Reviews

Audible version: This story started out really strong with the story of Hiroshi and Charlotte when they were 10 years old in Japan. I loved listening to that part. Then it went into their university years, and all I remember hearing is how BEAUTIFUL Charlotte was. God I get it! The depictions of women in the book are atrocious. The intimate scenes (possibly the result of translation?) were laughable and really unrelated to the story, especially when they involved James (Charlotte's one-time fiancé). He was just a caricature of a hormone driven misogynist frat boy. The nanotechnology stuff was rather fascinating and I loved the idea of it being alien. The narrator did a pretty good job with the different voices, and I would listen to it again, just to get filled in on all the stuff I missed when I wasn't paying attention because it was boring me and I didn't know when to check back in to the interesting and important stuff. I think the book could have used a better editor.

eklsolo's review against another edition

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dark tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

4.5

pharmdad2007's review against another edition

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5.0

An extraordinary novel of science and mysticism, love and technology, and of a boy and a girl. Hidden gems like this one keep me reading international novels!

vaidab's review against another edition

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5.0

Amazing book! I've read a sample a few years ago and it stuck with me. Now I'm totally addicted to it! .. preparing for a looong night!

jsholmes's review against another edition

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4.0

Really enjoyed this

This was great fun. The first three quarters were especially interesting and propelling. I felt things dragged a bit for a while and then accelerated toward the end. I'd have given it five stars if not for that. I'll very likely read something else by this author.

grayxen's review against another edition

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3.0

interesting concept but sort of poorly executed. i'm not a big sci-fi fan, so this jumped several sharks toward the middle. it was really boring in the beginning and disjointed toward the end with everyone going to different countries out of nowhere with no good reason. the first half of the book took forever and nothing really developed, then at the end, so much happens but it's barely explained.

real technology was explained, but made-up technology was glossed over in a "don't worry, that will just work because i say it will" fashion.

the characters were pretty flat, being constantly described based on their looks alone, or as having shallow, unfounded beliefs. charlotte's beauty was mentioned about 30 times, but other than that, she didn't do much except sit around and wait for men to run the world (and then apologized to them for some reason).

other characters kept reappearing years after they were introduced, but did nothing of importance, so it seemed like a waste. the ones who seemed important in the beginning just randomly died later as an afterthought, or weren't heard from for decades only to reappear and do nothing. hey, remember this guy? yeah he's still there. that's it. just checking. on to the next scene.

the conclusion is that humans are terrible and have been for millennia. only the main character is good, therefore he must kill himself. maybe the author is an emo teenager...

metaphorosis's review against another edition

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3.0

reviews.metaphorosis.com

3.5 stars

A focused young boy and a girl with a strange power meet early in life, and continue to cross paths as they learn secrets of the Earth's past.

I ran across a translation of Andreas Eschbach's The Carpet Makers some years back, and thought it excellent - original, interesting, and well told. When I found Lord of All Things for sale, I jumped on it, forgetting even to check for a version in the original German. Though Lord of All Thingslacks the creativity of The Carpet Makers, it's a fun, enjoyable read.

Eschbach starts slow, introducing the characters as children, and describing their first meeting. It's immediately warm and engaging, and there's a pleasant suspense in wondering where the story will go. Unfortunately, it's a section that also plants the seeds of some disappointment - Eschbach describes Charlotte's unusual power, which crops up occasionally throughout the book

Spoiler

, but turns out to be more of a flourish than a core plot point

.

This is a near-future story with some high tech. However, the really speculative elements of the book are, if not superfluous, at least peripheral. The real story is about the characters. Given that, the central relationship between Hiroshi and Charlotte is treated from a surprisingly distant, almost clinical perspective. It's interesting, but never really moving.

Eschbach introduces a number of intriguing leads, but lets most of them lie. Much as we'd like to, we never learn much about them.

All in all, a good but flawed read, without the balance of The Carpet Makers, and with more of the feel of a very good draft than a complete story. Nonetheless, I recommend this for readers looking for a story more about people than gadgets.

Note: the translation is good, but with a slightly folksy tone that doesn't match most German writing. I haven't read the original, so it's possible the translation is 100% faithful, but it didn't match my expectations.

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