran/joined, but it sure feels like one.
My problem with books that feel like that is that games, while immersive and fun for those involved, are often not great stories. Players make weird choices, there's no omniscient narrator because there are multiple people without telepathy involved in the telling. Twists that work in person might not work as well in a traditional story arc, etc.
I was really hopeful for this series. The first book seemed like it was setting a lot up that would lead to something fun. I didn't love the "twists" in book 2, but I liked where the characters were going.
Book 3 basically tears book 2 up and spits on it, retells almost everything, further splits the party and then does a series of LOTR endings for each character...except that most of them end on (sometimes literal) cliffhangers and most are not happy. Indeed, one ends in what I would argue is rape.
So. There's that.
I am let down by this finale, and the news that the second series is in a much different time period.
2.5 rounded up for the effect of having read the whole series.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ rape, torture, mutilation (including graphic depiction of hands being mutilated), murder of children, war, mental manipulation, casual sexism. (hide spoiler)]...more
I was really excited about where I thought this book was going. It didn't go there, and went someplace somehow less expected and less fun, but it was I was really excited about where I thought this book was going. It didn't go there, and went someplace somehow less expected and less fun, but it was still an enjoyable read.
Things that were fun:
- The beginning. The basic set up, with just a dude who wasn't very good at any particular thing, a big mystery on a new planet and a lot of deaths was neat.
-The everyman. Mickey was an okay guy. He cleared the bar that is in hell for decent dude. Not by a lot, but apparently a line of salt in Satan's basement is enough to stymie a lot of both MCs and also real people, so, yeah, he was fine, just like the rest.
The let down:
-It wasn't a mystery. Nope, it was exactly what was on the tin, but I guess if your profession is dying, critical thinking is not a job qualification.
-Does he conduct with his penis? Weird sex and relationship mechanics in this. See also: the bar being in hell's basement.
-Goes camp. I thought we were just going to have an average Joe revealing to us the world. But nope, you only thought he was average. He goes much MUCH more average first.
It was fun, and I enjoyed the glimmers of hope I had. I will not likely read on, so I'll give it a solid 3....more
Empire of too many words in the Glacial Torrent series, more like. A bit grounchy by the end. It definitely needed some editing in the last like 20%, Empire of too many words in the Glacial Torrent series, more like. A bit grounchy by the end. It definitely needed some editing in the last like 20%, min.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ Graphic and extended torture including to hands, internal organs. Parental abuse, slavery, casual misogyny, xenophobia, plague, loss of a loved one (hide spoiler)]
Things that kept me reading:
-Foreshadowing. Curious about how we got to where this hints things go from where we started. Lots of cool hints and shiny red herrings. -So very broody. So broken, so many travails. -Everyone else liked it. What can I say, apparently if all my friends jumped off a cliff, I'd put it on my TBR. -Audionarrator. He did a good job, I'd look up his other works.
Things that make it doubtful I'll continue:
-Overly long. While this book is very fluent to read, a lot of it is fluff. Pretty fluff and or perhaps meant to be thought provoking, but in the way that a hoard is a collection. Sure there's good stuff in there, but when there's this much of it, the focus is not on how cool your stuff is anymore.
-It's not like *that*. He's a good fighter who gets his ass beat. But he's REALLY good, like professionally, until the story is more fun for him to fail for some reason. We watch so many failed and useless plans from their inception to their execution to their eventual failure. While this might be true to life, the cool thing about writing about it afterward is you get to pick your scenes. He's a softy who would never abuse his power or cause harm for knowledge until the first opportunity to do so? Things like that all over the place. Whatever you think, nerds, this isn't like that, ha ha, gotcha.
-The torture scenes. For a book that starts with a desire not to torture anyone, it sure has a lot of it. I mean, a lot. I think at least 2 chapters are full of it. I skipped several pages of it because it gets graphic and there are who pages of *bad thing is done in exquisite detail to this person* between "Tell me what you know!" and "I don't know anything!" type dialogue. And this is also seen in the beginning where it's just chapters of people being mean to this (admittedly very whiny and stuck up) teen.
-Nobody until he's somebody. While stewing about the torture scenes, I had mental space to muse on how the whole set up of this book and how we're meant to think of Hadrian as a nobody with nothing going for him and no one on his side until the story needs him to use his power. It's, like, every single major plot point (and even some minor ones) is solved by people suddenly giving him authority.
It wasn't necessarily bad. I see the fun things. I liked a lot of what the author was going for. I stuck it out. But I think I just require much tighter writing and this, while cogent, was still very much too "seat-of-the-pants" plotting for me to engage fully with it....more
A little disappointed with this one. A very long introduction that I don't think needed to be this drawn out. And some really upsetting choices.
CONTENA little disappointed with this one. A very long introduction that I don't think needed to be this drawn out. And some really upsetting choices.
CONTENT WARNING: (view spoiler)[ an extreme and graphic abuse of a cat. He lives, but I had to skip multiple pages of it. Loss of a parent, ostracism, classism, child abuse. (hide spoiler)]
Things to love:
-Fun magic system. A little pat, but also nice to see something a bit more "hard magic" feeling.
-Good boy kitty. Love a good sidekick kitty.
-Lots of mystique. Definitely things I want to know more about!
Things I didn't love:
-Characterization. The evil folks are evil because they're evil, and they do really torqued things in great detail. I didn't care for that. I'm used to the cast of the Verus series, which I think are generally more complex and interesting in their own rights. Not so much here.
