Å·±¦ÓéÀÖ

3.5/5 - This book falls squarely into the divide of one I think was done well, but I personally did not love it. I did like it.

The good: it feels very well-researched, the plot is tight, and the characters are solid. I love the interpersonal relationships and think the narration style was perfect for seeing through the eyes of the main character. For a book set in space, it felt pretty versatile in its setting, which this non-fanatic of space appreciates.

The bad: if you are not a science person, this will probably lose your interest. I think it suffers from big chunks of time devoted to calculations, experiments, and explanations in technical jargon. While they do feel necessary to the story, the placement and length of them made me sooooo bored. If there had not been so many, I could have overlooked it, but there were multiple parts that took me out of the enjoyment I could have (it did get better about this).

Bottom line: if you like science fiction laden with the detailed, technical stuff, then you will probably like this. It plays with apocalypse in a way that doesn't feel so hopeless and impersonal. It's unique and pretty well-written. If you need more relationships and character-driven stories, then you might not be able to tough out the beginning.

Used for 2022 r/Fantasy Bingo (set in space, hard mode); also fits standalone, weird ecology (hard mode), anti-hero (maybe), Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey (hard mode), and No Ifs, Ands, or Buts.