lastontheboat's review
adventurous
challenging
funny
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
zanosgood's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
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? It's complicated
4.0
sobiereads's review
3.0
the character work is amazing and i will read the second book buuuuut it suffers from fantasyitis where there is literally just too much going on in many places without sufficient explanation. throwing the reader into a world works sometimes, but not an incredibly military and math-based one.
chippyfiend's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
tlbignerd's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
ambers's review
- 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? Yes
4.0
Honestly, I just had to embrace not understanding a single thing for half this novel, but that paid off! This novel was harder for me to get into, probably because I’m not too interested in the military aspects of sci fi (so, if you are, then you likely won’t encounter the same issue). The world building is interesting, but confusing. The characters are what shine here, and the novel is almost like a long premise/introduction to the plot shift that the end promises. Ultimately I enjoyed the ride, and plan to pick up the sequel too!
cypress13's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
dgarrison's review against another edition
This is military sci-fi/space fantasy which I’m not a huge fan to begin with. So the book just wasn’t doing it for me.
Also, the whole premise is just kind of weird and I don’t really get it. Like their formations (space magic) really only work on a particular calendar and if that calendar gets corrupted then their formations and other tech stop working. Maybe it gave a better explanation later, but I just didn’t really care at this point.
Also, the whole premise is just kind of weird and I don’t really get it. Like their formations (space magic) really only work on a particular calendar and if that calendar gets corrupted then their formations and other tech stop working. Maybe it gave a better explanation later, but I just didn’t really care at this point.
bastibe's review
3.0
I enjoyed this book, but barely. It slips too far into fantasy for me, and really does not contain much fictitious science. For example, it uses fancy mathematical jargon, but they don't make mathematical sense. They are used in lieu of magic spells. After a while, I settled into having my own dictionary of translations, like "magic" instead of "math", and "military" instead of "kel".
It was still an interesting story, and an interesting world, but it was not for me.
It was still an interesting story, and an interesting world, but it was not for me.
essinink's review against another edition
5.0
Well that was break-my-brain amazing. XD
Yoon Ha Lee has taken space battles, mathematics, identity issues, loyalty issues, and war and spun them all into a reality simultaneously alien and oh-so-very human. There's an overt strangeness to the society and physics that the author doesn't take the time to explain (put simply, the author assumes you have the patience to figure it out)
The (physics? magic?) system is amazing. The characters are all living under a "calendar"... which is essentially a way of warping reality based on the unified belief/practice/rituals of a sufficiently large population. In other words, a ruleset. Now, while 'invariant' technology (stuff that relies on day-to-day physics, I suppose) exists, it's slow. And you can do a lot more with 'exotic' technology... but exotic tech is calendar dependent. This only becomes a problem when you run up against competing calendars/rulesets/reality engines, because your stuff doesn't work the way it's supposed to. Enter the heretics, which the hexarchate has a vested interest in getting rid of for the reasons previously listed.
Kel Cheris is one of the coolest characters I've met in a book in a while, and Jedao--I'm not even sure where I want to start with him. He's a cold-hearted bastard with his own LONG-term game plan, but he's also intriguing, and even identifiable. The character dynamics were masterfully played--quite frankly my head is still spinning a little.
All this to say, "Yes. Go read this book." (I mean, no it's not for everyone, but it's going on my favorites shelf, so...)
Yoon Ha Lee has taken space battles, mathematics, identity issues, loyalty issues, and war and spun them all into a reality simultaneously alien and oh-so-very human. There's an overt strangeness to the society and physics that the author doesn't take the time to explain (put simply, the author assumes you have the patience to figure it out)
The (physics? magic?) system is amazing. The characters are all living under a "calendar"... which is essentially a way of warping reality based on the unified belief/practice/rituals of a sufficiently large population. In other words, a ruleset. Now, while 'invariant' technology (stuff that relies on day-to-day physics, I suppose) exists, it's slow. And you can do a lot more with 'exotic' technology... but exotic tech is calendar dependent. This only becomes a problem when you run up against competing calendars/rulesets/reality engines, because your stuff doesn't work the way it's supposed to. Enter the heretics, which the hexarchate has a vested interest in getting rid of for the reasons previously listed.
Kel Cheris is one of the coolest characters I've met in a book in a while, and Jedao--I'm not even sure where I want to start with him. He's a cold-hearted bastard with his own LONG-term game plan, but he's also intriguing, and even identifiable. The character dynamics were masterfully played--quite frankly my head is still spinning a little.
All this to say, "Yes. Go read this book." (I mean, no it's not for everyone, but it's going on my favorites shelf, so...)