omppunen's review
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
My favourite Culture book I've read so far (Read out of order).
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood and Death
Moderate: Suicidal thoughts and Suicide
jchadwick's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.25
weng's review
5.0
Possibly my favourite Culture novel. Excellent cast of characters and well paced story.
jjw's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
blubbflubbl's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75
cburling's review
Very early on in Consider Phlebos, I could tell that his writing style just wasn't for me.
elusivity's review
3.0
Excellent writing, but once more, I find myself scratching my head over the ultimate point of this novel.
In the ongoing debate, it is often said that genre fiction goes primarily by plot, whereas literary fiction is much more accepting of static portraiture of a person/ situation /worldview /etc. (Let us not get bogged down by the fact that all narratives have plot, however rudimentary or fragmented.)
So have I, a person immersed in SF genre fiction, looking at this through the wrong lens (i.e. SF plot-focused lens, rather than a philosophical one)?
Among the many plot-strands is a lovely portion of Quilan, heart-broken by the loss of his spouse, who agrees to engage to murder a Mind and billions of Culture citizens in exchange for justified self-annihilation. However, the plot ultimately goes no where; was revealed to have no chance of succeeding even at its outset. Should I, instead of waiting for the payoff and been disappointed thereby, have been savoring it simply as an exploration of what kind of a creature can undertake such a task, while cross-referencing extensively with stories of our now-a-day kamikaze terrorist /freedom-fighters?
Another beautiful section concerned a Culture citizen in a distant part of the galaxy, involving the truly fascinating lives of the dirigible behemothaurs and their attendants, who discovered a strand of the plot and proceeded on a short, and failed, attempt to carry forth a warning. This too, went nowhere. Is this part simply to show that much of mortal action is destined to go nowhere, as well to allow the behemothaurs to comment, hundreds of millions of years after these recorded events, that all mortal striving is like trying to write a novel in the sand, and even the mightiest will one day be less than Ozymandias?
Regardless, I have been consistently underwhelmed by these Culture novels, and still have 3 more to go. Sigh...
In the ongoing debate, it is often said that genre fiction goes primarily by plot, whereas literary fiction is much more accepting of static portraiture of a person/ situation /worldview /etc. (Let us not get bogged down by the fact that all narratives have plot, however rudimentary or fragmented.)
So have I, a person immersed in SF genre fiction, looking at this through the wrong lens (i.e. SF plot-focused lens, rather than a philosophical one)?
Among the many plot-strands is a lovely portion of Quilan, heart-broken by the loss of his spouse, who agrees to engage to murder a Mind and billions of Culture citizens in exchange for justified self-annihilation. However, the plot ultimately goes no where; was revealed to have no chance of succeeding even at its outset. Should I, instead of waiting for the payoff and been disappointed thereby, have been savoring it simply as an exploration of what kind of a creature can undertake such a task, while cross-referencing extensively with stories of our now-a-day kamikaze terrorist /freedom-fighters?
Another beautiful section concerned a Culture citizen in a distant part of the galaxy, involving the truly fascinating lives of the dirigible behemothaurs and their attendants, who discovered a strand of the plot and proceeded on a short, and failed, attempt to carry forth a warning. This too, went nowhere. Is this part simply to show that much of mortal action is destined to go nowhere, as well to allow the behemothaurs to comment, hundreds of millions of years after these recorded events, that all mortal striving is like trying to write a novel in the sand, and even the mightiest will one day be less than Ozymandias?
Regardless, I have been consistently underwhelmed by these Culture novels, and still have 3 more to go. Sigh...
mschlat's review against another edition
3.0
Maybe more like 2.5 stars.... The big positive of this novel is that much of it takes place in the Culture (on an Orbital) instead of the surrounding galactic societies (as is usually the case), so you get many many glimpses of what life is like for a typical Culture citizen.
The negatives are two-fold. One, much of the story focuses on non-human protagonists from non-Culture worlds, and while the non-Culture aspect is very clear (they comment regularly on spoiled Culture folk), the non-human is not. You could make these characters human with very little alteration. Two, much more of the ending than I expected comes out of the blue. I was hoping for a "here's how the threads come together" experience and got something much more disconnected.
The negatives are two-fold. One, much of the story focuses on non-human protagonists from non-Culture worlds, and while the non-Culture aspect is very clear (they comment regularly on spoiled Culture folk), the non-human is not. You could make these characters human with very little alteration. Two, much more of the ending than I expected comes out of the blue. I was hoping for a "here's how the threads come together" experience and got something much more disconnected.
pauljacobson's review
5.0
Still a favourite second time around
I enjoyed this book the first time around and my second reading was even better. The blending of the story lines was seamless and the anonymous chatter throughout the book just added the right amount of levity to what was a drama at times.
I enjoyed this book the first time around and my second reading was even better. The blending of the story lines was seamless and the anonymous chatter throughout the book just added the right amount of levity to what was a drama at times.
miracletonic's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75