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pia_de_e's review against another edition
5.0
One of the most interesting and beautiful books I've read lately.
It's part sci-fi, and part dystopian, and it also reads like a fairy tale.
Three parallel worlds: Oxford in the 60's, right in the middle of the cold war, Anterworld an idyllic almost primitive civilization, and a post apocalyptic Island of Mull sometime around the 23d. century.
There's love, murder, mystery, spies, a cat and time travel. Characters overlap from one universe to the other, but it's not as complicated as it seems. Once you get the hang of it, it's easy to find out who is in which world (although there a few surprises here also)
But can parallel worlds/universes exist at the same time? What if you go from one to the other and how can the actions of a character in one world affect others? And what if you'd rather be in a world that wasn't your original one?
Iain Pears makes the more than 500 pages of this book fly by.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review
It's part sci-fi, and part dystopian, and it also reads like a fairy tale.
Three parallel worlds: Oxford in the 60's, right in the middle of the cold war, Anterworld an idyllic almost primitive civilization, and a post apocalyptic Island of Mull sometime around the 23d. century.
There's love, murder, mystery, spies, a cat and time travel. Characters overlap from one universe to the other, but it's not as complicated as it seems. Once you get the hang of it, it's easy to find out who is in which world (although there a few surprises here also)
But can parallel worlds/universes exist at the same time? What if you go from one to the other and how can the actions of a character in one world affect others? And what if you'd rather be in a world that wasn't your original one?
Iain Pears makes the more than 500 pages of this book fly by.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review
trina_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Three and a half stars for this one. The rating downgraded once I started contemplating a few of the unresolved questions and plot holes. Overall enjoyable, but could have been resolved better in parts.
adlang's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
dimch0o's review
5.0
Невероятна , само това мога да кажа за тази книга. Объркваща , изненадваща и просто финал , който те остава без думи страхотни.
sasper87's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
lwb's review against another edition
4.0
An intricate time-travel/alternative universe tale, well delivered.
lesserjoke's review against another edition
4.0
This novel takes a little while to get going and clearly establish its plot, but it ends up as a mind-trip of the highest caliber. There are essentially three layers of reality that author Iain Pears is playing with here: 1) the twenty-third century, where a brilliant scientist flees her unscrupulous employers in the time machine she's created, 2) the 1960s, where she arrives to find a contemporary of Tolkien and Lewis writing his own pastoral fantasy world inspired by Shakespeare's comedies, and 3) that fictional land itself, which the inventor's device inadvertently manifests as a real place that people can visit. It's a bit like The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. crossed with something like Inkheart or Thursday Next, a spy thriller full of meta literary discussions and daft but fun time-travel paradoxes. I recommend it heartily, especially for fans of Steven Moffat's work on Doctor Who.
sticklecat's review against another edition
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
benegesserwitch's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Adult/minor relationship, Stalking, Violence, War, and Xenophobia
Minor: Death, Injury/Injury detail, Alcohol, Blood, Dementia, and Deportation