makethegrade's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
You know I've seen some reviews of this book that have been...well, kinda mean. And like unnecessarily mean. Like complaining about how it starts out as a fantasy book but then becomes sci-fi like the author wasn't doing it on purpose. As if those genres haven't crossed boundaries countless times before this book came along. I thought the premise was pretty cool, and I like reading books that are available to blend to most genres.
So yes, this book succeeds as a fun mash-up of sci-fi and fantasy....where it fails at is it's romance. And while that's not necessarily a bad thing, I feel like this book is heavily presented as a sci-fi romance. Everything from it's title, it's cover, the description. Hell, it's tagline literally is "an epic tale of love and survival." Survival I got in scores, love...not so much.
Maybe it's because there's too many POVs that focus a lot on the moving parts of the story. I also think it's a strange choice to include two brother characters, but to use the one that's not the love interest as a POV. It doesn't give us enough time to really appreciate the bond between Car-En (also, cripes, just call her Karen) and Esper. And as such, [spoiler] the sex scene between the two is more jarring than the one in the BloodRayne movie. Yeah...think about that for a moment. [/spoiler]
And so, yeah, that happened. And that's what bummed me out the most about the book. I'm not a big romance reader, but sci-fi romance? Actually one of my favorite sci-fi subgenres. However, the author did a pretty good job on focusing on the fantasy and sci-fi aspects of this three-sided coin. And it ends in a way that makes me curious to pick up the next book, a little further down the road. I just kinda hope that they either focus purely on the sci-fan aspects or really refined the romance aspects for the next one.
So yes, this book succeeds as a fun mash-up of sci-fi and fantasy....where it fails at is it's romance. And while that's not necessarily a bad thing, I feel like this book is heavily presented as a sci-fi romance. Everything from it's title, it's cover, the description. Hell, it's tagline literally is "an epic tale of love and survival." Survival I got in scores, love...not so much.
Maybe it's because there's too many POVs that focus a lot on the moving parts of the story. I also think it's a strange choice to include two brother characters, but to use the one that's not the love interest as a POV. It doesn't give us enough time to really appreciate the bond between Car-En (also, cripes, just call her Karen) and Esper. And as such, [spoiler] the sex scene between the two is more jarring than the one in the BloodRayne movie. Yeah...think about that for a moment. [/spoiler]
And so, yeah, that happened. And that's what bummed me out the most about the book. I'm not a big romance reader, but sci-fi romance? Actually one of my favorite sci-fi subgenres. However, the author did a pretty good job on focusing on the fantasy and sci-fi aspects of this three-sided coin. And it ends in a way that makes me curious to pick up the next book, a little further down the road. I just kinda hope that they either focus purely on the sci-fan aspects or really refined the romance aspects for the next one.
exorcismofemilyreed's review
I don't know where to start with The Sky Woman. I'm going to say upfront that I did not finish this book. I could not read any more of it & only had about 100 pages left.
From the beginning, this book seemed to be confused about what it want to be. The cover & synopsis are presented as sci-fi, but it opens with more of a medieval fantasy story. It was nonsensical, cheesy, and difficult to connect with. I don't know if this book appears to be marketed as sci-fi to draw a certain type of reader in, but apparently my expectations about this book were completely wrong.
This book moves slowly & it went in so many different directions. It was incredibly disjointed, and my entire reading group struggled with it. I did not care for the attempted mix of fantasy and sci-fi - it did not blend well at all for this story.
There was so much unnecessary information, and the romance was nauseating. It became impossible to take seriously. I don't know what the purpose of this book was, or what type of reader this book is for, but hopefully someone else has better luck with it.
From the beginning, this book seemed to be confused about what it want to be. The cover & synopsis are presented as sci-fi, but it opens with more of a medieval fantasy story. It was nonsensical, cheesy, and difficult to connect with. I don't know if this book appears to be marketed as sci-fi to draw a certain type of reader in, but apparently my expectations about this book were completely wrong.
This book moves slowly & it went in so many different directions. It was incredibly disjointed, and my entire reading group struggled with it. I did not care for the attempted mix of fantasy and sci-fi - it did not blend well at all for this story.
