nataliya_x's review
2.0
Finally. This book is *finally* over.
When I started this book to wrap up my 2020 Hugo/Nebula Awards reading project, I was quite wary. It’s book 5 in the series in which I have not read the first four. I was prepared to be lost and confused and frustrated, and was ready to abandon it if things get confusing (it’s a big deal for me, to “dnf” a book; I’ve done it exactly once in my entire reading life). But I’ve started in the middle of a series before, so I decided to plunge right in.
But guess what - starting at book 5 in the series was not a problem. This seems to be a start of a completely new narrative arc in the series, and the important and relevant information from the first four installments was neatly summarized and presented whenever necessary. So I never felt like I struggled to keep up.
The problem was the book itself.
You see, I love science fiction. I *like* classic pulp style of SF. I love exploration of alien worlds. I even made my peace with (some) military SF. I like quest-type stories. And this one has all that.
But I really just could NOT get into it.
And when you dislike a very long book, it really becomes endless. But hey, I’m nothing but tenacious, I powered through it, mostly unscathed (basically, pretty much like our reliably and tiresomely awesome Caine Riordan).
The main thing for an unsuspecting reader to know is this: Caine Riordan is a perfect human specimen who cannot be wrong about anything, and everything he does is perfection, and every one of his hunches is a correct one, and knowing this is enough to get you through this hefty tome.
Also, most of the book follows this pattern: Caine Riordan, on his quest to find his missing and deadly injured lover, ends up on an alien planet where contemptuous aliens proceed to insult him to his face (according to aliens, humans suck and are primitive savages with rudimentary intelligence), he manages to impress them nevertheless, they give him some ridiculous task in exchange for information, he promptly excels at whichever task it is (because he is unerringly beyond awesome), gets the information that requires him to move to a different alien planet. Rinse and repeat. More contemptuous aliens, more inane tasks, more of Caine Riordan’s sheer awesomeness. And on and on and on.
It’s predictable, dry and very drawn out, and at times screeches to a complete halt. And the awesome protagonist lacks dimension in his unquestionable perfection. The dialogue is consistently stilted and clunky, bordering on robotic. There are no nuances, especially not for our flawless space hero. I assume he’s probably square-jawed, too.
He’s like Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story before the poor chap realizes he’s a toy and not a space ranger.
This novel warns against dangers of virtual reality and extols humanity’s resourcefulness and adaptability — actually a refreshing concept in the recent SF landscape where we have been painfully aware of humanity’s shortcomings with our propensity for violence, aggression and cruelty. Gannon focuses on the positives, which is almost refreshing — but the annoyingly uber-awesome Caine unfortunately lessens the impact of such optimism.
Apparently almost all the novels in this series, including this one, have been nominated for Nebula Award. I can’t speak for the other ones, but I can’t see why this one got the nod. But there’s gotta be something that eludes me here, given all the nominations. But hey, I’m not perfect - unlike our Caine.
Unless the nominations all are for this wonderful space race name: Hkh'Rkh. Say it a few times in a row: Hkh'Rkh, Hkh'Rkh, Hkh'Rkh. At least you’ve cleared your throat now. Now wipe the spit off your screen and let’s move on. I’m almost tempted to buy an audio book of this just to hear that pronounced.
2 stars. Not for me.
————
My Hugo and Nebula Awards Reading Project 2020: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3295830569
When I started this book to wrap up my 2020 Hugo/Nebula Awards reading project, I was quite wary. It’s book 5 in the series in which I have not read the first four. I was prepared to be lost and confused and frustrated, and was ready to abandon it if things get confusing (it’s a big deal for me, to “dnf” a book; I’ve done it exactly once in my entire reading life). But I’ve started in the middle of a series before, so I decided to plunge right in.
But guess what - starting at book 5 in the series was not a problem. This seems to be a start of a completely new narrative arc in the series, and the important and relevant information from the first four installments was neatly summarized and presented whenever necessary. So I never felt like I struggled to keep up.
The problem was the book itself.
You see, I love science fiction. I *like* classic pulp style of SF. I love exploration of alien worlds. I even made my peace with (some) military SF. I like quest-type stories. And this one has all that.
But I really just could NOT get into it.
And when you dislike a very long book, it really becomes endless. But hey, I’m nothing but tenacious, I powered through it, mostly unscathed (basically, pretty much like our reliably and tiresomely awesome Caine Riordan).
The main thing for an unsuspecting reader to know is this: Caine Riordan is a perfect human specimen who cannot be wrong about anything, and everything he does is perfection, and every one of his hunches is a correct one, and knowing this is enough to get you through this hefty tome.
