This book has had some obstacles. I lost it in a plane, and Iwas not convinced I was invested enough in the story to get it again. Finally several monThis book has had some obstacles. I lost it in a plane, and Iwas not convinced I was invested enough in the story to get it again. Finally several months later I did, as I was curious to see how it ended and how it meshed with the main Fractured Europe series, but although it is self contained, the introduction of yet another shadowy faction, and the unsatisfactory reveal of the Mcguffin left me cold.
It is well written and it grips you at times, adds background and explains how people outside the main series see things. But it is a kind of fluffy support for this background.
Only get it if you have read and enjoyed the main series, and want more of something similar, or to know more about the fictional universe. ...more
The ending of the fractured Europe main series, it still allows for more books in the setting, tying up most dangling threads, but in a way I found foThe ending of the fractured Europe main series, it still allows for more books in the setting, tying up most dangling threads, but in a way I found forced, lacking the neat smoothness of the previous books.
If you are caught in the series you need to read it, to see how balance can be found, but I at least did not like the solution chosen, and the fractures and violence done to the setting to get there.
It is still well written and fits with the previous books. It is not neat and I did not buy the solution. ...more
I enjoyed it more than the rating, but I downgraded it because I have mostly forgotten the whole. Geeky COVID book, with likeable characters and hateaI enjoyed it more than the rating, but I downgraded it because I have mostly forgotten the whole. Geeky COVID book, with likeable characters and hateable villains. And Kaiju. Plenty of them.
I am not a fan, which may explain the rating, as there is a justification why a giant radioactive monster might exist…...more
It is a nice time travel short novel, with a great premise and a good handling of paradox. As it is quite short, almost any detail would be spoilerishIt is a nice time travel short novel, with a great premise and a good handling of paradox. As it is quite short, almost any detail would be spoilerish. But the reasons to try are good, the set up is also good, and it does not use multiple universes, which is a cop out in time travel tale.
This is the type of time travel tale I would have liked to see in The Agency. ...more
This is a non-sequel to his powerful, although somewhat dated, The Forever War. It deals with a shorter time frame the interface of military and civilThis is a non-sequel to his powerful, although somewhat dated, The Forever War. It deals with a shorter time frame the interface of military and civilian in a war that seems unending.
Even though it is from 1997 it is still quite appropiate today, with a North-South insurgency war which the North fights only with drones and always in enemy territory, I will not spoil the plot, though I found it weaker than the whole drone situation and how post-scarcity in part of the world would work, fitting just now when many western countries are toying with universal income as a response to the economic fallout of the epidemic. Well written and thought provoking, but showing its age in some aspects. I liked more the set-up than the alternate threat and the resolution....more
Last one in the Fractured Europe series, it falls short from the expectations created in the two previous books. Too many new players and the protagonLast one in the Fractured Europe series, it falls short from the expectations created in the two previous books. Too many new players and the protagonists are shown to have almost no protagonism, which is a bad thing for the story.
At certain points it seems the writer painted himself in a corner and needed a lot of magic to break out. Much weaker and left me with a bad taste when finished.
However if you have reached this point, you need to know what is behind. At least most important points are explained, even if I do not like many of the explanations....more
In short, I disliked the first, near future thing, and hated the second far future part. But it is too well written to get a score of one. And I finisIn short, I disliked the first, near future thing, and hated the second far future part. But it is too well written to get a score of one. And I finished it, so it gets a two.
In what pretends to be a hard science book it has tons of tricks and cheats. From the unbelievable start, to the improbable sequence of events to get the result he wanted, he switched to what seems a poor RPG class/caste system and a series of unexplained Deus Ex Machina so that characters end up doing nothing but getting carried by the flow, or dying. Dishonest storytelling in the first part, and plain bad one in the second, he still manages to get you caring enough to push forward, to even lower points.
Only for hard science fiction fans with a high tolerance for bullshit....more
It is a pity I did not read this book back in 1992, it would have blown my mind.
It has aged relatively well, however, with several predictions that haIt is a pity I did not read this book back in 1992, it would have blown my mind.
It has aged relatively well, however, with several predictions that have scored quite well, from the weather change to the impact of muslim refugees in Europe, but of course it is impossible to hit everything. It mixes near future prediction with a post-cyberpunk vibe and a part of real space/real science thrown in. So action is mostly limited to our star system, and the mind of our heroine, who is the best part of the book.
The ending reads a bit like a rehash of 2001 and Alice in Wonderland, and weakens overall a very solid book, and a good show of how we saw the future twenty five years ago.
I will be reading more recent books from Ings to see how if his futurism is still strong....more
When I first read a synopsis of this book, a bit over one year ago, I felt it was disconnected from current European reality. Now, it feels somehow prWhen I first read a synopsis of this book, a bit over one year ago, I felt it was disconnected from current European reality. Now, it feels somehow prescient in presenting some of the centrifugal forces breaking up Europe to return to a post Schengen border future.
