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trike's review against another edition
3.0
I'm actually in Darwin as I write this, having finished the book just before the plane landed. I can see why Darwin is a logical place to use as the setting for a post-apocalyptic tale: it's already halfway there. The people seem nice enough, but man this is a scruffy little town. And hot. Nearly 100 degrees today at noon. This is still Spring. Oof.
Back to the book: this is fairly lightweight entertainment. The characters aren't all that deep and the worldbuilding isn't too extreme. Basically some aliens built a space elevator, anchoring it in Darwin, Australia, and humans flocked to it. Then some sort of disease damaged people's higher brain functions, turning them into "subhumans". Each person has a different reaction to the debilitation. Some sit and laugh for no reason, some want to play, some become savage, and so on. Naturally, only the savage ones survive for long. They are not unlike the Reavers from Firefly/Serenity.
The only place protected from the effects of the alien disease -- if that's what it is -- is the area in Darwin immediately surrounding the elevator, to a couple miles out. Maybe less. I've already forgotten the particulars.
The thrust of the book surrounds solving the mystery of the Builders and what they intend. Unfortunately, Hough never actually does that, instead making the finale essentially the end of Act One. There are hints of more, but no answers, which is frustrating. I can only imagine if Scalzi or Niven had written this, we would have had at least *some* answers, but we get none. Because of this, combined with the shallowness of the characters and the lack of an ending, I can only give it 3 stars.
In its construction, the book does remind me of the mirror image of Hugh Howey's [b:Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1)|13453029|Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1) (Wool, #1-5)|Hugh Howey|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1379003312s/13453029.jpg|18979356], which was a post-apocalypse tale that took place in an underground silo, whereas here we have a post-apocalypse tale taking place on a space elevator.
There were a couple minor things that bugged me, too. Such as why they never took the opportunity to establish space stations or moonbases away from the elevator. They had 12 years from the time the elevator was made until the SUBS disease hit, and they built amazing platforms on the structure itself, but why nobody used it as a jumping-off point is a head-scratcher. Also, it's only been five years since the SUBS infection forced the rest of the world to fall into disrepair, so why is everything so dilapidated already? Hough treats everything outside of the elevator's influence as on some sort of accelerated decay spiral, but even in the tropics five years wouldn't cause things to disintegrate so quickly. Having just walked on steel boat docks that are at least 20 years old over the saltwater estuary of the Alligator River, I have a hard time buying a covered balcony rusting so thoroughly in half a decade that it collapses under someone's weight.
Anyway, the story is decent enough, but it has no resolution since it is clearly a set-up for a trilogy. If the library has them, I might read the other installments, but I'm not going to go out of my way to seek them out. I have a fear that there won't be any mysteries solved in them, either.
Back to the book: this is fairly lightweight entertainment. The characters aren't all that deep and the worldbuilding isn't too extreme. Basically some aliens built a space elevator, anchoring it in Darwin, Australia, and humans flocked to it. Then some sort of disease damaged people's higher brain functions, turning them into "subhumans". Each person has a different reaction to the debilitation. Some sit and laugh for no reason, some want to play, some become savage, and so on. Naturally, only the savage ones survive for long. They are not unlike the Reavers from Firefly/Serenity.
The only place protected from the effects of the alien disease -- if that's what it is -- is the area in Darwin immediately surrounding the elevator, to a couple miles out. Maybe less. I've already forgotten the particulars.
The thrust of the book surrounds solving the mystery of the Builders and what they intend. Unfortunately, Hough never actually does that, instead making the finale essentially the end of Act One. There are hints of more, but no answers, which is frustrating. I can only imagine if Scalzi or Niven had written this, we would have had at least *some* answers, but we get none. Because of this, combined with the shallowness of the characters and the lack of an ending, I can only give it 3 stars.
In its construction, the book does remind me of the mirror image of Hugh Howey's [b:Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1)|13453029|Wool Omnibus (Silo, #1) (Wool, #1-5)|Hugh Howey|http://d202m5krfqbpi5.cloudfront.net/books/1379003312s/13453029.jpg|18979356], which was a post-apocalypse tale that took place in an underground silo, whereas here we have a post-apocalypse tale taking place on a space elevator.
