Remy Sharp

Surprisingly difficult to connect with.

This is still a well written, interesting, continues the Wayfarer universe and prompts some challenging thoughts.

Where I did struggle was connection with the characters. Because they're exclusively alien, and entirely so: 4 arms and a shell, tiny sloth like swinging creatures, laru furball bendy things (though I imagined the creature from Ice Age oddly enough), because they're hard to visualise in my head I found it harder to connect to the characters.

I do also suspect this is a way of putting the reader in a position of a minority, to be unable to recognise oneself amongst the peers, which is what kept flipping back and forth in my head whilst continuing with the tale.

As with other Becky Chambers' books, the story isn't some fantastical explosion of events, but a soft observation of life and interaction of species and races living together - and that's something I'll continue to love about their books.

My favourite is still the first book, I'm not sure anything is going to top that for many years, but this is still a solid entry into the Wayfarer world.

Uh! I love this character! This is the 2nd book in the murderbot books and the main character, who I realise now doesn't have a name (nor gender as it's a bot) is so fun to read.

The murderbot is so dry and grumpy and so different from previous characters I've read in sci-fi.

The first book definitely works as a stand alone, and although there's a self contained story in this second book, it definitely carries through a decent number of references to the earlier story that I'd not recommend reading this on it's own.

Since the books are only around 160 pages, I'm moving right on to the next installment and looking forward to it already.

I wanted to love this book but I kinda fell short right at the end. However, the two protagonists: Patricia and Lawrence are beautifully written.

The book is split over 3 era's of our characters' lives. Firstly when they're young children where the world is huge and wonderous. Patricia in particular has her first adventure very early in the book, and in part I wondered if this was entirely in a child's imagination rather than happening to her.

The next era in the book Patricia and Lawrence are at (what I'd consider ‘middle school'), and frankly it's horrible. They're bullied and targeted across the board. I found this part of the book the hardest hitting, and probably closer to the reality I know and it made me sad for the characters. I also felt like there was no real growth from this period of the book and they were simply tortured for being different and that wasn't addressed (or I missed it).

Then the last era of the book the characters are young adults, Patricia a witch with more control over her powers (and yes, it seems that it wasn't her imagination back when she was a child), and Lawrence a full super nerd building a machine to save humanity.

The story feels like it accelerates in momentum, complexity and consequence as it progresses. It reads really well, and the sci-fi aspects are fun, complex and draw some interesting moral questions.

Except for me, the end just...kinda happened. I was following the story along, the world in the book was going to hell, level 10 dystopia stuff, and then all of a sudden the protagonists left alone, Patricia is following a pigeon to a tree, they have a weird conversation, she vaguely answers a question and then Patricia and Lawrence walk off together into the sunset (sort of) with a sense of hope and everything will be okay for them.

Yet the world is still collapsing (mother nature trying to course correct), witches (and wizards?) are blasting people into unknown realms, and intend to unleash The Unravelling (which we meet once and it's a horror show), and the scientists are pissed and building mega machines to blow away the witches. So that's all still happening and yet Patricia and Lawrence seem to be okay.

I was left feeling like I missed something crucial at the end of the book, because I felt like the characters were doom, but didn't realise it, and the world was going to die even though both Patricia and Lawrence intended to save it. So...yeah, I'm not sure.

I loved the characters, and the writing was great and really original, and quite biting at times. But the more I thought about the end of the story, the more confused I felt.

(warning: not really a review, more of a thing to remind me of the book)

Overall, a fairly cinematic story akin to the genre I'd expect The Matrix to fall into. If I'm completely honest, I did occasionally lose track of what was going on through the story (it took me a good few weeks to read it), but the story and two main characters managed to carry me along.

I also have to admit that it took me a little while to get past the corny named main character “Hiro Protagonist” and the overly macho techno all black, motorcycles and swords. Of course, Hiro is the world's best swordsman...obviously. Though when I just went with it, it was pretty good fun.

Neal Stephenson writing was extremely good at visualising a scene and the objects in the world the characters live in (in reading the acknowledgement I learnt that the book was intended as a graphic novel and I wonder if there was graphic work he was describing). All the same, it was very easy to read and see the world as we moved from reality, to the metaverse (virtual world), to vehicles and different landscapes.

There's a tonne of historical and religious background to the story too, most of which I understand to be based on real research (from our universe) and the depth of which was incredible.

The Snow Crash is (supposed to be) a virus that exists in both the digital world and the real world. The story creates (perhaps tenuous?) links between computer/digital ideas and pre-biblical times explaining that the story of Babel was the first instance of the virus, transmitted through verbal programming, affecting humankind.

The two other main-ish characters were Y.T (a young women/teenager who we follow in parallel with Hiro) and Raven. Y.T. is really fun, and perhaps more relatable since she's a little more “regular” (compared with Hiro) - just kitted out with lots of tricks in her suit.

Raven is the uber baddie, throwing glass spears, cutting through bulletproof suits and generally being invisible. He definitely plays the “main henchman” really well, and we even get to understand his motives which I love for a “proper” baddie.

Overall, I enjoyed the book, left a little confused about the motivation about some of the connections in the book (like what really motivates Y.T. to join forces with Hiro, or how Hiro was one of the first creators of the metaverse, yet he's somehow a promotor for his roommate's band...).

Sorry, not much of a review, more a prompt for my own memory in years to come!