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revengesrose's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
nikolai_k's review against another edition
4.0
It's like drinking "Arabian Nights" from a fire hose. Send help. Sand help. Sand halp.
timinbc's review against another edition
4.0
Maybe I'm not smart enough to appreciate this work fully. But it is also possible that the emperor has no clothes and this book is egregiously pretentious.
I'm giving it four stars because the author has constructed an admirable origami of a book. I was tempted to go with three or fewer because I didn't particularly enjoy reading the book [note: the author has no obligation to provide with enjoyment] and also because far too often I found myself groaning, "Oh, come ON!" as we get stuff like this:
"There are machines within the Gourd, built over decades by the Hsien-ku, gogol factories and smartmatter moulds and picotech fabbers. The pellegrini tells them to make angels."
Sometimes it feels as if Rajaniemi dropped a high-level textbook into a blender while stoned.
We have virtual thises and thats, multiple instances of entities, almost no distinction between entities that are real, virtual and possibly imaginary. And whenever things slow down someone speaks a Secret Name which by its actions might as well be, "Hey Presto!" or "Shazam!" or "Abracadabra!" or "Ego sum Deus ex machina!" - because it's not only garden-variety Edgar-Rice-Burroughs "with a mighty leap he escaped the inescapable pit," but it's that kind of stuff that means NO situation is EVER inescapable, and ANYTHING can happen - so where's the danger?
Near the end, a character spawns multiple instances of itself and uses them to fight an army. I failed to see why all sorts of other characters who were present couldn't have done the same thing back.
So after two books, I still haven't decided whether Rajaniemi has produced a masterpiece or an esoteric in-joke. But I have never, after many books of VERY hard sci-fi, seen a book that so clearly matched up with the old saying, "If you can't dazzle them with science, baffle them with bullshit."
I'm giving it four stars because the author has constructed an admirable origami of a book. I was tempted to go with three or fewer because I didn't particularly enjoy reading the book [note: the author has no obligation to provide with enjoyment] and also because far too often I found myself groaning, "Oh, come ON!" as we get stuff like this:
"There are machines within the Gourd, built over decades by the Hsien-ku, gogol factories and smartmatter moulds and picotech fabbers. The pellegrini tells them to make angels."
Sometimes it feels as if Rajaniemi dropped a high-level textbook into a blender while stoned.
We have virtual thises and thats, multiple instances of entities, almost no distinction between entities that are real, virtual and possibly imaginary. And whenever things slow down someone speaks a Secret Name which by its actions might as well be, "Hey Presto!" or "Shazam!" or "Abracadabra!" or "Ego sum Deus ex machina!" - because it's not only garden-variety Edgar-Rice-Burroughs "with a mighty leap he escaped the inescapable pit," but it's that kind of stuff that means NO situation is EVER inescapable, and ANYTHING can happen - so where's the danger?
Near the end, a character spawns multiple instances of itself and uses them to fight an army. I failed to see why all sorts of other characters who were present couldn't have done the same thing back.
So after two books, I still haven't decided whether Rajaniemi has produced a masterpiece or an esoteric in-joke. But I have never, after many books of VERY hard sci-fi, seen a book that so clearly matched up with the old saying, "If you can't dazzle them with science, baffle them with bullshit."
leflambeur's review against another edition
5.0
One of those books that can easily stand up to multiple readings. Very complex, but in an engaging way. Highly recommend.
jjmp1993's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
aceinit's review against another edition
4.0
For now, all I am going to say is I need to read this one again. It unfolds layer by layer, and I will definitely be doing a back-to-back reading of this novel and its predecessor in the near-future.
centaurea's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
frithnanth's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
mllocy's review against another edition
5.0
Nothing pleases me more than when a novel refuses the reader exposition. Instead, they immerse you in the world and let you sink or swim. And let me tell you, that first gulp of air is so sweet. I read 'The Quantum Thief,' to which this book is the sequel. I was worried that, having already swam in that ocean of post-human lives, sentient machines, and cultures based solely on MMORPGs, that navigating these waters would be too easy. I was delightfully wrong. I had many gasps of sweet sweet air, but I was deliciously worried that a wave will come crashing down on me and pull me under. Three cheers for 'The Fractal Prince.'
Jean le Flambeur, the gentleman thief, returns in this novel with a plan to steal the soul of a god. With the help of Mieli, the Oortian warrior woman, and Perhonen, the sentient ship, he travels to an Earth that is at once oddly familiar and unrecognizable.
Again, Hannu Rajaniemi creates a world where, try as you might, you cannot fully grasp it's intricacies. And you aren't supposed to (sometimes I wonder if even he does). This is a post-Singularity human microcosm where all the rules are different and even death can be overcome. A futurist might eagerly anticipate an Earth full of quantum tech, enslaved minds, and stories that can control your body. Or he might recoil in fear. Even the characters, who look at this strange new world with the same jaded eyes that your or I might view our own lives, sometimes react in terror to the ways it has changed.
Some authors take you to alien landscapes in distant galaxies to put a mirror up to humanity. Mr. Rajaniemi keeps us within our solar system, and holds that mirror to our nose. References to ancient human mythologies mixed with startlingly prescient visions keep us staring at that alien face, trying to find our own.
Jean le Flambeur, the gentleman thief, returns in this novel with a plan to steal the soul of a god. With the help of Mieli, the Oortian warrior woman, and Perhonen, the sentient ship, he travels to an Earth that is at once oddly familiar and unrecognizable.
Again, Hannu Rajaniemi creates a world where, try as you might, you cannot fully grasp it's intricacies. And you aren't supposed to (sometimes I wonder if even he does). This is a post-Singularity human microcosm where all the rules are different and even death can be overcome. A futurist might eagerly anticipate an Earth full of quantum tech, enslaved minds, and stories that can control your body. Or he might recoil in fear. Even the characters, who look at this strange new world with the same jaded eyes that your or I might view our own lives, sometimes react in terror to the ways it has changed.
Some authors take you to alien landscapes in distant galaxies to put a mirror up to humanity. Mr. Rajaniemi keeps us within our solar system, and holds that mirror to our nose. References to ancient human mythologies mixed with startlingly prescient visions keep us staring at that alien face, trying to find our own.