There were a couple minor things that bugged me, too. Such as why they never took the opportunity to establish space stations or moonbases away from the elevator. They had 12 years from the time the elevator was made until the SUBS disease hit, and they built amazing platforms on the structure itself, but why nobody used it as a jumping-off point is a head-scratcher. Also, it's only been five years since the SUBS infection forced the rest of the world to fall into disrepair, so why is everything so dilapidated already? Hough treats everything outside of the elevator's influence as on some sort of accelerated decay spiral, but even in the tropics five years wouldn't cause things to disintegrate so quickly. Having just walked on steel boat docks that are at least 20 years old over the saltwater estuary of the Alligator River, I have a hard time buying a covered balcony rusting so thoroughly in half a decade that it collapses under someone's weight.
Anyway, the story is decent enough, but it has no resolution since it is clearly a set-up for a trilogy. If the library has them, I might read the other installments, but I'm not going to go out of my way to seek them out. I have a fear that there won't be any mysteries solved in them, either.
tegaaa's review against another edition
5.0
Just finished the book. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I bought the others in the series right away and I'm currently reading the prequel (should have read first ;-)). Great characters, not to complex but great fun and entertaining story. Very much in vain with James S.A. Corey.
Recommended!
Recommended!
hootinglance's review against another edition
3.0
This book has two covers, as far as I can tell: one is a pretty cool looking piece of sci fi art, and the other is a generic white guy protagonist with a gun. This perfectly summarizes this book. Its a neat idea that brings nothing at all new to the table, executed perfectly acceptably. If i could score this a 2.5 stars for being stupendously 'meh', then I would.
Plot (spoiler free)
technologically advanced (read: magic) aliens sent a space elevator to earth. years later they unleashed a virus that turned everyone into a zombie, aside from those within a short distance from the elevator, which emits a protective aura. Now they're about to do something else, and the aura is failing. New types of zombies are emerging, and Rich Entrepreneur hires Immune Scavenger Captain to find a fix.
However most of this is forgotten about half way, and the rest the cast just puts off until it solves itself. The real plot starts about half way when a evil military launches a coup of the space stations built around the elevator. All in all its pretty dam generic. Its just another generic zombie story with a sci fi flavor.
Characters
The main character, the immune scavenger captain, is named Skyler Lukem. This is a stupid name, and the author knows it, because he pointed out that he's blatantly referencing Luke Skywalker from Star Wars. Just because you point it out, doesn't make it not dumb.
Other than that the cast is a bunch of australian-accented cliches. All the main characters are over powered (), all the military soldiers are idiots and all the scientists are pacifist workaholics. The author also has some obsession with passing the Bechdel test with flying colours. The ratio of female to males is around 50:50, but at every possible chance the women pair up and go do their own thing. They're all badass fighters, of course, tougher than any males and especially tougher than the elite soldiers. Problem is that both the women all start to act like closet lesbians. This is of course fine, and hey, if you want to have a lesbian shower make-out session, that's your prerogative. I'm just not a big fan of lazy shallow female empowerment characters.
Setting
The space elevator is a cool idea. Future Darwin city is a cool idea. Post-apocalypse human settlements are always a cool idea. Too bad we spend at least 60% of the story aboard the generic space station. And hey, if your going to set ~90% of the second half of your book in the one place, you probably shouldn't include location names as subheadings in your chapter names, as it is redundant and useless. This book also likes to tell you the date, which is also completely useless unless you go back and compare to when the last chapter started. It doesn't tell us the POV character (which i can only assume is to allow him to switch POV, which he does like once in the whole book) and he doesn't explicitly tell us how much time has passed. Some chapters end in cliff hangers that are IMMEDIATELY resolved in the first sentence of the next chapter. What was the point?
Writing
So the settings are okay but also pretty meh. The characters are meh. The story is meh. The writing is also meh. Action scenes are plentiful, but are written with such a removed perspective that its impossible to care. Descriptions and dialogue are fine. Again, everythings just written so blasé that it's impossible to care.
Verdict
I'd be very surprised if this doesn't get released as a generic, forgettable summer action blockbuster. Its a safe choice. It hits boxes, it doesn't do anything especially interesting or new. But it's fine, so if the plot sounds interesting, then go right ahead. Its not bad, just extremely meh
Plot (spoiler free)
technologically advanced (read: magic) aliens sent a space elevator to earth. years later they unleashed a virus that turned everyone into a zombie, aside from those within a short distance from the elevator, which emits a protective aura. Now they're about to do something else, and the aura is failing. New types of zombies are emerging, and Rich Entrepreneur hires Immune Scavenger Captain to find a fix.
However most of this is forgotten about half way, and the rest the cast just puts off until it solves itself. The real plot starts about half way when a evil military launches a coup of the space stations built around the elevator. All in all its pretty dam generic. Its just another generic zombie story with a sci fi flavor.
