indy_rose's review against another edition
adventurous
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- 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
3.0
allanvdh's review
4.0
The importance of climate change
A great book showing the importance of humanity and climate change.
Interesting perspectives and loved the South African slang thrown in the book.
A great book showing the importance of humanity and climate change.
Interesting perspectives and loved the South African slang thrown in the book.
brokenrecord's review
3.0
Just couldn't get into this. The writing quality was good, but I just couldn't get invested in the plot or characters. I was hoping to like this more since I loved Guns of Dawn so much, but this just wasn't for me. I'm still interested in checking out more of his work, though.
linguana's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
kimminy_cricket's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
reflective
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
ojovanoski's review
adventurous
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
roadtripreader's review
2.0
My first disappointment from Tchaikovsky. I came out of the introduction to the series (Ironclads) with high everything: excitement, anticipation and expectation for greatness and witty writing in the 2nd installment. Little things that persisted throught this book really brought all of that crashing down for me. Still, I powered through but once I became annoyed, I just couldn't get into the great story hidden beneath my not-pet peeves (I refuse to liken a peeve to a pet because my pets are adored). It boils down to two things really:
1. The slang and colloquialism started out fine, but it just became grating, visceral and annoying. Wabenzi, chomie, vai sonko, dangi... It got old really fast. Can they just speak in full sentences without littering every other piece of slang into the conversation? Seems unlikely.
2. The first few pages setting the tone for the heat-stricken planet and what survival would look like in Ankara, the Anchor settlement...or whatever it was. This also started out rather intriguing but at what point does the writer expect the reader to infer the "location" of this setting wuth drips and drabs of information? It feels like Nigeria, or maybe it's South Africa...could be Turkey(just got caught up on Ankara). And then he mentions the equator and I think hhhmmm maybe Central Africa. But dang it, he outright mentions Ecuador in passing and a couple other countries AND YET for the main setting he tap dances around it.
WHY so annoying dude? Would it kill you to say " after the water wars and global catastrophe blah blah blah, the people settled on a now barren and scorching hot (Name of place) yada yada yada and there, time passed until the old country became the new country... bing bang boom, it became Ankara." There, was that so hard?
3. Too damn much- yet not enough is what I get from this book: I was invested in the main character Mao, but then I lost interest. I found myself literally speedreading and skimming through pages like I was back at school and I just wanted the book to end.
Still, 1 miss in 3 hits means I will still complete the series. I just need to lower my expectations just a tad.
Cant believe I went from 5 stars for Ironclads to 2.5 starsfor this one.
1. The slang and colloquialism started out fine, but it just became grating, visceral and annoying. Wabenzi, chomie, vai sonko, dangi... It got old really fast. Can they just speak in full sentences without littering every other piece of slang into the conversation? Seems unlikely.
2. The first few pages setting the tone for the heat-stricken planet and what survival would look like in Ankara, the Anchor settlement...or whatever it was. This also started out rather intriguing but at what point does the writer expect the reader to infer the "location" of this setting wuth drips and drabs of information? It feels like Nigeria, or maybe it's South Africa...could be Turkey(just got caught up on Ankara). And then he mentions the equator and I think hhhmmm maybe Central Africa. But dang it, he outright mentions Ecuador in passing and a couple other countries AND YET for the main setting he tap dances around it.
WHY so annoying dude? Would it kill you to say " after the water wars and global catastrophe blah blah blah, the people settled on a now barren and scorching hot (Name of place) yada yada yada and there, time passed until the old country became the new country... bing bang boom, it became Ankara." There, was that so hard?
3. Too damn much- yet not enough is what I get from this book: I was invested in the main character Mao, but then I lost interest. I found myself literally speedreading and skimming through pages like I was back at school and I just wanted the book to end.
Still, 1 miss in 3 hits means I will still complete the series. I just need to lower my expectations just a tad.
Cant believe I went from 5 stars for Ironclads to 2.5 starsfor this one.
titusfortner's review
3.0
This short book has a great premise and some fascinating ideas. I think it was hampered by the audiobook narrator for me, it was hard to follow, and I had a hard time making much headway when I was listening. I found myself often tuning out and then rewinding the chapter to pay more attention, so I can't give this as high of a rating as it might deserve.
luxxltyd's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0