The design and UX isn't done, Rob and Abbie, okkurrrr! 😌
cathepsut's review against another edition
1.0
I started skimming half way through the book. I was bored by the writing style and by the story.
alesia_charles's review against another edition
2.0
I wanted to like this book - I'm a fan of Jo Clayton and have been slowly collecting her books (thanks to used book stores). I liked the first book in the "Diadem" series, but in this one Aleytys is so annoying that I had trouble even finishing it. (Those who follow my reviews will notice that I've finished quite a few other books in the time since I started this one!)
The setting is an excellent science fiction type, with humanoid but insect-based life forms and a complex social and political structure. Very interesting, but marred by too many "alien" terms that I couldn't keep track of. I'm still not sure whether the mammalian humanoids also living on this planet were supposed to be natives or imports - probably natives, I guess? - or whether the "hiiri" were all mammals or that's just a term for the servant class.
But really the book is all about Aleytys, and she was annoying: a mass of overwhelming emotions occasionally struggling to gain some clarity and control. Admittedly her situation is quite dire (see the book description), but this is not what I was expecting from a heroine. Turning relationships into emotional crutches? Please no. She shows flashes of competence and ability during the book, but not enough. At the end she finally pulls herself together and uses her full abilities, but the fact remains that I had a much better impression of her from the first book, and also from one of the later ones. All in all, disappointing to me.
The setting is an excellent science fiction type, with humanoid but insect-based life forms and a complex social and political structure. Very interesting, but marred by too many "alien" terms that I couldn't keep track of. I'm still not sure whether the mammalian humanoids also living on this planet were supposed to be natives or imports - probably natives, I guess? - or whether the "hiiri" were all mammals or that's just a term for the servant class.
But really the book is all about Aleytys, and she was annoying: a mass of overwhelming emotions occasionally struggling to gain some clarity and control. Admittedly her situation is quite dire (see the book description), but this is not what I was expecting from a heroine. Turning relationships into emotional crutches? Please no. She shows flashes of competence and ability during the book, but not enough. At the end she finally pulls herself together and uses her full abilities, but the fact remains that I had a much better impression of her from the first book, and also from one of the later ones. All in all, disappointing to me.
More...