allred's review against another edition
the ideas are cool yes, but god it took so long to get there
I forced myself to get to at least 100 pages since that's when storylines should start to pick up but it just was so infuriatingly slow
the only reason this gets 2 stars instead of 1 is because the ideas and themes are genuinely interesting, but there was just way too much description and just plot filler for the first almost half of the book
I skipped ahead just to see what happened and from what I can tell, it is interesting but it takes so long to get there it's not even worth it.
I forced myself to get to at least 100 pages since that's when storylines should start to pick up but it just was so infuriatingly slow
the only reason this gets 2 stars instead of 1 is because the ideas and themes are genuinely interesting, but there was just way too much description and just plot filler for the first almost half of the book
I skipped ahead just to see what happened and from what I can tell, it is interesting but it takes so long to get there it's not even worth it.
pigeontank's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
pseudobro's review against another edition
5.0
Loved it! I really love the niche of science fiction books with queer characters that aren't about queer stories. Coming out is important to talk about, but I really like just seeing these casually and openly queer characters involved in a well-crafted story. It somehow manages to be both dystopian and heartwarming at the same time, which is not easy.
insectoidreviews's review against another edition
5.0
I read Blackfish City in two sittings. I absolutely am in love with this book. I haven’t been so engrossed in stand alone novel since An Unkindness of Ghosts. The world is grim and yet, it’s full of hope and heart. At the heart of the story is family which branches into dealing with a hellscape of politics and capitalism. It is one part heist, one part found family, and one part political maneuvering, and one part revenge quest.
I really loved the characters. They were well rounded with their own agendas and hopes. There’s a street fighter, a tired administrator, a rich kid that’s slowly dying, an older lesbian couple that want to protect their family, and more. My favorite hands down was Soq, an orphan and message runner who starts to work for one of the local crime lords. They are a teenager on the cusp of adulthood who is reckless, cunning, and ambitious.
Soq is nonbinary which is wonderful, but there was a “what’s in your pants” moment. Although Soq called out the character who made the comment, it was questionable Soq was established as falling outside of the gender binary just by their use of “they/them” so it was really unneeded. There was one other part where Soq used a typically lesbian identities to talk about gay men. I know what Miller was trying to get across just from seeing Discourse on social media, but it was a poor choice of terms to use. Outside of those two passages, the book was really good with the LGBT content.
I particularly like how the plot unfolds in which all the POV characters are brought together slowly. Only Ankit, the administrator pov, really knows one of the other pov characters and yet she does not interact with him until the Orcamancer makes her move. One of the povs ends halfway through the book allowing for the twist of the Orcamancer to have pov chapters. Everyone and everything is connected which is almost foreshadowed by the plot element of a mysterious podcast about Qaanaaq. There are layers of mystery to the story: Where did the breaks come from? Who is the Orcamancer? Why is Ankit’s mother imprisoned? Who is the author of “The City Without A Map? Miller weaves the mysteries together so that they are integral to understanding the answers to each other.
Qaanaaq feels so real and fleshed out for a setting. I could easily visualize it. In ways it felt like a Star Wars city meets a metropolitan area with its ith the speed skating messengers, monkeys that have taken the place of pigeons, and the contrast between the shanty towns and wealthy.. As much as I liked the characters and the plot, Qaanaaq was what really made the story appeal me. I am a huge sucker for world building. Qaanaaq takes from so many sources of inspiration that I can see the snippets in my minds eye easily. Miller puts small details into his world that makes it pop so well.
Blackfish City takes place in a near future which feels so plausible with the shape of the world as it is. As much as it is something that is depressing, I found Qaanaaq to have this sense of wonder. The people and characters are survivors of the worst parts of humanity. Somehow, even if the world is turned upside down -- there is still hope and good. I have a hard time with books where the world is horrible, there is no hope and there is nothing good, only a battle for survival. The characters try to make change for the better even if it’s for their selfish desires. The quest of revenge results in not just revenge but also hope for the future. The backstory revealed adds so much depth to the story as well.
Blackfish City is one of the best books of 2018 so far in my opinion. I highly recommend it.
I really loved the characters. They were well rounded with their own agendas and hopes. There’s a street fighter, a tired administrator, a rich kid that’s slowly dying, an older lesbian couple that want to protect their family, and more. My favorite hands down was Soq, an orphan and message runner who starts to work for one of the local crime lords. They are a teenager on the cusp of adulthood who is reckless, cunning, and ambitious.
Soq is nonbinary which is wonderful, but there was a “what’s in your pants” moment. Although Soq called out the character who made the comment, it was questionable Soq was established as falling outside of the gender binary just by their use of “they/them” so it was really unneeded. There was one other part where Soq used a typically lesbian identities to talk about gay men. I know what Miller was trying to get across just from seeing Discourse on social media, but it was a poor choice of terms to use. Outside of those two passages, the book was really good with the LGBT content.
I particularly like how the plot unfolds in which all the POV characters are brought together slowly. Only Ankit, the administrator pov, really knows one of the other pov characters and yet she does not interact with him until the Orcamancer makes her move. One of the povs ends halfway through the book allowing for the twist of the Orcamancer to have pov chapters. Everyone and everything is connected which is almost foreshadowed by the plot element of a mysterious podcast about Qaanaaq. There are layers of mystery to the story: Where did the breaks come from? Who is the Orcamancer? Why is Ankit’s mother imprisoned? Who is the author of “The City Without A Map? Miller weaves the mysteries together so that they are integral to understanding the answers to each other.
Qaanaaq feels so real and fleshed out for a setting. I could easily visualize it. In ways it felt like a Star Wars city meets a metropolitan area with its ith the speed skating messengers, monkeys that have taken the place of pigeons, and the contrast between the shanty towns and wealthy.. As much as I liked the characters and the plot, Qaanaaq was what really made the story appeal me. I am a huge sucker for world building. Qaanaaq takes from so many sources of inspiration that I can see the snippets in my minds eye easily. Miller puts small details into his world that makes it pop so well.
Blackfish City takes place in a near future which feels so plausible with the shape of the world as it is. As much as it is something that is depressing, I found Qaanaaq to have this sense of wonder. The people and characters are survivors of the worst parts of humanity. Somehow, even if the world is turned upside down -- there is still hope and good. I have a hard time with books where the world is horrible, there is no hope and there is nothing good, only a battle for survival. The characters try to make change for the better even if it’s for their selfish desires. The quest of revenge results in not just revenge but also hope for the future. The backstory revealed adds so much depth to the story as well.
Blackfish City is one of the best books of 2018 so far in my opinion. I highly recommend it.
lazygal's review against another edition
4.0
Great dystopian fiction about a floating world, populated with refugees from all over and ruled by a combination of landlords and the equivalent of mob bosses, with an overlay of AI tech. While there are a few too many POVs for my taste, each voice is from a different enough sector of this society that it's not that irritating. Readers of Pullman may think that the polar bear is borrowed from him, but I think it's more a reflection of the climate change that flooded most of the known world. Even that - the climate change - is muted in service of the story about the characters and their lives, how they intertwine and move forward (there's a lovely revenge plot I'll dangle but not spoil).
eARC provided by publisher.
eARC provided by publisher.
xtralohrdinary's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
tiranamisu's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
auntblh's review against another edition
I'm not going to finish this one. I put it down at page 75 and can't bring myself to pick it back up again to read about 300 more pages. I can't put my finger on it exactly but I just couldn't get into it.