The chapters alternate between the POV of two characters, one who is the fourth princess in a somewhat medieval society on a planet that is not Earth,The chapters alternate between the POV of two characters, one who is the fourth princess in a somewhat medieval society on a planet that is not Earth, and the other being an anthropologist coming from the much more technologically advanced Earth to study this planet which was colonised in rough conditions and lost contact with Earth, which explains why it is medieval. The problem of the anthropologist is that contact with Earth has been lost again and he is marooned on this planet, skipping through the years by hibernating and trying to act in his role of anthropologist in case anyone from Earth comes to find him, which seems more and more unlikely each time he wakes up.
The story of these two characters who don't understand each other nor the issues the other is facing is really good. Tchaikovsky made his charcters really believable and endearing, and he brings other aspects to the story that really amazed me. It is hard IMO to make a story so original, after so many years of existence of the field of speculative fiction. The best part was that this originality was not for originality's sake but really allowed him to build interesting characters with interesting relationships.
I was a bit disappointed with the ending. I felt the main device of the plot resolution was unbelievable and came out of nowhere, but as the main point of this book is the characters, that did not disappoint me _too_ much....more
Frans de Waal names his field evolutive cognition. Cognition is how all animals, including humans, perceive their environment and other animals, and tFrans de Waal names his field evolutive cognition. Cognition is how all animals, including humans, perceive their environment and other animals, and the mechanisms which allow them to interact with their environment, learn things, solve problems, use tools, recognize and communicate with each other, etc. The idea here is that learning and behaviours are rooted in the biology of a species and that species that are close to each other genetically should have close forms of learning and behaviours. Conversely, several unrelated species may develop similar capacities through convergent evolution.
This book not only gives an overview of the field of evolutionary cognition but also of its pitfalls. He warns about some tendancies to think that human intelligence is so unique that it cannot be compared at all to the intelligence of any other species. This bias may lead to experiments which are incorrectly conceived, such as experiments supposed to compare task solving for human children and apes which are performed in vastly different conditions for the children and the apes.
There's much more to this book than this and I highly recommend it....more
This is part fantasy and part fairy tale. Mara is a princess, but an inept one. She fails at learning the subtelties of court politics and diplomacy, This is part fantasy and part fairy tale. Mara is a princess, but an inept one. She fails at learning the subtelties of court politics and diplomacy, and ends up in a convent. The story alternates between past and present, and starts when Mara is on some fairy tale quest, the goal of which we will discover little by little, at the same time as we discover what happened to her and most of all what happened to her sisters.
Mara is a very interesting and endearing character, who fights to be an actor in her life story rather than being passive as everybody is urging her, actively or not, to be. This will lead her to engage on this heroic quest and meeting a very interesting cast of characters. The books start somewhat dark but quickly lightens up. Though Mara and her friends face dangers and have to witness the darkness of human soul, the novel is uplifting on the whole.
The cast of characters and Mara's determination and ironic humour make a very pleasant novel. I have other books by T. Kingfisher in my wishlist and will certainly get to them at some point....more
Couldn't get into this one. This consits mainly of dialogues between drunk people, without any description of how the people behave while they're havinCouldn't get into this one. This consits mainly of dialogues between drunk people, without any description of how the people behave while they're having these conversations, which makes for dull reading. The fact that the characters are all horrible to each other doesn't help. Some books are criticised because the author tells rather than shows how things are. With this one i had the feeling that Hemingway neither tells nor shows, but that we have to guess what's on his minde. It was interesting to see how normal people thought antisemitism was at the time, with the characters issuing multiple antisemtic comment (there's one in the first paragraph), including to the jewish character's face....more
This is an alternate history book set in the 19th century Oxford university. In this alternate world, words have power and translators can make somethThis is an alternate history book set in the 19th century Oxford university. In this alternate world, words have power and translators can make something similar to magic by exploiting the differences between a word and its translation. The British empire uses the translators at Oxford to maintain and extend its power. We follow a group of four young translator students, who are discriminated because they are not white and/or not males. They were brought to Oxford because their skills in languages from faraway places are needed for the translation institute, but they are made to feel like they don't really belong. Little by little, they will start to question the whole system of dominations on which the British Empire was built.