There was so much unnecessary information, and the romance was nauseating. It became impossible to take seriously. I don't know what the purpose of this book was, or what type of reader this book is for, but hopefully someone else has better luck with it.
bookbosomed_jess's review
4.0
The Sky Woman, aka Car-En, is an anthropologist sent down to Earth to observe and provide data on a particular village of survivors after specific events reduce the population and send a remaining collection of humans up into space.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, its strength being the novelty of some of the evolutionary aspects along with the yet to be fully understood Crucible, but (and it may be because I’m currently binge watching The 100) some of the apocalyptic aspects felt unoriginal and overplayed.
Only complaint and it’s not something I’d need out of every book, but I just didn’t feel like I connected with any of the characters. Adrian and Katja who were secondary characters for the most part were both pretty intolerable and everyone else was just... there. Not unlikeable but also not someone I was routing for. Would I read more? Absolutely, and that’s the basis for my rating, but maybe flesh out the characters a bit more.
Thanks as always to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.
Overall, I enjoyed the book, its strength being the novelty of some of the evolutionary aspects along with the yet to be fully understood Crucible, but (and it may be because I’m currently binge watching The 100) some of the apocalyptic aspects felt unoriginal and overplayed.
Only complaint and it’s not something I’d need out of every book, but I just didn’t feel like I connected with any of the characters. Adrian and Katja who were secondary characters for the most part were both pretty intolerable and everyone else was just... there. Not unlikeable but also not someone I was routing for. Would I read more? Absolutely, and that’s the basis for my rating, but maybe flesh out the characters a bit more.
Thanks as always to NetGalley and the publishers for the opportunity to read and review.
lilyn_g's review
2.0
Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher for review consideration.
While I have been greatly pleased with some of Flame Tree Press' other titles, I'm sad to say that is not the case with this book. The Sky Woman has some great ideas, but the author simply does not seem to have the experience needed to weave the individual threads with the finesse needed. Nor, unfortunately, is there evidence that there's been any attempt to pare it down from an "everything and the kitchen sink" story.
At times, briefly, I was mildly entertained. However, for the most part my main emotion while reading was frustration. There is an interesting story to be told here. However, this story is not interesting. It feels like two different books sewn roughly together with thread made out of the hatred of capitalism. I understand that capitalism is not optimal, to put it mildly. I know that humanity is engaged in the act of coitus with it's own anus as well. I did not need a forecasting of future events that hammered these two things down my throat repeatedly.
Of note, though, I do think I might have legitimately enjoyed the story if Moyer had stuck with just the on-Earth stuff (eliminating the Ring Station, Sky Woman all together), and explored the possibilities there a bit. I like the idea of pushing past the apocalyptic stuff so far that we can avoid the lonely traveler plot and instead get on with the rebuilding and dealing with the mistakes of our forefathers thing.
This needs work. The editing doesn't seem nearly as good as I witnessed in Creature and The Siren and the Specter. There is too much stuff that could easily have been removed and made the book tighter and stronger.
I hope to see Flame Tree continue to pursue releasing science fiction novels, but I cannot recommend The Sky Woman.
While I have been greatly pleased with some of Flame Tree Press' other titles, I'm sad to say that is not the case with this book. The Sky Woman has some great ideas, but the author simply does not seem to have the experience needed to weave the individual threads with the finesse needed. Nor, unfortunately, is there evidence that there's been any attempt to pare it down from an "everything and the kitchen sink" story.
At times, briefly, I was mildly entertained. However, for the most part my main emotion while reading was frustration. There is an interesting story to be told here. However, this story is not interesting. It feels like two different books sewn roughly together with thread made out of the hatred of capitalism. I understand that capitalism is not optimal, to put it mildly. I know that humanity is engaged in the act of coitus with it's own anus as well. I did not need a forecasting of future events that hammered these two things down my throat repeatedly.
Of note, though, I do think I might have legitimately enjoyed the story if Moyer had stuck with just the on-Earth stuff (eliminating the Ring Station, Sky Woman all together), and explored the possibilities there a bit. I like the idea of pushing past the apocalyptic stuff so far that we can avoid the lonely traveler plot and instead get on with the rebuilding and dealing with the mistakes of our forefathers thing.
This needs work. The editing doesn't seem nearly as good as I witnessed in Creature and The Siren and the Specter. There is too much stuff that could easily have been removed and made the book tighter and stronger.
