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genteelblackhole's review against another edition
3.0
This book is composed of three parts, each one originally published as separate short stories. Combined they tell a wider narrative spanning centuries, but each part is an individual story too. Of those constituent parts, the first one was by far my favourite. The humour was at its most charming, with Brother Francis doing his best to piece together a flawed understanding of pre-apocalypse society. That story alone I would rate at least four stars, maybe five. I was having a GREAT time with this book.
Then the second and third parts gradually lost me. I get what they were doing — painting a cyclical view of the development of mankind, from dark age to renaissance to modernity and back to dark age. But the finer points of church politics and international politics were wearying for me to read, the frequent Latin passages interrupted my reading as I consulted a list of translations, and as an atheist I struggled to appreciate some of the commentary on faith and religion. It’s well written but I am clearly the wrong audience for this book. If you love Graham Greene’s overtly Catholic novels and also post-apocalyptic sci-fi though, give it a try I guess.
Then the second and third parts gradually lost me. I get what they were doing — painting a cyclical view of the development of mankind, from dark age to renaissance to modernity and back to dark age. But the finer points of church politics and international politics were wearying for me to read, the frequent Latin passages interrupted my reading as I consulted a list of translations, and as an atheist I struggled to appreciate some of the commentary on faith and religion. It’s well written but I am clearly the wrong audience for this book. If you love Graham Greene’s overtly Catholic novels and also post-apocalyptic sci-fi though, give it a try I guess.
bean_season's review
Read it because it's considered a classic and was intrigued. Interesting, funny, and poignant at times, it suffers too much from the prejudices of its day to be recommended to a general reader.
quigonchuy's review
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.75
I really liked the world building, and the social commentary around warnings of mutual annihilation if nuclear war came to pass. But the religious imagery and metaphors and constant attempt to put religion in a good light got to me. Almost every character or event had a parallel in the bible and not just in a literary sense, almost as if this was a retelling in a radioactive hellscape instead.
cabeswaren's review
dark
relaxing
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
ianhafer's review
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.0
bookmefry's review
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
sad
medium-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? No
5.0
lemon_god_3001's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
karter's review
2.0
The audio voice actor made it impossible for me to engage with this story at all. Had some interesting ideas but can't say I got much out of this book.
moscat's review against another edition
challenging
dark
medium-paced
3.5
The first part: phenomenal, five stars, wickedly sharp. Does a great job of showing how history, faith and tradition can be created through ignorance, fear and greed.
As it went on it lost me slightly, I had to wonder if it's a fix up novel (it is). The second part was still good, there were fun characters and moments. I disliked the reappearance of one character, I like him, but would have preferred it not to be the same person. By the third section I was kinda disengaged. It's still an interesting take and still very sharp but lacked what I enjoyed from the first section and aside from a couple of moments felt the most distant narratively (even with the cyclical element).
I'm glad I read it but I enjoyed the first story so much the other two really struggled to hold up for me.
As it went on it lost me slightly, I had to wonder if it's a fix up novel (it is). The second part was still good, there were fun characters and moments. I disliked the reappearance of one character, I like him, but would have preferred it not to be the same person. By the third section I was kinda disengaged. It's still an interesting take and still very sharp but lacked what I enjoyed from the first section and aside from a couple of moments felt the most distant narratively (even with the cyclical element).
I'm glad I read it but I enjoyed the first story so much the other two really struggled to hold up for me.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Terminal illness, and War
Minor: Murder