-A little young. This one reads more like it's aiming for the YA market, which is fine but YIKES on some of the content then.
-Overly drawn out. This one falls into the "but how will they know all about the cool stuff in my notes if I don't tell them every detail!" category. This book should have been a subplot in the next book.
I don't think I'll continue, and the bits that stick out to me do so in a not so positive way, so this is 2.5 rounded down....more
Such a fun installment. This is such a D&D campaign, but I still love it for all the fleshed out and interesting characters. A bit more focus in this Such a fun installment. This is such a D&D campaign, but I still love it for all the fleshed out and interesting characters. A bit more focus in this one on where the penises go, and therefore a bit less great in my romancepathic reading preferences, but still, overall, such a good goddamn time in such a fun world. I would almost say that I wish I was in this game, except that I do not want my penis to interact with anyone else's in a game, and since I only ever roll girls, I want even fewer vaginal interactions. But if there were fewer lovers, I would have friggen loved to have rounded out this troupe. Maybe a paladin? Or warlock?
CONTENT WARNINGS: (view spoiler)[ lots of discussion of and on-screen attempt at rape. Murder, enslavement, torture, casual misogyny (hide spoiler)]
I liked it, didn't love it. As much as this story was about imbuing trees with more sentience than we generally consider, I did find the anthropomorphI liked it, didn't love it. As much as this story was about imbuing trees with more sentience than we generally consider, I did find the anthropomorphization to be a bit extreme.
I was really interested in how fungus and moss work along side plants and the less emotive parts of the science around how trees respond to intervention either hostile or helpful. It was also a good read to undertand better how humans should stop messing with them.
I like that this made me think of trees as elves, which is a very native-to-me thought process, but I disliked how it tried to make elf culture mesh with human culture. We're different, and that's OK. I don't think tree murder is OK just because they're not human, but I also don't need the sound of screaming to cement to my ape brain that hurting things is wrong.
So, not very scientific, a little overly sentimental and a bit specific to birches where I'm more of a fruitwood girlie myself, but still interesting....more
Well I'm glad I can say I've read Reynolds now, so that I don't have to rush out and repeat the experience.
This was bloviated. If you'd just taken outWell I'm glad I can say I've read Reynolds now, so that I don't have to rush out and repeat the experience.
This was bloviated. If you'd just taken out the similes that didn't work, we'd have chopped out probably 50 pages. And, for something with too many words already, there's nothing like the worldbuilding or character development I would expect.
CONTENT WARNING:(view spoiler)[ fungus, medical experimentation, catastrophic explosions (war/bombs), coercion of will (hide spoiler)]
Things that were cool:
-The central fixation on the shroud. This felt very like Hyperion to me in that the point of curiosity felt distinctly alarming but mesmerizing. I did want to know what was going on.
Some things I didn't like:
-Writing. One of the similes that really stood out to me was one where he said "like in poker, you never play your best card first." Listen, I am no card shark, but I'm pretty sure the family of card games with "best card first" opportunities is called rummy. Another one was where he spent about 2 pages saying how something was like playing with Lego, but not to describe the sensation of building--no, this was about the cleaning up after. TWO PAGES. And no, this was not plot related, this was, I believe, meant to showcase character depth.
-Characters. I don't understand the Triumverate. To be a crew for a long time that is that hostile and also that loyal doesn't work. Even with space magic it doesn't work. The whole thing about Calvin and Dan seemed essentially unimportant. It was a cool-to-one-man thing. The women had all the personalities of a kitchen sponge.
-Plot. We spend so much time staring at this godsdamned world for that to be the answer. You know that scene in Holy Grail where Lancelot is running at the tower for like 5 minutes? This book is like that, but without the joke.
-Ending. REALLY?! What, was "and it was all a dream" too exotic sounding? It had to be (view spoiler)[ and they were actually in a time bubble/simulation? (hide spoiler)] That was what I'd been anticipating for like 400 pages.
-Worldbuilding. There's magic bird planet, anarchoscientist planet, gen ship and magical juggler planet. Whatever you're imagining is probably at least as detailed as this book got, unless you really wanted to fixate on a tiny part of magic bird planet. If hearing about the small oddity on magic bird planet for 500 pages sounds like a good time, do not even hesitate, buy this book immediately.
Unimpressed. I think there's a clear winner for me among the "great" "hard sci-fi" authors and I'm happy to have narrowed the field, and also confirmed, yet again, that "staple books" are more like staples in the sense that they are the cheapest, least impressive members of fasteners than they are essential to appreciate the depth of a genre....more
My favorite of the secret projects. You could feel the influences on this book, but I think they worked. It took me awhile to remember who our lead waMy favorite of the secret projects. You could feel the influences on this book, but I think they worked. It took me awhile to remember who our lead was, but when I did I was super hyped....more
I only listened to Sir Gawain. I listened to the Tolkien translation which included a very interesting translator's note.
This particular poem is interI only listened to Sir Gawain. I listened to the Tolkien translation which included a very interesting translator's note.
This particular poem is interesting because it relies on alliteration, which is a scheme that more or less fell out with the standardization of "Chaucer's" middle English, and that it shows young Gawain on a knightly quest and showing the pitfalls, limitations, and most gentlemanly reparations for "courtly love" which is to say, finding a warm hole belonging to a lady of appropriate social rank.
It throws interesting light on the Monty Python Holy Grail bit, and has, quite intentionally, lended itself to comparison with similar stories in the Ramayana, which I find interesting.
It's funny how often chivalry invents itself as a way to keep men in check....more
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