I resisted buying this but am now so glad I did. The fiction format is perfect, as all the assertions about the nature of reality if presented as factI resisted buying this but am now so glad I did. The fiction format is perfect, as all the assertions about the nature of reality if presented as fact would rub me the wrong way. How wonderful to read a fantasy novel where the protagonist is an adult female and the challenges faced are those faced by adults on a spiritual or self improvement path. A most welcome change from all the novels about adolescent boys!
The secret history of the world presented here is somewhat resonant with Da Vinci Code type stories as well as the nonfiction Secret History of the World by Booth.
I read this at the same time as a series of energetic/spiritual/mental/emotional openings were occuring for me. I don't want to say the book caused them, but it was certainly part of the whole package. There is a payload of wisdom here.
Not quite five stars as the prose while decent was slightly clunky. As good or better than many mainstream fantasy writers, but not top notch....more
Really really liked (audiobook) this novel, almost 5 stars. Better than Jennifer Government, not as awesome as Lexicon, but pretty darn good. Great seReally really liked (audiobook) this novel, almost 5 stars. Better than Jennifer Government, not as awesome as Lexicon, but pretty darn good. Great sense of humour, great comment on our contemporary world. Some very true-funny-dark humour stuff about global megacorps, scientists, aspergers folks, and lots more. Recommended....more
My favourite Laundry book in a while. Synergizes contemporary meet the parents comedy with fantasy invasion of the contemporary world. Clever, solid, My favourite Laundry book in a while. Synergizes contemporary meet the parents comedy with fantasy invasion of the contemporary world. Clever, solid, entertaining.
Title of questionable value that refers to insignificant moment of the book no doubt chosen by the publisher....more
Blazingly brilliantly plotted. Super page turner. Lots of Tarantino-esque dialogue, but more highbrow. Really a beautiful execution of the slow revealBlazingly brilliantly plotted. Super page turner. Lots of Tarantino-esque dialogue, but more highbrow. Really a beautiful execution of the slow reveal by the author creating a shifting mosaic of expectation and shifting knowlege by the reader. Highly recommended.
Though I will say, that was not a 5 star ending, but more of an average OK suffices ending. But the fun of this is reading all the rest of it, which is fantastic....more
Even better than Nameless. Beautiful Beautiful art. Clever Clever script. Read it twice in two days. Highly recommended, unless of course you don't liEven better than Nameless. Beautiful Beautiful art. Clever Clever script. Read it twice in two days. Highly recommended, unless of course you don't like Morrison, or you don't like Morrison's non mainstream work....more
Grant Morrison always generates a wide range of responses. Vive la difference! I have been following him since his early days at DC and this is one ofGrant Morrison always generates a wide range of responses. Vive la difference! I have been following him since his early days at DC and this is one of my favorite things. The tightly knit tail eating plot spirals around itself on so many levels. Lots of fun to loathe characters but redeeming as well. ABSOLUTELY GORGEOUS ART.
I am perplexed by the weird comments about whether it is written in hopes of a media tie in. Like, with Marc Millar at this point everything he does is quite clearly and contractually a development for Netflix, and pretty much everything for the last few years. How does this matter when evaluating a work based on its own merits?
Morrison is one of the greatest writers of the last 30 years. So what if he gets a tie in?...more
If you like Morrison (the Invisibles Morrison, not JLA Morrison) this is a good use of your time. The conventional narrative which departs at some poiIf you like Morrison (the Invisibles Morrison, not JLA Morrison) this is a good use of your time. The conventional narrative which departs at some point is the real value add for me-- it gets paid off in the end though I still have one unresolved issue which I may or may not spend time sorting out.
Quite aesthetically satisfying the way it all turns out and wraps up. Much more pleasing than The Filth, for instance.
