Peter Hamilton
Science Fiction
After the excitement and scope of Pandora’s Star this was a little bit of a let down. The book was not too bad, but did little to expand upon the wondrous scope exposed in the first novel. Ozzie’s journey to the Silfen is almost completely pointless and rather unjustifiable. The major characters engage in a huge battle with the Primes, killing millions and in the end little is resolved. All good Space Operey stuff, but perhaps could have used some tighter editing.
Upon reflection this is much tighter that his last series (“Night’s Dawn”) and so I suppose we can view that as progress.
Readability (4/5)
Quality (3.5/5)
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Schild's Ladder (4.5/10)
Greg Egan
Science Fiction
Greg Egan's novels always have a great idea, which is inadequately supported by the plot; his latest effort is no exception. The idea is again wonderful, with a universe being consumed by another universe (growing at half the speed of light). The people in this far future novel have almost evolved beyond our ability to empathize with them, they interact using 'mediators' to translate and agree on interface parameters and cultural norms. There are worlds whose entire populations go into 'slow time' so that a single person can travel the universe and return without apparent time-debt.
These are wonderful ideas but they are not supported by the writing, and ultimately the story gets a little bit silly.
A worthy vision of the future, but I just didn't care...
Readibility (1/5)
Quality (3.5/5)
Science Fiction
Greg Egan's novels always have a great idea, which is inadequately supported by the plot; his latest effort is no exception. The idea is again wonderful, with a universe being consumed by another universe (growing at half the speed of light). The people in this far future novel have almost evolved beyond our ability to empathize with them, they interact using 'mediators' to translate and agree on interface parameters and cultural norms. There are worlds whose entire populations go into 'slow time' so that a single person can travel the universe and return without apparent time-debt.
These are wonderful ideas but they are not supported by the writing, and ultimately the story gets a little bit silly.
A worthy vision of the future, but I just didn't care...
Readibility (1/5)
Quality (3.5/5)
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
A Feast for Crows (8/10)
George R.R.Martin
Fantasy
You need to have read the previous books to even bother with this one. Despite that, the author seems to spend far too long summarizing past events, possibly due to the hideous number of characters in this story.
George R.R. Martin does his best to kill off more this time around, and one is left certain that getting attached to characters in this book is a good way to get depressed. Thankfully the resurrection theme does not get too much of a mention in this book, as I felt this was the weakest part of the previous novel (along with the obsessive references to heraldry).
The lack of the story arcs to the North and the East are a pity, but overall this is still a good read, with characters that are far too realistic and nasty. They are people who do not follow blindly and the fact that they are all too human makes this story a compelling read.
Readibility (4/5)
Quality (4/5)
Fantasy
You need to have read the previous books to even bother with this one. Despite that, the author seems to spend far too long summarizing past events, possibly due to the hideous number of characters in this story.
George R.R. Martin does his best to kill off more this time around, and one is left certain that getting attached to characters in this book is a good way to get depressed. Thankfully the resurrection theme does not get too much of a mention in this book, as I felt this was the weakest part of the previous novel (along with the obsessive references to heraldry).
The lack of the story arcs to the North and the East are a pity, but overall this is still a good read, with characters that are far too realistic and nasty. They are people who do not follow blindly and the fact that they are all too human makes this story a compelling read.
Readibility (4/5)
Quality (4/5)
A Transatlantic Tunnel, Hurrah (4/10)
Harry Harrison
Science Fiction / Alternate History
This was not that good. The premise was that America was still a English colony and that they were building a transatlantic tunnel (Hurrah?). The story has some nice technologies (It does have Babbage engines, mobile phones and mag lev trains which were all rather cool) but was written in a “heroic fantasy” kind of style. The heroes are larger than life and their exploits are just a bit too wonderful. Took me a while to get around to reading this one and I will now sell it off.
Readibility (2/5)
Quality (2/5)
Science Fiction / Alternate History
This was not that good. The premise was that America was still a English colony and that they were building a transatlantic tunnel (Hurrah?). The story has some nice technologies (It does have Babbage engines, mobile phones and mag lev trains which were all rather cool) but was written in a “heroic fantasy” kind of style. The heroes are larger than life and their exploits are just a bit too wonderful. Took me a while to get around to reading this one and I will now sell it off.
Readibility (2/5)
Quality (2/5)
Back Again
OK, so that was a busy 12 months.
I got a bit depressed that no-one looked at the blog, and then took a look 12 months later to discover that at least two people had looked it over.
I really did want to have a review repositorty and so I shall try again....
I got a bit depressed that no-one looked at the blog, and then took a look 12 months later to discover that at least two people had looked it over.
I really did want to have a review repositorty and so I shall try again....
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