Anne True
I gave the Doomsday Book four stars out of five because I came into it with no expectations. I chose it at random from my library's combined sci-fi and fantasy shelves, and I found it striking. The dual narrative threads kept me curious through the story, and when the final act came down I discovered that I was invested in the characters.
Thus, three stars of the four are due to reader impact. I would not read this book again.
The technical side of the book is a mess; it is designed to be read once through, so there are constant repetitions and what feels like filler to the reader. Yes, it could be condensed down to a short story. No, it should not be, as the current length keeps the impact of the story.
I am not well-versed in history, but I definitely noticed what may be popular misconceptions. Yes, marriages were often at young ages in medieval times, but marriages pairing incredibly young teens with old men were rare. Small tidbits such as that gave the impression that the book was rehashing popular perception of the time; giving a theme-park version, if you will.
Take what you will, it's not for everyone. Now that I know what to expect I will not read any of the other books in the series.
I enjoy Dan Abnett. Ravenor was one of those books that stuck with me, long after I read it. That fondness is what drove me to take the risk on reading another WH40K book.
It was all right. First & Only is typical of the series, pulpy military fiction that is easily forgettable. I was hoping for a more character-driven story, but perhaps later books in the series will take advantage of the characters he does have; they certainly have potential.
My review comes as two stars: It was acceptable. I can't bring myself to enjoy pulp anymore, hence not giving three stars. If you're new to the WH40K universe, maybe this book isn't for you.
Sea Change is achingly good, true to its fairy-tale origins. Achingly good because I enjoyed it, despite the frustration and angst as I became invested in the protagonist's quest. The characters never have an ending–happy or not–and instead face the chaotic world, hitting highs and lows along the way. The pacing itself was a mix of lulls and surges, but I found it engaging. Each part of the story was dwelt on exactly as long or as short as necessary.
I loved how understated the queerdom is. I love how there's queer representations at all, especially the genderqueer protagonist!
Overall, a great story. Another one to place in my transient favourites.
For the technical aspects:
The prose is praiseworthy, being concise and descriptive. Whenever I found myself skim-reading, I quickly had to recover and reread the paragraph; I would miss out on delectable bits otherwise.
Stylistically, the story requires an active reader to be enjoyed. Especially in the earlier chapters, there are oblique references that only receive full context later on. The occasional transition paragraph will be italicised, something I didn't mind until I looked through reviews and noticed others concerned about it.
Timothy Zahn's novels have consistently been my go-to for action and adventure sci-fi. Zahn often takes intriguing concepts–in this case Spinneret cables and alien societies–then introduces political manoeuvring and gambits for conflict. Much of Zahn's work is optimistic, pro-humanist, and morally admirable, and Spinneret is well on the idealistic side of sci-fi.
The characters are both unremarkable and dated. They are all developed characters, many of whom progress with the novel, and I had no trouble relating to them. Even then, they were not compelling by themselves. The datedness is unavoidable considering when the novel was published, and is easy to excuse.
I ended up reading this novel many times over the years, it's a neatly wrapped up story with enough action and fantastic concepts to carry you through.
As with most Young Adult fiction, there are hit-or-miss dichotomies packed into this book. I enjoyed the novel, and it's become one of my transient favourites, yet I was constantly disappointed. If you enjoy dark stories, grim ones dealing with human flaws and failings, then I would recommend Accomplice. If you're just looking for a mystery, then I would probably suggest passing it over.
The narrator, Finn, is one of those hit-or-miss aspects. I don't relate to high-school tropes, and felt that their presence made for a clunky attempt at relating to other readers. The constant internal struggles with lying and pretending, and the observations about the adults around her caught my attention and gave me plenty to think about.
What kept me reading was the mystery; I was trying to predict the ending. The writing is done well so that despite constant filler, information is added on the basis of necessity. Tension was added every chapter with conflict and hints, and putting down the book for a few minutes just to consider everything made for a pleasant time.
On the technical side, the prose was acceptable but fluffy. This novel could very well be cut down to a short story, but I think that leaving in all the fluff helped in the end. It added a human touch and amplified the effect of the revelation.
For the mystery aspect, I was quite pleasantly surprised. Finn is the narrator, and is supposed to have the reader relate to them, yet Chloe is the main focus of the story. The plot and mystery revolves around Chloe's disappearance, and her plan to be rescued. It may seem hare-brained, but the ending is well worth it.
