This is not an easy book to review. The writer did not make it easy for us to understand the world she has set. Set in the future, but the book refersThis is not an easy book to review. The writer did not make it easy for us to understand the world she has set. Set in the future, but the book refers to a lot of the Enlightenment ideas and people. Another thing is deliberate gender bender. Some people are referred to as they/them. Some people have masculine anatomy, dress and act feminine, and are described as he or they, depending on the speaker. But, at some point, we can start ignoring the gender flipping because this is done more for its own sake rather than some deeper purpose. The protagonist is also not a straight cliche. He is a slave but he is at the beck and call of the Hive rulers. So, he is privy to all the important decisions that are made which impact the entire world. But why should he be so important is not made clear. He also committed some very heinous acts in the past and the reason for that also is not mentioned. Probably we will have to read the next book in this series to understand.
The plot, as such, is about theft and manipulation of an influential newspaper article that might upend the checks and balances among the Hives and their leaders. Also present is a miracle work who can vivify toys and images. How he impacts the World is not yet clear, but he is protected by the protagonist.
The writing is quite dense and it takes a bit of time to get it going. But by the middle you become invested and want to know what happens next. I am planning to read the next books in the series. Overall, a bit complicated but good and unusual read....more
I read the sequel long after finishing the original. The impetus was the excellent adaption of Dune by Denis Vilineuve. I wanted to know how Paul’s stI read the sequel long after finishing the original. The impetus was the excellent adaption of Dune by Denis Vilineuve. I wanted to know how Paul’s story ended in the books.
I liked this book. This was as much easy to read, light on the details and heavy on the cynicism as the original. This is even heavier as the jihad has caused multiple genocides and Paul is weary of the crown.
Overall, a good finishing book on Paul Atreides’ journey as the Messiah. ...more
A decent SF book. It has Banksian undertones of a near-utopian humanity,messy travel, biotech and psychopaths. The plot is about an undercover agent oA decent SF book. It has Banksian undertones of a near-utopian humanity,messy travel, biotech and psychopaths. The plot is about an undercover agent of a galaxy wide human federation run by AI. The agent is sent to investigate a planetary explosion and he also has to contend with a psychopath whose sister he killed as part of his prior mission.
The story is pretty much wannabe Banks. The prose is it as good though and I was tempted to skip some stuff at times. But skipping paras tended to produce a bit of confusion since the author did not waste time in explaining things twice.
Overall, a good read especially for those who like Banks....more
This being a Banks SF novel I enjoyed it. But it is nowhere near his Culture novels.
The setting is a many worlds model where there is the Concern tryiThis being a Banks SF novel I enjoyed it. But it is nowhere near his Culture novels.
The setting is a many worlds model where there is the Concern trying to influence history in all the worlds. There is an intrigue going within the organisation and the protagonist is caught in it.
Since I a am a fan of Banks’ prose, I enjoyed this relatively short book. But I have to say, Banks is more preachy and heavy handed with his ideologies than his Culture novels. It does have the usual amount of gross and painful sequences.
Overall, recommended mostly for Banks fans....more
It is a really long book with a huge cast and lots of different backgrounds. The plot is about the future space faring humanity trying to deal with thIt is a really long book with a huge cast and lots of different backgrounds. The plot is about the future space faring humanity trying to deal with the return of the dead who want to convert more living into the dead. The intro itself is around 500 pages. The book picks up a lot of speed in the last fourth part of the book only. Until then it is an imaginative but occasionally tedious read.
The threads in this novel are not really tied up. The sequel has to be read, I guess, for closure. But I am not sure I want to read another behemoth of a book now itself.
Overall, a pleasant read but only if you are willing to invest quite a bit of time on this and on the sequels also if you are still interested. ...more
In an Orwellian future, a professional book burner starts reading.
The messaging is not subtle at all, but the prose is quite good and moves on quite fIn an Orwellian future, a professional book burner starts reading.
The messaging is not subtle at all, but the prose is quite good and moves on quite fast. The book certainly predicted Twitter, TV shows,manufactured news and the other forms of mass media that produce continuous short form entertainment. He is of this opinion that this leads to a kind of Idiocracy and complete conformism to the the government.
This is a hard SF book about a physics experiment conducted twenty thousand years in the future going awry, creating a vacuum more stable then normal This is a hard SF book about a physics experiment conducted twenty thousand years in the future going awry, creating a vacuum more stable then normal vacuum and thus starts swallowing the universe. People from all over the universe get into the border stations and try to find solutions.
It is a math and physics heavy book. Consequently, a lot of stuff flew over my head. Still I went through it fast. I could understand what the characters did even though the exact mechanism was hard to understand.
Here the alternative universe is quite an interesting one. You should read it to appreciate the sheer inventiveness of the writer.
Hats off to Greg Egan for this beautiful work. I definitely recommend this book to all....more
This is the last Culture book and quite appropriately a meditation on Death, Sublimation and Meaning. It, being a Banks novel, additionally has long aThis is the last Culture book and quite appropriately a meditation on Death, Sublimation and Meaning. It, being a Banks novel, additionally has long action set pieces,gross anatomical and location descriptions, assorted characters who disagree amongst themselves, dry humour and paranoia. One Banksian element that is missing is an outright sadist character. The villains are just small time villains. The plot is about a long since Sublimed species sending a message to the Gzilt species who themselves are going to Sublimate in a few days. The messenger is destroyed after the message was not well received. The Culture then starts looking into it.