The artwork for the series is quite good, consistent and really adds additional layers of meaning....more
Well done audiobook. I was feeling dissapointed with the Laundry series a book or two ago but this one really pushes into new territory and I think haWell done audiobook. I was feeling dissapointed with the Laundry series a book or two ago but this one really pushes into new territory and I think has come back to the bureuacracy-elder gods-spy thing with new edge and incisiveness. Characters are getting moved interestingly along though the pace still feels slow to me-- like the narrative arc of a multi year TV series rather than a written work of fiction....more
Difficult book. Unlike the contemporary similar topic Seveneves, this is no hollywood adventure story. Humans at their stupidest. Which makes this a gDifficult book. Unlike the contemporary similar topic Seveneves, this is no hollywood adventure story. Humans at their stupidest. Which makes this a generation ship story unlike any other. Brilliant in this way but often unpleasant as beloved tropes get overturned; as there are no heroes except possibly (view spoiler)[ the ai, maybe the only character that grows and evolves and evinces heroism and VERY unfortunately, because thus the only real character generating narrative pleasure, is unkindly removed before the end and we are left with just the idiots for a few chapters to finish off the sad tale (hide spoiler)]
Some hard comments about human society. The only organization that works is absolute benevolent knowledge at the top backed by unstoppable force. Since this is nearly nonexistent we must fall back on having a large robust environment that can absorb our mistakes, which is a point the book makes on many levels. We're just a bunch of idiots flailing around, let's hope we don't break something important
Unfortunately I think several subtle but not impossible to notice plot contradictions occurred: crisis causing conundrums which are ignored rather than solved as the protagonists move from stage to stage of their narrative journey. (view spoiler)[ either that or a Wolfe style unreliable narrator in service of the above point about the robust environment which aborbs mistakes (hide spoiler)]
Still, there are concepts and moments here worth the price of admission... real peak moments along the way.
Robinson has both the virtue and disadvantage of confronting existential pain in a Buddhist manner-- so very incisive about root causes, but he does not employ the Buddhist solution and offers nothing remotely comparable as remedy.
So when one takes it all together, really a brilliant though not entirely savory hard science depiction of the human condition. Quite an achievement, if not always fun....more
This book can be challenging to rigid thinkers as it does not fit easily into genre. It could be mainstream fiction, science fiction, magic realism, nThis book can be challenging to rigid thinkers as it does not fit easily into genre. It could be mainstream fiction, science fiction, magic realism, non fiction.
It presents the very real, surprisingly weird world of 1870's west coast america viewed through the very different perspectives of outsiders native to the times. Everyone projects their desires onto the magnetic but enigmatic Sarah Canary and carries out their hopeful but blinkered quests, crossing eachother's paths and opposing or helping eachother as is appropriate.
For most of the book this is entertaining, funny and clever. At the end it is very sad.
As one expects, a commentary on the current times as well, quite a balloon popper really.
I usually want some transcendence to earn a 5 star rating. The transcendence offered here is very small, very realistic, very grounded. And I hope also that this indicates that reading this book was time very well spent for me....more
Great short novel. Very humanistic, very pro-physicality, pro sensual, very much in touch with the supressed emotional, very in love with the possibilGreat short novel. Very humanistic, very pro-physicality, pro sensual, very much in touch with the supressed emotional, very in love with the possibility of human transcendence. An award winner and reprinted a bazillion times and deservedly so.
However, I find flaw in that the dramatic action in two of the 4 parts is the same-- a character has suppressed a traumatic memory and must be led gently back in to it. The second time we get this structure, the gentle leading is very very long, which as you might imagine is really the opposite way it ought to be done, if one has to repeat something like that.
This was the first adult sci fi book i read off the shelves of my father. Maybe I was 12? At the time it and the two immediate sequels were utterly amThis was the first adult sci fi book i read off the shelves of my father. Maybe I was 12? At the time it and the two immediate sequels were utterly amazing.
Coming back to this as an adult, it is lame, for all the reasons more eloquent reviewers note.
If you are 12, 5 stars! Go for it! If not, don't bother....more
I read half in text and the second half in audiobook. Both good. Read by the author. Slightly slow in getting started though the framing mechanism payI read half in text and the second half in audiobook. Both good. Read by the author. Slightly slow in getting started though the framing mechanism pays off at the end.
Good Gaiman stuff. Some scariness. Some mythicness.
What transforms this from just a lovely read into something a bit profound are a couple of scenes towards the end where one finds oneself in a sustained felt experience of deep mulitdimensional universal acceptance, and finding out why the protagonist got where he got to in the first place......more
Specifically a review of the BBC full cast audio production of the novella State of the Art and not this whole book...
The audio is definitely way aheaSpecifically a review of the BBC full cast audio production of the novella State of the Art and not this whole book...
The audio is definitely way ahead of the written novella, which is a bit flat. Banks just starting to get going on the Culture material.
The audio has an ironic and in some senses chilling rendition of the rest of the crew of the ship that adds significant tension to the position of the protagonist, and the choice she makes between earth and culture.