A spoiler about my thoughts on the novel:
This is a well executed novel and character study, chiefly about the two teens who commit what Finn calls a victimless crime. Corrigan made it obvious that the story was thought-through from the beginning, and not just a plodding story with no definite plans. It only hit me at the end, once I realised who and what Chloe is, how cleverly crafted Corrigan's book is. From the start, Chloe has a plan, and at the end of the book it's still ambiguous what exactly it is. Using Finn as a narrator to offer glimpses into Chloe's character made the rest of the story retroactively superior. Another compelling factor is the feeling of being strung along, caught up in lies and made to go along with them from sheer inertia. It's a dead-on feeling that fits teenage years.
This textbook may be useful as an overview, or as a starting point for discussions.
It fits more as a history study than a technical reference.
It suffers from taking such a broad range of topics, devoting only snippets of summaries to topics and occasionally drilling into the minutiae of a single facet of a topic.
The understanding it builds is thus fractured and incoherent.
In terms of prose, it also suffers heavily from academia and sensationalism. There are many popular culture references to shows and quotes of famous figures. These detract from the content by dating the material, and padding out its brief sections with irrelevant information.
I enjoyed the Johannes Cabal series as a whole. Dark carnivals in particular hold a soft spot in my heart, so this first book of “The Necromancer” kept me entertained. I laughed and had a fun time reading it, and the book has joined the ranks of my transient favourites. I would not recommend this series to everyone, however, because much of the humour is based around in-jokes and nods towards the culture. The Johannes Cabal series is stylistically similar to a tabletop campaign, with a protagonist-centric view and a focus on questing. Tabletop gamers and other geeks will probably find this right up their alley.
For the technical aspects, I must reiterate the in-crowd effect: the novel is built upon references to other literature, most notably the Cthulhu mythos. The story is self-contained, but the reading will be less fun if you aren't with the in-crowd and therefore miss the jokes.
For the characters, they are about as average as any player character–which is to say, driven and with enough complexity as to be interesting. Special mention must be made of Horst, though he receives less than his fair share of the spotlight in the novel. The plot appears contrived, but I found it simple enough to suspend disbelief and to enjoy the aesthetic.
Sundiver is one of my transient favourites, based solely on its status as a sci-fi novel. It's a wonderful one!The Uplift series has a dichotomy between the two styles. Many people who enjoyed Sundiver will find that they dislike the rest, and vice versa. I shy away from space operas, and the mystery aspect of Sundiver was my favourite part.Yes, Jacob Demwa is a super-scientist wish-fulfilment character. Yes, the handful of women (there's four named, in total?) are flat. I found that that is true of nearly all the characters, that Brin used more straightforward and archetypal characters to advance the plot, and that is was not insomuch sexism. Again, I judge it as a sci-fi novel, so I overlook the weaknesses with character building.The science and mysteries are well executed! I could find new subtleties, even on the third, fourth, fifth rereads. Sundiver is my go-to recommendation for sci-fi, and Brin is one of my favourite authors in the genre. He blends science, action, mystery, and transhuman/philosophical concepts like no other.If you enjoyed Sundiver for its mystery, and are into transhumanism, go read [b: Kiln People 96478 Kiln People David Brin https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1287261951s/96478.jpg 2300358]. The two novels are, in my mind, closely related.
The Night Circus is one of my transient favourites due in large part to my love for dark carnivals. I was impressed with the writing, and the evocatively imaginative imagery.
I recommend this book wholly, based on the writing. Loving descriptions and well-imagined acts make for a fantastic escape from reality.
The mix of fantastic elements and high-fashion are well-suited to each other, and the wonderful prose elaborates in great detail over both the appearance of the circus and the various acts. There is no sense of whimsical comedy to this book, everything is gorgeous or serious or both.
This book does not necessarily feature its darkness as prominently as other books. There is a very real psychological component of mind-control sort, and other psy-thriller aspects.
The romance worked, I enjoyed it though I did not particularly focus on or care for it. I'm not one to judge romance, after all.
I was content with the book, but I would not read it again.
My opinion of this book depends solely upon my life experience and frame of mind while reading it.
Other reviews here quite thoroughly cover the failings of the story, the prose, the characters.
Most tragic of all the failings are the repetitive and poorly executed ideas.
What held my attention were the snippets of my own life's truths scattered through the book.
To borrow from the Vorkosigan saga regarding total surrender: “When you give each other everything, it becomes an even trade. Each wins all.”