Also, most of the book follows this pattern: Caine Riordan, on his quest to find his missing and deadly injured lover, ends up on an alien planet where contemptuous aliens proceed to insult him to his face (according to aliens, humans suck and are primitive savages with rudimentary intelligence), he manages to impress them nevertheless, they give him some ridiculous task in exchange for information, he promptly excels at whichever task it is (because he is unerringly beyond awesome), gets the information that requires him to move to a different alien planet. Rinse and repeat. More contemptuous aliens, more inane tasks, more of Caine Riordan’s sheer awesomeness. And on and on and on.
“Before Riordan could stop himself, the words blurted out, “So this is just another stupid test.”
It’s predictable, dry and very drawn out, and at times screeches to a complete halt. And the awesome protagonist lacks dimension in his unquestionable perfection. The dialogue is consistently stilted and clunky, bordering on robotic. There are no nuances, especially not for our flawless space hero. I assume he’s probably square-jawed, too.
He’s like Buzz Lightyear in Toy Story before the poor chap realizes he’s a toy and not a space ranger.
This novel warns against dangers of virtual reality and extols humanity’s resourcefulness and adaptability — actually a refreshing concept in the recent SF landscape where we have been painfully aware of humanity’s shortcomings with our propensity for violence, aggression and cruelty. Gannon focuses on the positives, which is almost refreshing — but the annoyingly uber-awesome Caine unfortunately lessens the impact of such optimism.
Apparently almost all the novels in this series, including this one, have been nominated for Nebula Award. I can’t speak for the other ones, but I can’t see why this one got the nod. But there’s gotta be something that eludes me here, given all the nominations. But hey, I’m not perfect - unlike our Caine.
Unless the nominations all are for this wonderful space race name: Hkh'Rkh. Say it a few times in a row: Hkh'Rkh, Hkh'Rkh, Hkh'Rkh. At least you’ve cleared your throat now. Now wipe the spit off your screen and let’s move on. I’m almost tempted to buy an audio book of this just to hear that pronounced.
2 stars. Not for me.
————
My Hugo and Nebula Awards Reading Project 2020: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/3295830569
snowcrash's review
4.0
Doesn't seem like this is book 5 of the series. I've been right there when each is published. They have been really good. The fourth stumbled a bit, but here in the 5th book the author returns to form. More intrigue, more mystery, more questioning of where loyalties lie. The only issue I had is I went through it quick and now have to wait another year or two for the next installment.
Think of this as a road trip through Dornaani space. We get to learn about their origins, current society and all of the cracks underneath the veneer of superiority. Many questions are answered, but like a good mystery, new questions spring to mind.
Here is good commentary of how a society can lose touch with itself by existing solely within a virtual world. This is a much better representation than the previous fiction book that attempted to portray a virtual society (Looking at Stephenson & _Fall_). It is instructive just how addicted the Dornaani society is to virtual worlds. The author dives into it, but doesn't dwell there much, except to drive the story forward.
If you have come through the first four books and wondered if it gets better, yes it does. Here, the big question is: Why does one, in order to fulfill their oath of protecting their society, need to break the oath? Where does one's loyalty lie, with the corrupt government or to the stability of the greater galatic good?
Think of this as a road trip through Dornaani space. We get to learn about their origins, current society and all of the cracks underneath the veneer of superiority. Many questions are answered, but like a good mystery, new questions spring to mind.
Here is good commentary of how a society can lose touch with itself by existing solely within a virtual world. This is a much better representation than the previous fiction book that attempted to portray a virtual society (Looking at Stephenson & _Fall_). It is instructive just how addicted the Dornaani society is to virtual worlds. The author dives into it, but doesn't dwell there much, except to drive the story forward.
If you have come through the first four books and wondered if it gets better, yes it does. Here, the big question is: Why does one, in order to fulfill their oath of protecting their society, need to break the oath? Where does one's loyalty lie, with the corrupt government or to the stability of the greater galatic good?
brianrenaud's review
3.0
For a while, it seemed like I was reading "Caine Riordan vs. the evil bureaucracies" crossed with a touch of gulliver's travels. I enjoyed it more towards the end, but was disappointed that we were left hanging. Hopefully Gannon has the next sequel out soon.
jameseckman's review
3.0
The alien races are fairly unique are some interesting food for thought. Caine is a bit too close to a Heinlein hero, he's supercompetent and almost never makes mistakes. There's enough context that you can start reading this series from this novel, but you may want to wait till #6, this ends on a cliffhanger.
More...