I thought the magic system was really interesting and it was IMO the high point of this book. The daily discrimination and the fact that well-meaning people could be oblivious to it was also really interesting to me. However, the book was a bit spoilt for me by its last part, in which I thought the students were behaving in a completely unbelievable way....more
I was apprehensive about because I had not liked the only other novel-length book in the series as much as the other. Fortunately this turned out to bI was apprehensive about because I had not liked the only other novel-length book in the series as much as the other. Fortunately this turned out to be a pleasant surprise. I enjoyed watching the Murderbot character continue evolving in new ways.
I think there are at least two more books in the series to come and I'll look forward to them!...more
Yang Fei est mort. Il découvre qu'il doit se rendre au funérarium pour y être incinéré, mais une fois sur place il y renonce, car, étant seul au mondeYang Fei est mort. Il découvre qu'il doit se rendre au funérarium pour y être incinéré, mais une fois sur place il y renonce, car, étant seul au monde, personne n'a acheté de sépulture pour lui. Il va donc errer dans la ville, revoir certains endroits qui étaient importants pour lui, et même croiser d'autres personnes décédées qui errent également. Chacun de ces lieux ou de ces rencontres va être l'occasion pour Yang Fei de se rappeler un épidode ou quelqu'un de sa vie. La vie a été dure pour Yang Fei et les gens autour de lui et on trouve dans ce livre une critique de certaines actions du gouvernement chinois (le livre a été écrit dans les années 2010), comme des démolitions de maisons occupées ou des officiels du parti qui mangent à l'œil au restaurant ce qui risque d'entraîner sa ruine. Yang Fei flotte dans une espèce de brouillard qui met de la distance entre lui et ces souvenirs, et donne un aspect assez poétique au texte très bien écrit, ce qui fait de ce livre une bien belle lecture....more
Dans le Costa Rica des années 70, on suit Federico, sa rencontre avec sa maîtresse et l'impact que ça a sur son mariage, ses déboires avec une compagnDans le Costa Rica des années 70, on suit Federico, sa rencontre avec sa maîtresse et l'impact que ça a sur son mariage, ses déboires avec une compagnie agricole, financée par les gringos, qui veut racheter son terrain. Tout cela est raconté dans le désordre, ce qui donne une certaine poésie au texte. On a aussi un peu de réalisme magique avec l'épouse de Federico qui semble avoir des dons psychiques, et l'ensemble n'est pas dénué de charme mais la lecture a été gâchée pour moi par pas mal de passages où je me sentais perdue....more
This is kind of a time travel story, which is a genre I usually adore, but this really didn't work out for me. I felt that the characters were very poThis is kind of a time travel story, which is a genre I usually adore, but this really didn't work out for me. I felt that the characters were very poorly portrayed, that the pacing of the story was terribly slow and at some point I realized I really did not care how the story ended....more
This is a YA book about a teenage boy on a new world in which all men have been infected by germs which make all their thoughts audible to everybody eThis is a YA book about a teenage boy on a new world in which all men have been infected by germs which make all their thoughts audible to everybody else, in a form called Noise. All women have died from these germs and Todd is the last boy born in the settlement. This creates a setting in which all men are deeply affected and many of them are at least half crazy, and the Noise that washes over everybody is very difficult to withstand because of all the negativity it carries. Todd will learn that not is all as he was told (which is my main gripe with the book because how can anybody hide important things from others on a long-term basis when all day-to-day thoughts are heard by everyone?) and embark on quest to try and find a solution to his problem.
