Aleks
I actually really enjoyed this, but the density of description made me move through this at a slow pace, and then I had to return it to the library. I'd like to read it again now that I better understand what to expect from it.
Contains spoilers
I waited like 200 pages for them to hopefully go on the damn journey to the mysterious land and they didn't so I gave up. I will probably try again at some point.
Contains spoilers
Read this in one sitting. LOVED the world, loved the narration, loved the atmosphere... but was ultimately disappointed with how many of its secrets this book was willing to give away. Was really disappointed once it explained literally the whole deal and then turned into a pretty conventional crime drama. Why is there a damn COP stalking through my spooky enigmatic mystery house?!
Contains spoilers
My friend asked me what I was reading and I said "this cool Indigenous sci-fi from the 90s". She said, "my friend loves stuff like that! I'll recommend it to her!" I said "NOOOOO OKAY STOP BEFORE YOU DO THAT YOU HAVE TO KNOW THAT THERE IS LIKE, A LOT OF BESTIALITY IN THIS BOOK." And she was like "meh... she won't mind." Gives me a laugh whenever I think about it.
People talk about books being one-of-a-kind, unique, different, etc. Here's a book that genuinely deserves those descriptors. Terse, muscular, compact prose (like corned beef). A violent and vibrant not-so-distant future. This is like if Parable of the Sower was unhinged and unselfconscious. (Much more to my preference.)
Did not enjoy the interplay of "plot" chapters and "reflection" chapters-- a real pace-killer. I'll never not enjoy a Wolfe book to some degree... but I don't see myself ever reading this again.
The first time I read this I was like "okay, weird". Now, the second time I've read this, I think it's probably one of the best things I've ever read? Uncanny and eerie and frightening, and so deft that you don't even realize what's happening until after it's over. How the hell did this guy do this. Pisses me off.
Got 1/3 of the way through and just was not clicking with it. I hate to say it but I think part of the problem is that this was SO influential that it now feels trite. I don't like having that issue because it's not the book's fault for being iconic! Idk. I just did not care what happened to this guy. But I do want to play Cyberpunk 2077 again.
"There has been joy. There will be joy again." Did not click with me as much as "Stars My Destination" but I don't think I'll ever not enjoy being tossed around by Bester's manic yet purposeful prose-- it's like dancing with a real weirdo of a partner who you eventually realize is following steps!
Wow!!! Eco gets a lot of shit for being deliberately dense, so I was intimidated going into this... only to get a really bright, light-of-foot narrative. He has a real fluidity and complexity of thought to envy. Really enjoyed the very thoughtful and interesting author's notes, where he specifically mentions that he writes for his and the reader's pleasure.
Maybe my number one pet peeve is a writer who refuses to let you put two and two together, and overexplains even the most obvious plot points. This book has an instance of that within the first like 25 pages. Instant DNF. Life's too short. My two brain cells deserve respect.
This is my second time trying to read this. I am a Gene Wolfe STAN but this one, I just cannot. My eyes slide off the page. I don't know what it is. I'll probably try again because I do really want to push through and finish Long Sun... but good lord.
A lush, enthralling world; gorgeous prose; all kinda wasted in service of two pretty bland and uninteresting main characters. That being said, Barker is so good that I would still rather read something like this than most other fantasies. Struck throughout by how queer this narrative is and how good it feels to read something that's this striking and different in that way. Will have to check out some of Barker's other books.
Maybe a perfect book? Love the way the narrative voice both enhances our understanding of the chilly, detached protagonist and contrasts the insane world she's in. Love the narrative restraint-- a tight 200 pages, we're in and out. Not a sentence wasted. Judicious!!
This has a ton of fantastic moments (Control yelling at the Voice on the phone!), but overall is dragged down by a flop and annoying protagonist, and a lot of time wasted rehashing things from the first book. Once it gets going, it REALLY gets going, but it's frustrating to spend so much time waiting for Control to catch up to everything we knew on page 1.
Contains spoilers
Annihilation was such an excellent little jewel of a book, and each successive book in the series let the air out of the balloon a little more. I really just don't feel like this added anything that really needed to be added.
I did like a few things about it, i.e. the brevity and the implied gay sex. But for the most part I feel like my opinion can be summed up by the fact that I spent like 100 pages waiting for the "actual" story to start before realizing that this was it. Just something, idk, missing for me. Gene Wolfe broke me, probably. The romance feels unearned, the odd modern lingo and references are really immersion-breaking (referring to drunkenly flying a hovercraft as "drunk driving"??) Charming at times, but I left feeling 0 interest in this world or these characters.
One thing I'm struck by is how the female characters in this book are much more numerous, important, and striking than the men.
Potent images drowning in unbelievably tedious prose. (Tell me one more goddamn time how many food tablets you took today.) Cloying, sexist, and generally irritating... yet at the same time a completely singular vision like nothing else I've read.
I cannot believe this version I've read is the condensed one-- still way too goddamn long.