thebernie's review against another edition
4.0
Like all conclusions I entered warily into this book. It of course took time to break out the party favors but finalized the story in every way it needed to. This story started out small and became universe spanning in no time flat. All while holding continuity and creating a lasting image in the readers mind of every important character. It was a splendid and excellently written story.
bent's review
1.0
Well, a trilogy that was a big mess finally went off the rails. Boring, confusing, with only a few scenes of interesting action, culminating in such a lousy ending that I changed my rating from two stars to just one. The first two books weren't great, and the plot always left a lot to be desired, but this final book is really the pits. If I hadn't already read the first two, I probably wouldn't have finished the third. Glad that it's over.
sfian's review against another edition
medium-paced
2.0
So many words... and I don't just mean that this is a thick book. I kept reading, waiting for something to happen, but missing it because big events seemed to happen in the midst of interminable descriptions, often using those made-up words and phrases that are prevalent in much SF, but here just looked made-up. I wish I could be bothered going back to give some examples, or noted some down when I came across them, but I just wanted to finish this book. To get to the big denouement of a galaxy-spanning war. Imagine my disappoint when I realised it had happened and I had barely noticed.
Sorry, too many characters I didn't care about, doing things I found difficult to follow.
dcunning11235's review against another edition
2.0
Finished this because I wanted to finish the series.
It's one of those series of books where, yeah, I guess it was a distraction/entertainment to read... but, ehh.
It's one of those series of books where, yeah, I guess it was a distraction/entertainment to read... but, ehh.
tachyondecay's review
3.0
Going to keep this review short because (a) I’m ridiculously behind on writing reviews and (2) I feel like I’ve said almost everything I can about this series in my reviews of the first book and the second book. The Ascendant Stars concludes the Humanity’s Fire trilogy (I know there’s a fourth book, but it appears to be a standalone), but if you’ve made it this far, then you know pretty much what to expect.
As with The Orphaned Worlds, this book includes a synopsis of the previous books at the beginning. I found this extremely helpful. Michael Cobley’s space opera series spans so many worlds, has a cast of so many characters, that I had no hope of remembering everything. The style of narration is somewhat pompous and melodramatic, reminding me of the narrator of the Robotech anime, which I’m currently rewatching after discovering it on Netflix. And that fits with the scope of this series, which leans heavily on the opera side of space opera.
If you have made it this far through the series, then you’re going to like The Ascendant Stars as well. The trilogy is essentially one, long book broken up into three volumes: the continuity is very tight, and there is no real difference between a break between the books and a break between chapters within one book. All the characters from the previous books are back, ready to take on the Legion of Avatars, the Godhead, the Hegemony, etc. As the various players converge upon Darien’s space and the Forerunner warpwell activates to spew forth the Legion of Avatars, everyone prepares to pitch in however they can.
By the same token, however, this book doesn’t do much that is new or different from the other books. I’m kind of over this series. They are fun adventures, but like I said in a previous review, Cobley doesn’t do anything new with this genre. He has remixed a lot of old tropes, and it’s quite well done, but it doesn’t stimulate me the way something like Linesman has. I read this book because I had a copy lying around and kind of wanted to find out how the story ends (even if I could guess at the broad strokes).
Part of me wishes Cobley slowed down enough to ponder the philosophical implications of so much of the technology here. Mind uploading, copying, etc., is commonplace—what does that mean for identity and continuity of consciousness? He comes close with regards to Catriona, who spends most of this story as a disembodied consciousness within Segrana. She exists as a kind of interface between Segrana and the Zyradin, and she ruminates on what she is now that she no longer has a body. In contrast, though, Julia turns into a “fractalized sentience” but is otherwise no worse for wear, apparently. (I will not spoil the ultimate fates of either of these characters, though.)
I appreciate the vast scope of this story. This really is space opera done right, at least in the sense of grandeur that Cobley’s storytelling evokes. It’s a double-edged sword, because this many characters and plots means it is difficult to spend enough time with everyone. And perhaps I just wasn’t in quite the right mood when reading this, maybe I actually hankered for a more character-driven novel. Whatever the reason, I wouldn’t say that The Ascendant Stars excited me as much as it could have—but if you want a vast, plot-driven, star-system–spanning story, then you could do worse than tackling this series.
My reviews of the Humanity’s Fire series:
← The Orphaned Worlds
As with The Orphaned Worlds, this book includes a synopsis of the previous books at the beginning. I found this extremely helpful. Michael Cobley’s space opera series spans so many worlds, has a cast of so many characters, that I had no hope of remembering everything. The style of narration is somewhat pompous and melodramatic, reminding me of the narrator of the Robotech anime, which I’m currently rewatching after discovering it on Netflix. And that fits with the scope of this series, which leans heavily on the opera side of space opera.
If you have made it this far through the series, then you’re going to like The Ascendant Stars as well. The trilogy is essentially one, long book broken up into three volumes: the continuity is very tight, and there is no real difference between a break between the books and a break between chapters within one book. All the characters from the previous books are back, ready to take on the Legion of Avatars, the Godhead, the Hegemony, etc. As the various players converge upon Darien’s space and the Forerunner warpwell activates to spew forth the Legion of Avatars, everyone prepares to pitch in however they can.
By the same token, however, this book doesn’t do much that is new or different from the other books. I’m kind of over this series. They are fun adventures, but like I said in a previous review, Cobley doesn’t do anything new with this genre. He has remixed a lot of old tropes, and it’s quite well done, but it doesn’t stimulate me the way something like Linesman has. I read this book because I had a copy lying around and kind of wanted to find out how the story ends (even if I could guess at the broad strokes).
Part of me wishes Cobley slowed down enough to ponder the philosophical implications of so much of the technology here. Mind uploading, copying, etc., is commonplace—what does that mean for identity and continuity of consciousness? He comes close with regards to Catriona, who spends most of this story as a disembodied consciousness within Segrana. She exists as a kind of interface between Segrana and the Zyradin, and she ruminates on what she is now that she no longer has a body. In contrast, though, Julia turns into a “fractalized sentience” but is otherwise no worse for wear, apparently. (I will not spoil the ultimate fates of either of these characters, though.)
I appreciate the vast scope of this story. This really is space opera done right, at least in the sense of grandeur that Cobley’s storytelling evokes. It’s a double-edged sword, because this many characters and plots means it is difficult to spend enough time with everyone. And perhaps I just wasn’t in quite the right mood when reading this, maybe I actually hankered for a more character-driven novel. Whatever the reason, I wouldn’t say that The Ascendant Stars excited me as much as it could have—but if you want a vast, plot-driven, star-system–spanning story, then you could do worse than tackling this series.
My reviews of the Humanity’s Fire series:
← The Orphaned Worlds
tykewriter's review
4.0
Just a few quick words on this one. First off, to review it properly I'd have to go back and re-read the first two books in the series and re-familiarise myself with the story. As it was, thanks to the gap between reading the first and second books and finally getting hold of the third, meant I had lost something of the thread by the tme I started reading. Because of that, it took a while to re-connect with the story, but I can say that this is a worthy follow up to its predecessors and certainly ends the trilogy with a bang. Overall, it's a highly enjoyable read, both broad and deep, and no doubt I shall be re-reading the entire trilogy in sequence at a later date so that I can return to write a more in-depth and cogent review.
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