The book most of the time feels as a near future suspense thriller, presenting quite well, if a bit simplified, the different idiosyncrasies of the European regions. Or at least if fits with my own limited experience.
There are a couple twists, and a future that feels very close to the present except when suddenly it is not. It also feels real, the slo-mo deterioration rather than a sudden collapse. I am still unsure about the big twist, one that might make it enter more fantasy territory, and it would feel new if I had not read China MiévilleThe City & the City.
This slight discomfort keeps it from a perfect score, but I will read the following books and I may yet change my mind....more
China Mieville knows how to write. That does not make this a good book, or even a good story.
The first impression is that it was a new project that diChina Mieville knows how to write. That does not make this a good book, or even a good story.
The first impression is that it was a new project that did not make an internal cut, and what remained was published as such. It is not a full story, it is not even a snapshot, it is just a few scenes and some internal dialogue with glimpses of some post-catastrophe future. The glimpses are interesting but incomplete, and the main plot points (it does not merit being called a line) scattered and false feeling.
It might be a teaser for some further work, but in that case it fails terribly at teasing. It is like looking at what remains in the floor of a cutting room, the discards....more
I have always liked Ms. Gunn style, even stories that I dislike for other reasons (plot, setting, characters). Because she writes about all kinds of tI have always liked Ms. Gunn style, even stories that I dislike for other reasons (plot, setting, characters). Because she writes about all kinds of things, from Christmas terror to TV yellow press. I still hope to see a full novel. Half the pages, if not the stories, are cowritten with Michael Swanwick, a big plus for me and a way to keep up to date with his full opus.
As in all compilations, quality is varied, but generally good, including a homage to several Sci-fi classics. The two long collaborations with Michael Swanwick, The train that climbs the Winter tree and Zeppelin city, are specially good....more
The worst part of Luna: New Moon is that it is not a closed book but certainly part of a whole, and we have to wait to see how the story continues.
It The worst part of Luna: New Moon is that it is not a closed book but certainly part of a whole, and we have to wait to see how the story continues.
It is not one of my favorite McDonald books, but it has his skill with choral narrative and future extrapolation mixed with what felt most of the time a best seller from the 80s, those that presented tales of ambition and revenge among the wealthy and powerful, and with plenty of steamy sex to keep readers interested. It is mostly that, but in the moon seventy years in our future. The sex is kinkier than in the 80s, but not so different, and the main weak point, simplistic characters, also sets me back to those books.
Despite my criticism, I still read it quickly and still need to know how the revenge proceeds, and if there will be any survivors at the end. So I will get the second one, in paperback, as after a couple of days the need to know fades reasonably....more
It has taken me a while to finish Shadows of the New Sun, a collection of stories written as a homage to Gene Wolfe. It has taken me a while because iIt has taken me a while to finish Shadows of the New Sun, a collection of stories written as a homage to Gene Wolfe. It has taken me a while because in the process I have reread most of his short story compilations and I even was sorely tempted to reread the Book of the New Sun. I still may do it. I seldom buy mixed author compilations because it is a shotgun approach to quality (all over the place), but considering my own completeness fixation with Wolfe and that it is unlikely these stories will be published elsewhere, I went in. Wolfe does not really write in a genre, he writes of wondrous things in all genres, how that wonder gets into current, or fantastical, or future life. That was the real challenge for the contributors, to evoke that sense of wonder.
Quality is very random, but there is still something tender in Joe Haldeman writing a terribly bad fanboy story. Some will make no sense if you are not up to date with the referred Wolfe's long or short piece. A few are pretty good, specially those that took the homage idea lightly. My favorite was Stephen Savile's Ashes (first time I read this author), though if I were nitpicking it was more Borges than Wolfe, though there are many common points. Reminded me a lot of The Secret Miracle. Swanwick's was very good, but built up its punch on the ambiguity of The Fifth Head of Cerberus, so it took me some time to really get the story. Aaron Allston wrote a very risky reflection on language and the power of perception, in an alternate West with an evil French Empire. It would have worked well as a Star Wars short story, which is why I liked it less than the other two. There are many duds, most of them by famous writers, but the hits and the two new Wolfe stories made it good....more
This is a Shadowrun novel. So if you do not know what that is, skip it. If you know what Shadowrun is, you might wish to skip it as well, as its styleThis is a Shadowrun novel. So if you do not know what that is, skip it. If you know what Shadowrun is, you might wish to skip it as well, as its style is patchy, with continuous jumps in time, scant information, more loose ends than a ball of yarn and an extremely simple plot that tries to be hidden by the mentioned time jumps and obnoxious omiscient narrator.