Characters
The main character, the immune scavenger captain, is named Skyler Lukem. This is a stupid name, and the author knows it, because he pointed out that he's blatantly referencing Luke Skywalker from Star Wars. Just because you point it out, doesn't make it not dumb.
Other than that the cast is a bunch of australian-accented cliches. All the main characters are over powered (
Spoiler
at the end of the book, the main villain survives an almost direct strike by orbital bombardment without so much as a tear to his environment suitSetting
The space elevator is a cool idea. Future Darwin city is a cool idea. Post-apocalypse human settlements are always a cool idea. Too bad we spend at least 60% of the story aboard the generic space station. And hey, if your going to set ~90% of the second half of your book in the one place, you probably shouldn't include location names as subheadings in your chapter names, as it is redundant and useless. This book also likes to tell you the date, which is also completely useless unless you go back and compare to when the last chapter started. It doesn't tell us the POV character (which i can only assume is to allow him to switch POV, which he does like once in the whole book) and he doesn't explicitly tell us how much time has passed. Some chapters end in cliff hangers that are IMMEDIATELY resolved in the first sentence of the next chapter. What was the point?
Writing
So the settings are okay but also pretty meh. The characters are meh. The story is meh. The writing is also meh. Action scenes are plentiful, but are written with such a removed perspective that its impossible to care. Descriptions and dialogue are fine. Again, everythings just written so blasé that it's impossible to care.
Verdict
I'd be very surprised if this doesn't get released as a generic, forgettable summer action blockbuster. Its a safe choice. It hits boxes, it doesn't do anything especially interesting or new. But it's fine, so if the plot sounds interesting, then go right ahead. Its not bad, just extremely meh
bobf2d33's review against another edition
4.0
Good old fashion sci-fi. Will read the rest in the series.
blood_rose_books's review against another edition
4.0
Jason M. Hough is out with his debut novel that mixes sci-fi and post-apocalyptic genres, where humans are forced to either live in the city of Darwin or in the orbit above the city and there is more than one person that would like to control it all:
It is the mid 23 century and the city of Darwin is the last safe haven for human civilization on Earth. The wealthy and influential have migrated to the orbits around the Earth to escape the uncivilized ways and corruption that have taken over Darwin. The human race has been reduced to scavengers getting what they can from beyond the walls of Darwin. There are a few people who have been determined to be immune to the disease that ravages just past the walls of Darwin and they are willing to risk their life for much needed supplies. Beyond the wall there are people who have reverted back to a more primal stage and within Darwin and in the skies greed and corruption run at a high. Skylar and his crew attempt to navigate on the fringe of this new world, but a series of events and scavenger runs are going to pull Skylar into the middle of everything and the fate of the human race may just be left up to him.
Sci-Fi is not where I normally read but I was really interested in the premise that was presented for within this book, a post-apocalyptic technological world. I was completely engrossed with this book, yes even though it was sci-fi. I did not want to put this book down, the story, the characters, everything drew me in. This was an amazing debut novel. I will say that Hough is a very smart writer. What is the trend today? Post-apocalyptic stories with zombie or something similar, but it is clear that Hough favours the sci-fi genre, so why not blend the two together? This way you attract to a wider audience and those who would not normally read a sci-fi book (also known as me) are intrigued enough to pick up this book and give it a try because there is an aspect within the book that I know will interest me.
I was really happy that Hough did not take the sci-fi aspect too far as if he did I know I would have felt lost. I think that Hough did a great job of writing for the masses and not just those who love the sci-fi genre. I think that this book and series will appeal to a lot of people, especially those who like the sci-fi, fantasy, paranormal and urban fantasy genres. Even those who like to read political based books I think will find this book intriguing because of the complex system of reliance that is built between Darwin, the orbitals and the scavengers and the ever need of people to have all the control and power.
I liked the use of the city of Darwin, but also what the word or person that Darwin represents; Survival of the Fittest which is true in this world and any post-apocalyptic novel. It also, for me, meant the evolution of Man and how some of the individuals were immune to the Subs disease and could travel outside of Darwin, while the rest of the population could not without specialized suits.