This was almost a DNF finish for me because the plot revolved too much about Todd not being told the truth and a turn of events occurring every time somebody is about to explain things to him. This is the first book in a trilogy and hangs on a major cliff hanger but I won't be reading the sequels....more
Nora est mariée avec Torvald qui la traite comme une enfant. C'est difficile de se projeter sur comment les choses se passaient à la fin du 19e siècleNora est mariée avec Torvald qui la traite comme une enfant. C'est difficile de se projeter sur comment les choses se passaient à la fin du 19e siècle en Suède mais j'ai trouvé que le trait était peut-être un peu forcé, avec de constantes références au fait que Nora est comme une enfant, et son mari qui lui donne des noms de petits animaux écervelés. Toujours est-il qu'on va suivre ce personnage de Nora qui essaie de sauver son couple des retombées de quelque chose qu'elle a fait il y a longtemps, et qui se bat pour être actrice de sa vie.
J'ai trouvé le développement de ce personnage intéressant. Par contre j'ai trouvé que l'intrigue dépend de circonstances et de décisions de certains personnages qui relèvent un peu trop de la coïncidence pour être crédibles....more
Énorme déception après avoir tellement aimé L'étranger. Je comprends qu'il y a beaucoup de choses qui peuvent plaire dans ce livre mais je l'ai vécu coÉnorme déception après avoir tellement aimé L'étranger. Je comprends qu'il y a beaucoup de choses qui peuvent plaire dans ce livre mais je l'ai vécu comme la déblatération incohérente d'un mec tellement centré sur lui-même que je voulais qu'il se taise....more
This is a short and contemplative science-fiction book about a man who has been chosen to work for a transgalactic travel station: people (aliens) areThis is a short and contemplative science-fiction book about a man who has been chosen to work for a transgalactic travel station: people (aliens) are teleported to the station, stay for a while and chat (or not) with him, then catch their next teleport out.
The existence of this staion is a secret to the rest of the Earth and Enoch, the station's keeper, wonders if humankind will one day be able to join this galactic union, but this seems unlikely as the threat of nuclear war is rising. The novel is centered around Enoch who reminisces the interesting alien encounters he has had and worries about the state of the world, while some events happen closer to him that threaten to jeopardise the secret of the station.
This is a quiet, interesting book but that feels a bit bland....more
Un drôle de livre qui fait des tours et des détours : en racontant l'histoire de ses trois personnages (dont Ilie Cazane n'est pas forcément le personUn drôle de livre qui fait des tours et des détours : en racontant l'histoire de ses trois personnages (dont Ilie Cazane n'est pas forcément le personnage principal d'ailleurs), le livre revisite certaines scènes plusieurs fois, revenant à un point déjà exploré et repartant dans une direction très différente. J'ai trouvé cette façon d'écrire originale et intéressante, et le livre est globalement bien écrit, mais par contre j'ai trouvé que ça se terminait un peu abruptement sans que je comprenne ce qui se passe à la fin ou quel est le message.
Par ailleurs j'ai lu la version électronique qui est malheuresement défectueuse, des bouts de texte n'apparaissent pas dans une scène qui a une mise en page inhabituelle sur deux colonnes. :/...more
Quel livre étrange ! Je ne sais pas quoi en penser. Ce livre fait écho à L'étranger de Camus et est raconté par le frère de Moussa, l'homme tué par MeuQuel livre étrange ! Je ne sais pas quoi en penser. Ce livre fait écho à L'étranger de Camus et est raconté par le frère de Moussa, l'homme tué par Meursault dans L'étranger, dont on ne parle qu'en tant que "l'arabe".
Plusieurs choses m'ont déboussolée et ont fait que je n'ai pas compris où l'auteur voulait en venir : (1) le livre parle à peine de Moussa mais au contraire de son frère et de sa vie avec leur mère après la mort de Moussa (2) Dans ce livre, Meursault aurait été libéré après avoir été condamné à mort (mais pourquoi ?!) et a écrit l'étranger lui-même, et est devenu célèbre. (3) le frère prétend que la plupart de ce qui se passe dans L'étranger est inventé par Meursault. (4) le début est plein de phrases ultra misogynes du style "j'aime l'endroit mais parfois j'y devine les effluves d'un sexe de femme, géant et épuisé" qui n'améliorent vraiment pas la lecture.
Je suis déçue d'être passée à côté de ce livre qui a l'air d'avoir tellement plu à beaucoup....more
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