The main characters are nicely defined and developed, but that only highlights the cardboard nature of the city, the setting, the support cast, even the tools, an important part of the game.
Not a very high rating for a book I read in one day, just flying.
It had many things going for it. A likable character, fighting against overwhelming oNot a very high rating for a book I read in one day, just flying.
It had many things going for it. A likable character, fighting against overwhelming odds. Real science and technology. And an easy style and simple plot.
But just after finishing it I was already in doubt, and spent some time poking holes on it. I decided to write a review even though I have other pending ones because I do not want to end up hating it after an excess of analysis.
The plot is beyond simple, and I do not think it is a spoiler to write that from the second page we already know how it is going to end. The main character is likable, but we do not really learn much about him. The rest of the characters are even more sketched, and you cannot shake the feeling they are all based on real people.
The author clearly loves NASA, even when he criticizes it, and though not bad in itself, it gets tiresome.
My biggest problem with the regular crisis points. All of them were believable, but there is an excess of them, and all at the right/worst moment, so it gets to a point when you can predict when a new crisis is due. Combined with the assured result, it makes them trivial, and weakening their punch. There is no tension.
All crisis are environmental. People in this book are all great. It may be uplifting but also unbelievable, specially considering all those absent politicians. Almost no people conflict, and what there is, is just someone complaining but still supporting the joint effort. The only real personality conflict is glossed over, as we miss all the interesting parts of the mutiny.
The biggest problem is that, as the book itself shows, there is no point in sending people to Mars surface. There may be an argument for sending people to remote control probes and landers without time dilation. But certainly no point in sending them down the gravity well. So the book's excellent science and engineering show that it may not happen.
Uplifting, educative, but eventually a let down....more
The book follows all the writing forms and style that have made Gibson an icon. Almost all his tropes are there, the ultra-riIt is good but not great.
The book follows all the writing forms and style that have made Gibson an icon. Almost all his tropes are there, the ultra-rich intersecting with the underside of society, the repurposing of tecnology, small details of how people arrange their lives, though we only have two alternating viewpoints this time. The plot is transparent, as usual, and the time treatment, though new for him, typical in science fiction. The first four chpters, available for preview, are among the best I have read in a long time, polished and buffed repeatedly till they are perfect, but the rest of the book does not manage to keep the level so high. The short chapters do not help, in my opinion.
I also have some personal problems with the 2030 future, compared to the 2100, but that would be giving spoilers. Maybe because I have no experience of small town, Georgia, in 2014, but it feels off as a future to me.
The character interactions and the sexual tension are however much better than in previous books, so we do not have the impression that the juicy things happen off-camera. Even if the actually torrid parts do happen off-screen. Most of the violence, too. I do not think it is a bad thing, considering the narrators.
The book would be much stronger without the two last chapters. Though they feel as an attempt to reduce character reuse in the next novel.
Ash is, without doubt, my favorite character. And one of those with a high potential for reappeareance.
And that is all I can say without being spoilerish. Four stars, rather than five, though I felt I could give it a five till the middle of the book, as there were no more surprises afterwards....more
Twenty years after I read small parts of Bilal's great work, I finally managed to read it fully. It is a complex and ambitious work, imperfect, but soTwenty years after I read small parts of Bilal's great work, I finally managed to read it fully. It is a complex and ambitious work, imperfect, but so ambitious that it still fails grandly.
From the parts I read (The Woman Trap), I was left with a certain fascination with blue hair that still persists, long before I read manga.
Drawing is idiosyncratic and detailed, fitting the troubled and tangled plots and sites. A deep layered story, with several repeating messages appearing time and time again.
Some parts of the imagined future and the underlying message have become obsolete, but most of it is still as valid as when it was first presented....more
The plot, the story, all the characters but Petrovich, they are worth nothing. And Petrovich works because you have read already three books about himThe plot, the story, all the characters but Petrovich, they are worth nothing. And Petrovich works because you have read already three books about him.
The only attractive part is the description of Future USA, but even for someone who does not discount it, it got old quickly.
The book has a lot in common with Snowcrash, in that it ties its current present in a dystopian but believable future. In South Africa the realities oThe book has a lot in common with Snowcrash, in that it ties its current present in a dystopian but believable future. In South Africa the realities of inequality lie closer than in other advanced countries, so the contrast cuts deeper.
However, despite a lively use of language, interesting characters and some interesting ideas about the future, the book has a predictable plot that is telegraphed ahead, falls into a lot of common places and avoids some hard questions. In a way it is part of the cyberpunk dynamic that it is somehow revisiting, style over substance, but it is an overused idea.
Still, an amusing easy read, with a fresh voice that will make me check her other works. ...more
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