The characters tend to take a secondary role within this book as it is mainly plot driven which also means that we get chapters from different characters, but do not worry this actually enhances the world and plot. The characters that Hough has decided to have chapters from their point of view all have different and unique points of views of what is happening in Darwin, on Earth and in Space. Our main character Skyler is an interesting character as he struggles to be the captain of his crew that he knows they need him to be, but he does not want to fulfill that role. I liked that to begin with Skyler might not be a character you would expect in this type of book, he is not portrayed as a fearless leader ready to do battle and win at all costs and not willing to be taken advantage of. Actually my favorite character is Russell Blackfield the antagonist in the book, who is bad to the core however, you understand some of the actions he takes and the reason behind them but that does not make them the right decisions. Niel Platz is also a different character, who one could take as either a good or bad side of the characters, as he is obsessed with his own survival and the possibility to make money from others needs and survival.
The book is at times on the slower side, but this is due to the fact that Hough needs to set up his world and all the politics that surround it, as politics play a major role within this book. I personally did not find that there were too many slow parts, and they were always broken up with an adventure that Skyler and his crew would be on. Hough did a good job on timing and never had two slower chapters in a row. This showed great knowledge of the reader by Hough and I know I appreciated as a slow read is one that I would put down.
For someone who does not read and does not really like the sci-fi genre, I was completely enthralled with this book and did not want to put it down. Hough has down a great job of creating a plot, world and characters that will suck readers in. This was a great debut novel and I cannot wait to read the next in the series, as I want to find out about the elusive aliens that changed the world.
Enjoy!!!
kaisu's review against another edition
4.0
Super! Zwar bekommt das Buch wegen winziger Kritikpunkte "nur" 4 Sterne, aber inhaltlich würde ich es jedem empfehlen, der Zukunftsstories mag, gemixt mit einem Firefly-Team im Sci-Fi-Zeitalter und ner ordentlichen Portion menschlichem normalen Wahnsinn :) bin auf den nächsten Teil gespannt!
peteyreads's review against another edition
5.0
This book is pure awesome. I had taken a break from sci-fi for a little while, but this book brought me back into the fold.
It clocks in at almost 500 pages, but I hardly noticed - the pages just flew by. The story grabbed ahold of me from chapter one and didn't let go. The cast of characters was compelling, even the bad guys. The far-future setting was believable, and the author didn't overwhelm the reader with tons of exposition. He gave us just enough, and didn't let it get in the way of all the action. I can see this book being made into an awesome summer blockbuster movie.
I'm itching to read the next book in the series. Thankfully, I won't have to wait very long, since the publisher is releasing the entire trilogy in consecutive months. Booyah! Instant gratification!
It clocks in at almost 500 pages, but I hardly noticed - the pages just flew by. The story grabbed ahold of me from chapter one and didn't let go. The cast of characters was compelling, even the bad guys. The far-future setting was believable, and the author didn't overwhelm the reader with tons of exposition. He gave us just enough, and didn't let it get in the way of all the action. I can see this book being made into an awesome summer blockbuster movie.
I'm itching to read the next book in the series. Thankfully, I won't have to wait very long, since the publisher is releasing the entire trilogy in consecutive months. Booyah! Instant gratification!
shannonleighd's review against another edition
4.0
Update after reading:
I totally understand comparing this to Scalzi; they both need to beef up their character development skills and also like to put their characters through hell, BUT, Hough's world building is better. Rating for this is more like a 3.5 but I rounded up since the second half had me on the edge most of the time. Crazy how many characters he killed off though! Tons of stuff you don't see coming as well. And I loved the multicultural cast ... The love interest and one of the side characters that gets almost as much screen time as the main guy is Indian.
Better review to come when I've got the time ...
First thoughts from April 26th:
Approved today for this from NetGalley. The quote about it being like Scalzi gave me pause which is why I didn't request it or consider it at first, but a friend gave it 5 stars so I figured why not give it a shot? Haven't read straight scifi in a while either, so if I can work up enough muster to finally get back into reading novels, this should hopefully be a good jump back in.
I totally understand comparing this to Scalzi; they both need to beef up their character development skills and also like to put their characters through hell, BUT, Hough's world building is better. Rating for this is more like a 3.5 but I rounded up since the second half had me on the edge most of the time. Crazy how many characters he killed off though! Tons of stuff you don't see coming as well. And I loved the multicultural cast ... The love interest and one of the side characters that gets almost as much screen time as the main guy is Indian.
Better review to come when I've got the time ...
First thoughts from April 26th:
Approved today for this from NetGalley. The quote about it being like Scalzi gave me pause which is why I didn't request it or consider it at first, but a friend gave it 5 stars so I figured why not give it a shot? Haven't read straight scifi in a while either, so if I can work up enough muster to finally get back into reading novels, this should hopefully be a good jump back in.
bookbrig's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
3.0
Solid and interesting, I'll definitely pick up the next in the series.