A very enjoyable and fun read not at all like the two different tanks which the characters have to go through near the end. ...more
A decent SF. It is quite a short novel of about 300 pages. It describes the protagonist taking blind adventures in the Heechee ships whose operating A decent SF. It is quite a short novel of about 300 pages. It describes the protagonist taking blind adventures in the Heechee ships whose operating principles are unknown. People take these risk for wealth since the finds, if any, are well compensated. The risks are that the destinations are unknown in both location and time. The only guarantee is that once the ship starts, it always come back. The passengers might be alive or dead or missing. The novel has two alternative sequences - in one sequence the protagonist is a very rich man having therapy with a computer shrink and the second sequence describes the source of his wealth and mental troubles.
A collection of seven short stories about an ecology engineer with basically God powers interfering with entire planets’ environments.
The protagonistA collection of seven short stories about an ecology engineer with basically God powers interfering with entire planets’ environments.
The protagonist is a giant albino trader who happens upon a Noah’s Ark in space and then proceeds to interfere with other planets solely to satisfy his curiosity. His characterisation is more stereotypical villain then hero.
The stories are enjoyable and don’t get tedious. They are a great timepass for one or two days and they give a completely different feel than the Game of Thrones.
This is the second part of the Book of the New Sun. We get a much better picture of what is going on. I am still unclear about a lot. Had to use GooglThis is the second part of the Book of the New Sun. We get a much better picture of what is going on. I am still unclear about a lot. Had to use Google after finishing the book. I bypassed my tendency to look up all the strange words, thus managing to save a lot of time and not disrupting the flow. There are less segues than in the prequel. So the novel does not lose the flow.
Overall, recommended only if you are willing to read a discontinuous but not meaningless book and if you are OK with not having understood everything....more
I found it an odd book to read. It comes highly recommended by a lot of people. I am not really sure why though. I found the going tough at the start I found it an odd book to read. It comes highly recommended by a lot of people. I am not really sure why though. I found the going tough at the start but then I read the book throughout the weekend.
The narrative covers the travels of Severian, a novice torturer and executioner who is assigned to a distant land called Thrax. We still have not come to Thrax by the end of this book. The world is set in far future with a red cooling sun and an old society built on top of an even more technologically advanced prior society.
The narrative is very jumpy and discontinuous, the language archaic - probably to indicate the oldness of the world. The characterisation is weird and not explained. I am told the narrator is an unreliable narrator and so the reader has to work out the stuff for himself. The infodumps on the world are uneven. Treatment of women is not good.
But in spite of all this, I still read thru the book and I am not sure why. It goes against my prior sensibilities. I have not understood half of the events. Let me see if I can read the next volume and make sense of it.
At this stage, it is too early for me to give any recommendation for this....more
A very dated SF novel. People of the Moon want to stage a revolution agains the Earth. How to do it is the novel. The only big advantage they have is A very dated SF novel. People of the Moon want to stage a revolution agains the Earth. How to do it is the novel. The only big advantage they have is an all-knowing AI. The revolution part is quite boring....more
This is a novelette. Nothing particularly great. Old time Sf set on Venus. There was an alien race which scattered mysterious gadgets and tunnels, butThis is a novelette. Nothing particularly great. Old time Sf set on Venus. There was an alien race which scattered mysterious gadgets and tunnels, but body has seen them and nobody knows where they are. The protagonist is a tourist agency in search of desperate cash. He finds a rich customer who he thinks will alleviate his problems. Of course things don’t go on plan. There is some description on the atmosphere of Venus and the resulting engineering problems.
Another spell binding Banks SF novel, not a Culture novel though.
Set in a castle shaped space elevator in an earth that is drifting towards a intersteAnother spell binding Banks SF novel, not a Culture novel though.
Set in a castle shaped space elevator in an earth that is drifting towards a interstellar dust cloud, four rebels try to save the Earth against the wishes of the political class.
The major novelty factor here is the dyslexic character, whose chapters are written phonetically. A bit difficult to read, those ones....more
This book is one of the hallowed classics of SF, the top rated of Larry Niven's books.
Well, it did not live up to its promise for me. The book was expThis book is one of the hallowed classics of SF, the top rated of Larry Niven's books.
Well, it did not live up to its promise for me. The book was expo-heavy without the character detail. So it is rather easy to want to fast forward through the book when reading about details whcih you are not interested in.
The premise is that one cowardly alien teams up with a human male and female, and a feline warrior type alien to explore a massive space artifact, so that they can find a way out of the impending supernova crisis.
The Ring is an astounding structure but sadly the author does not explore much of it. In fact the author does not explore anything in detail really. There are people in this deserted world which don't know how to use the technology and they are shown as religious savages. There are two women and both are idiots and of course, the hero sleeps with both of them even though he does not respect either.
Even apart from the Ringword, another technology is mentioend where the cowardly Puppeteer alien race manage to move five planets in tandem across the universe. The implications of this technology is not explored further.
So the premise is fun, but the book is undeserving of the hype.
An insurance executive in Sheffield, England gets entangled with strange tall people who come out of nowhere and dreA novel serialized in four parts.
An insurance executive in Sheffield, England gets entangled with strange tall people who come out of nowhere and dress differently from the normal. All the strangers are taller and bigger than the people in the town except for the leader, who is a diminutive woman.
To give away more would be revealing spoilers. The story starts very well but loses its thrill towards the end. Still, a good time-pass.
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