I hope to see Flame Tree continue to pursue releasing science fiction novels, but I cannot recommend The Sky Woman.
inlibrisveritas's review
4.0
3.5 Stars!
The Sky Woman is an interesting blend of historical and sci-fi elements, that really brings a rather unique voice to the genre.
Some of you may know this about me, but I was/am an anthropology nerd. I went to college for it (didn't finish) and I love a book that incorporates it in some way, so I jumped on the chance to review The Sky Woman. It's so rare to have something like this in the sci-fi genre, and I thought that the idea of it taking place in the future on Earth even more intriguing. I have to say that The Sky Woman didn't disappoint in providing a unique story and setting.
Earth has gone through a major shift, or a series of severe depopulation cycles and humans have been set back to a new Iron Age. There are however those that live in the ring stations in orbit around the earth, where the technology has continued to advance. There are four narratives at play here. One is with Car-en, an anthropologist charged with observing the local village of Happdal but not interfering. She is set to uncover more about the world that is the aftermath of an over burgeoning of technology and gene modification. The second is with Trond and Esper, two brothers from Happdal that work to protect and provide for their village. The third is Katja, a young woman and sister to Trond and Esper; and lastly Adrian, a politician the ring station who oversees Car-en's progress. I really love getting to know these characters and seeing them interact with each other, though admittedly I didn't precisely connect with any of them. They have rather unique voices and points of view, and they all go through something different. It takes some time but their stories all blend together in a rather unexpected way. The one major issues I had with the characters was the relationship that forms between Car-en and Esper. I just didn't see where it came from or the basis of it.
The setting and history of this version of Earth are really cool! I loved the blind of science fiction technology with the rustic iron age advancements, and how these two conflict and join together all at the same time. I enjoyed getting to know more about the downfall of humanity and how most of the history has been lost to those in the earth villages, even though much of the remnants remain in some way. The one issues I had was with the 'articles' included, which were interesting but very info-dumpy in terms of background information. I appreciated getting to see the how's and why's of the situation, but it didn't just flow as well as the rest of it.
There are a lot of elements in the novel as you can see, and for the most part all of it works. I only have a few issues. Overall I think this is one to check out if you like a more deliberately paced and careful sci-fi. I will definitely be looking forward to the second book when it comes out!
I received a copy from the publisher, all opinions are my own.
The Sky Woman is an interesting blend of historical and sci-fi elements, that really brings a rather unique voice to the genre.
Some of you may know this about me, but I was/am an anthropology nerd. I went to college for it (didn't finish) and I love a book that incorporates it in some way, so I jumped on the chance to review The Sky Woman. It's so rare to have something like this in the sci-fi genre, and I thought that the idea of it taking place in the future on Earth even more intriguing. I have to say that The Sky Woman didn't disappoint in providing a unique story and setting.
Earth has gone through a major shift, or a series of severe depopulation cycles and humans have been set back to a new Iron Age. There are however those that live in the ring stations in orbit around the earth, where the technology has continued to advance. There are four narratives at play here. One is with Car-en, an anthropologist charged with observing the local village of Happdal but not interfering. She is set to uncover more about the world that is the aftermath of an over burgeoning of technology and gene modification. The second is with Trond and Esper, two brothers from Happdal that work to protect and provide for their village. The third is Katja, a young woman and sister to Trond and Esper; and lastly Adrian, a politician the ring station who oversees Car-en's progress. I really love getting to know these characters and seeing them interact with each other, though admittedly I didn't precisely connect with any of them. They have rather unique voices and points of view, and they all go through something different. It takes some time but their stories all blend together in a rather unexpected way. The one major issues I had with the characters was the relationship that forms between Car-en and Esper. I just didn't see where it came from or the basis of it.
The setting and history of this version of Earth are really cool! I loved the blind of science fiction technology with the rustic iron age advancements, and how these two conflict and join together all at the same time. I enjoyed getting to know more about the downfall of humanity and how most of the history has been lost to those in the earth villages, even though much of the remnants remain in some way. The one issues I had was with the 'articles' included, which were interesting but very info-dumpy in terms of background information. I appreciated getting to see the how's and why's of the situation, but it didn't just flow as well as the rest of it.
There are a lot of elements in the novel as you can see, and for the most part all of it works. I only have a few issues. Overall I think this is one to check out if you like a more deliberately paced and careful sci-fi. I will definitely be looking forward to the second book when it comes out!
I received a copy from the publisher, all opinions are my own.
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