You should be able to find the BBC audio for free somewhere on the internet......more
Audiobook review. The second 5 of the 10 Amber books were written a number of years after Zelazny was past the peak of his powers and while they have Audiobook review. The second 5 of the 10 Amber books were written a number of years after Zelazny was past the peak of his powers and while they have similar flavor to the first 5, I find them a bit bloated, less zippy, D&D Monty-Haulish in their power inflation (a bit like the second filmed star wars trilogy ie episodes 1-3) and really not a worthwhile use of my time. I have twice waded in to them, once in print a number of years ago and now in audio, only to give up before the end. Not recommended....more
Audiobook review. The 10 chronicles of Amber should be regarded as 2 longer novels. The first 5 are tightly written compelling page turners full of twAudiobook review. The 10 chronicles of Amber should be regarded as 2 longer novels. The first 5 are tightly written compelling page turners full of twists and turns and surprises. Zelazny is masterful at evoking mythic archetypes economically into an action narrative. The author reads the audiobook, at a speed a bit faster than is normal for audiobooks, which is just fine. The economical prose and the quicker reading make these less of a time commitment than your typical audiobook, which with this material works well. Recommended.
FYI The second 5 of the 10 were written a number of years after Zelazney were past the peak of his powers and while they have simlar flavor to the first 5, I find them a bit bloated, less zippy, D&D Monty-Haulish in their power inflation (a bit like the second filmed star wars trilogy ie episodes 1-3) and really not a worthwhile use of my time. I have twice waded in to them only to give up before the end. Not recommended....more
Audiobook review (not available on Audible, must download from Doctorow's web site). Will Wheaton does a great job reading this.
This book isn't just AAudiobook review (not available on Audible, must download from Doctorow's web site). Will Wheaton does a great job reading this.
This book isn't just AWESOME, it's IMPORTANT.
Doctorow can do all the great writer tricks-- plot, character, dialogue. He's also not just a guy that plays someone on TV who does X, he really is a real activist working against draconian copyright and unreasonable monopolist business practices, as the preamble to the audiobook where he discusses Audible's business practices and his unwillingness to place his books with them shows.
Set just one step away from the reality we live in, Homeland details the further adventures of Marcus, the hero from Little Brother. This book stands just fine on its own as an independent novel as well.
It starts at Burning Man and Doctorow knows the San Francisco the action moves to well.
As well the text is crammed with heaps of information regarding open source software, piracy, darknets, cool maker stuff, fascinating weird math things, and hacks to make the perfect easiest cup of coffee. None of this gets in the way of the story if you aren't interested in the tech. This is all real, as is the menace our heroes face, a world of militarizing police forces, corrupt politicians, revolving doors between the Army, government, and private contractors, torture...
Which is why the book is not just a great read, but an important one. A bibliography at the end provides sources for further information on these topics. ...more
Audiobook review. This book is in two parts, which occur some space in time apart.
The first part is more than half the book and it's a real tour de foAudiobook review. This book is in two parts, which occur some space in time apart.
The first part is more than half the book and it's a real tour de force. It's emotionally engaging, moving, with interesting and different characters, lots of action and suspense, and cool science in a mostly contemporary mostly near orbit setting. It's a real page turner and gets more and more exciting as well as shocking right to the end.
[Let me say here that while this book seems "realistic" or is touted as hard science fiction, by comparison with Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson which also came out in 2015 and also concerns a space-based population, Seveneves looks like a hollywood movie, with larger than life heroes, magic technology, and conveniently ignored fundamental science problems.]
Really, you could stop reading the book at the end of the first part. It's by far superior to the second part.
The second part is mostly a guided tour of the future world for which the first part lays the groundwork. There are huge amounts of exposition explaining the subtext of very short conversations between characters. The plot is vague, there is little action until near the end. The characters drift randomly. The dramatic tension, what little there is, is mostly generated by the reader, and most of the characters, not knowing what's going on and being content to be moved around by larger forces. The characters that do know what is going on exit the narrative through means I will not spoil and so the reader NEVER finds out many of the mysteries that in theory are motivating the action.
The whole second part is in a way a tying up of loose ends from the first part. But it's only the very last scene of the first part that creates the background of conflicting interests that is played out in large in the second, so why bother? What's the point?
Stephenson has a hard time ending books with satisfying plot driven events. Mostly he prefers slow motion visual scenes that don't supply much narrative closure. This book is no expection, so my advice, skip the second half entirely since especially in comparison to the really fantastic first part it is rather dull.
The book as a whole also functions strongly as a body of social commentary. Amongst other things, the message appears to be, that people behave better when there is a greater purpose guiding their actions than us-versus-them motivations, and that this purpose is best esoteric- hidden from most in order to avoid misinterpretation. Intriguing. ...more
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