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modest_mercedes's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
inspiring
mysterious
tense
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
3.75
applesodaperson's review against another edition
Although I did DNF this book, I will absolutely be revisiting it. I just had a ton of books come in on Libby while reading this, and since this book never has a waitlist, I decided to shelve it for later when I have more time and less holds to get to. I really enjoyed the first one, and want to see how this sci-fi world progresses.
sophiawollenteit's review
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
timinbc's review against another edition
3.0
I only give this three because I finished it to find out where it would go. In the end, I was disappointed. But I admire the reach even it it was a tad too far, and I liked that it was a BDO story that wasn't really about the BDO (Big Dumb Object). It could have been a very fine story, but fell short IMHO.
I somehow failed to notice that this was #2 in a series, but having read the reviews of #1 I don't think I missed much, and this book did a fine job of easing me into things.
Having not read #1, I'm going to be generous and assume that in it Lostetter somehow addressed the idea that a clone is not going to grow up with the same personality and knowledge as its original unless you can make a copy of the source brain, and perhaps not even then.
Now, some of my issues with this book.
Let's ease in gently with the network nodes and lathes. Maybe my math degree is a tad outdated, so I looked to see what role lathes play in a network. None, apparently, unless you want to use your phone to make round objects out of wood or metal. With the alarming number of typos in this Harper Voyager trade paperback, I wondered if Lostetter meant "laths." Could they possibly have allowed "lathes" when they mean "paths"? Ugh.
Ah, the typos. Dozens of them. Usually the kind where the only spellchecking done on the manuscript was one press of a function key. Harper Voyager, go hire some copy editors! And don't use a descriptive dictionary that allows "forebearer" for the perfectly cromulent "forebear."
At one point a problem occurs, and the experts look into the cause. Ah, here it is. A line of code. In a program that has run successfully 32 times, but has now misinterpreted the code on the 33rd run. Computers. Don't. Work. That. Way. At the very least you have to claim some damage to the physical medium containing the program. And besides, you can't do this in an AI-managed system that can control subdimensional jumps and manage life support for tens of thousands of people. It has GOT to have redundant systems and intersystem quality checks and all that stuff.
Anyway, here we are, many generations of clones down the road, and almost all of
humanity's knowledge and language have been preserved. Except, apparently, the word "Progenitor", with an I. A word that means exactly what it needs to mean to describe the character. And "progentor" is not a word (except for an, ahem, Natural Male Product). Perhaps the person so named isn't good with words, but there's a rather clever AI on board that ought to have a decent dictionary in it, and clearly has the kind of personality that would have pointed it out.
OK, well into the plot and Spoiler Alert ...
Here's a convoy toodling along, and then "DIVE!" and "WTF??" and "gollygosh, we've jumped ahead 100,000 years of time and almost out of the galaxy!" (where have I seen THAT idea before?) and, having no choice, they toodle on until "Ding! Hey, what's that? Oh, cool, lookit, it's the other guys! They tracked us." They saw a bent dust cloud here and there, and deduced that a simple jump of 100,000 years would bring them to the same minute and the same place in space. Accurate or what?
Then the Other Guys phone Earth for us -- across the galaxy and 100,000 years away -- and apparently got "oh, hi, we were wondering where you'd got to." But I admit I got badly lost in the timeline of this book, so maybe there's a way.
Conclusion: this reasonably interesting story only just qualifies to use the word "science" in front of "fiction."
I somehow failed to notice that this was #2 in a series, but having read the reviews of #1 I don't think I missed much, and this book did a fine job of easing me into things.
Having not read #1, I'm going to be generous and assume that in it Lostetter somehow addressed the idea that a clone is not going to grow up with the same personality and knowledge as its original unless you can make a copy of the source brain, and perhaps not even then.
Now, some of my issues with this book.
Let's ease in gently with the network nodes and lathes. Maybe my math degree is a tad outdated, so I looked to see what role lathes play in a network. None, apparently, unless you want to use your phone to make round objects out of wood or metal. With the alarming number of typos in this Harper Voyager trade paperback, I wondered if Lostetter meant "laths." Could they possibly have allowed "lathes" when they mean "paths"? Ugh.
Ah, the typos. Dozens of them. Usually the kind where the only spellchecking done on the manuscript was one press of a function key. Harper Voyager, go hire some copy editors! And don't use a descriptive dictionary that allows "forebearer" for the perfectly cromulent "forebear."
At one point a problem occurs, and the experts look into the cause. Ah, here it is. A line of code. In a program that has run successfully 32 times, but has now misinterpreted the code on the 33rd run. Computers. Don't. Work. That. Way. At the very least you have to claim some damage to the physical medium containing the program. And besides, you can't do this in an AI-managed system that can control subdimensional jumps and manage life support for tens of thousands of people. It has GOT to have redundant systems and intersystem quality checks and all that stuff.
Anyway, here we are, many generations of clones down the road, and almost all of
humanity's knowledge and language have been preserved. Except, apparently, the word "Progenitor", with an I. A word that means exactly what it needs to mean to describe the character. And "progentor" is not a word (except for an, ahem, Natural Male Product). Perhaps the person so named isn't good with words, but there's a rather clever AI on board that ought to have a decent dictionary in it, and clearly has the kind of personality that would have pointed it out.
OK, well into the plot and Spoiler Alert ...
Spoiler
not that the reader ever doubted the two convoys would get back together after all the hints)Here's a convoy toodling along, and then "DIVE!" and "WTF??" and "gollygosh, we've jumped ahead 100,000 years of time and almost out of the galaxy!" (where have I seen THAT idea before?) and, having no choice, they toodle on until "Ding! Hey, what's that? Oh, cool, lookit, it's the other guys! They tracked us." They saw a bent dust cloud here and there, and deduced that a simple jump of 100,000 years would bring them to the same minute and the same place in space. Accurate or what?
Then the Other Guys phone Earth for us -- across the galaxy and 100,000 years away -- and apparently got "oh, hi, we were wondering where you'd got to." But I admit I got badly lost in the timeline of this book, so maybe there's a way.
Conclusion: this reasonably interesting story only just qualifies to use the word "science" in front of "fiction."
greenauri's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
pomegranateicecream's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
seereeves's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
hgvam's review against another edition
4.0
I enjoyed Noumenon Infinity more than the first one. It moved along at a pace that made me realise that I considered the previous book to have gone slightly slowly during certain portions.
The plot had me engaged and I am keen to see where the story goes now that we've got a solid hook set for the third book.
The plot had me engaged and I am keen to see where the story goes now that we've got a solid hook set for the third book.
humvee's review against another edition
3.0
Ambitious, but uneven....
I imagine that is always hard to write a multigenerational epic. So I have to give Marina Lostetter kudos for her efforts. This is the second of three books (at the time of this review). I'm not sure I'll pick up Noumenon Ultra. I like many of the characters, including ICC, a man-made intelligence. It's just that I find Ms. Lostetter's writing so uneven. At times the writing is very good, and everything flows well. At other times, I find myself flipping pages, looking for the good bits. The descriptions are off, the character motivations don't feel right, or the section is just plain boring. This is not uncommon. But Marina has quite a few titles published. I would have expected her to have found her footing by now, and be working on polishing her craft. I find her stories generally entertaining enough to keep me plodding along - but if another author's story catches my eye, I'm all over it. I shouldn't be looking for an escape from my escape....
I imagine that is always hard to write a multigenerational epic. So I have to give Marina Lostetter kudos for her efforts. This is the second of three books (at the time of this review). I'm not sure I'll pick up Noumenon Ultra. I like many of the characters, including ICC, a man-made intelligence. It's just that I find Ms. Lostetter's writing so uneven. At times the writing is very good, and everything flows well. At other times, I find myself flipping pages, looking for the good bits. The descriptions are off, the character motivations don't feel right, or the section is just plain boring. This is not uncommon. But Marina has quite a few titles published. I would have expected her to have found her footing by now, and be working on polishing her craft. I find her stories generally entertaining enough to keep me plodding along - but if another author's story catches my eye, I'm all over it. I shouldn't be looking for an escape from my escape....