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jeffreyp's review
3.0
Some really interesting concepts, and a solid ending, but it felt a bit forced, plot-wise. Look forward to reading more Ziegler books in the future though.
eviljosh's review
4.0
This book was sold to be as absolutely amazing and "all that."
It wasn't.
It was quite good, and I need to resist being disappointed because it wasn't actually superbly great.
This is a post-soft apocalypse book, much like [b:Soft Apocalypse|10075553|Soft Apocalypse|Will McIntosh|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51KcFR%2BgF3L._SL75_.jpg|14972161], in some ways, but ultimately more upbeat.
It follows three or four (depending on how you look at it) different groups of characters. The first, and in my opinion least enjoyable/relateable, are a group of scavengers living in the great American desert that sprung up at global warming began to cause run-away positive feedback loop climate changes in the mid 21st century. Their lives are desperate and short and completely lacking in information about the world around them, except for rumor and prayer.
The second group is a number of U.S. government operatives. They work with limited resources, somewhat poor communications and intelligence (the satellite network is slowly failing), and a serious inferiority complex for the halcyon days of yore. The government has largely been reduced to nothing more than an armed escort for highway engineers trying to keep the roads intact, and for seed distributors, distributing seed that will grow in modern climates, made by the biotech company/commune/nation/monster Satori.
The third group is the set of four Satori Designers. Genetically engineered, based off a human template, to be perfectly suited to making new gene splices (including the seed), their true mission is actually to develop a form of immortality for the natural human board members of Satori. But they begin to rebel.
These three strands of narrative and characterization stay largely separate, but come together in the end to a satisfying, but somewhat deus-ex-machina, result. A lot of interesting storylines and characters simply disappear as they die before they can take their plans past step one. It's realistic, but the sci-fi fanatic in me wanted all those possible future to be explored in more depth.
It wasn't.
It was quite good, and I need to resist being disappointed because it wasn't actually superbly great.
This is a post-soft apocalypse book, much like [b:Soft Apocalypse|10075553|Soft Apocalypse|Will McIntosh|http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51KcFR%2BgF3L._SL75_.jpg|14972161], in some ways, but ultimately more upbeat.
It follows three or four (depending on how you look at it) different groups of characters. The first, and in my opinion least enjoyable/relateable, are a group of scavengers living in the great American desert that sprung up at global warming began to cause run-away positive feedback loop climate changes in the mid 21st century. Their lives are desperate and short and completely lacking in information about the world around them, except for rumor and prayer.
The second group is a number of U.S. government operatives. They work with limited resources, somewhat poor communications and intelligence (the satellite network is slowly failing), and a serious inferiority complex for the halcyon days of yore. The government has largely been reduced to nothing more than an armed escort for highway engineers trying to keep the roads intact, and for seed distributors, distributing seed that will grow in modern climates, made by the biotech company/commune/nation/monster Satori.
The third group is the set of four Satori Designers. Genetically engineered, based off a human template, to be perfectly suited to making new gene splices (including the seed), their true mission is actually to develop a form of immortality for the natural human board members of Satori. But they begin to rebel.
These three strands of narrative and characterization stay largely separate, but come together in the end to a satisfying, but somewhat deus-ex-machina, result. A lot of interesting storylines and characters simply disappear as they die before they can take their plans past step one. It's realistic, but the sci-fi fanatic in me wanted all those possible future to be explored in more depth.
survivalisinsufficient's review
2.0
Ehh, 2.5 stars? A lot going on, but boring (and, as several others have noted, interrupted by typos, etc.) Has a lot of similarities with [b:The Water Knife|23209924|The Water Knife|Paolo Bacigalupi|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1411059576s/23209924.jpg|25129883], but ultimately doesn't work.
mrfrank's review
1.0
Plain and simple, I did not like SEED by Rob Ziegler. It's a little more difficult to pinpoint exactly why the story did not do it for me. It felt not dry exactly but the action seemed flat when it wanted to be exciting. The plot points were confusing when they wanted to be mysterious. The prose was just words and not windows into the world of SEED.
Out of the gate the story quickly did not really fit expectations. I was looking for a different type of story entirely. This point alone may have more to do with my disappointment then anything. I can usually understand when a story I don't like still would have merit through the eyes of others but this one I'm just not sure how anyone could truly enjoy it.
The story is set in the moderately distant future. One of the first things to rub me wrong about the story was they way it would hold back mysterious information. I was left for far to long wondering about what all these futuristic things really were. Withholding information is sometimes useful in story telling but the information was withheld for too long and often the explanations were still vague. I felt confused far too much during the course of the story.
Another aspect that turned me off was the action. This didn't come across as necessarily a 'literature' piece. It wanted to be exciting. It had action beats. They just didn't pace well. It all seemed flat and uneventful. Not nearly as exciting as it intended to be. Ho hum.
The biggest problem I had was that I just wasn't able to step into the world of SEED. When you read a story you enjoy, even mildly, you find yourself unaware of the words. You step into the words, the page. With SEED I just saw the words on the page. I never really got sucked into the page. It was tedious reading.
When all is said and done, I can not find a silver lining to SEED. I was eager to read it based upon the synopsis but the story inside just did not play out as well. Rob Ziegler may have a way with words but I think he needs to aim at the soul a bit better.
Out of the gate the story quickly did not really fit expectations. I was looking for a different type of story entirely. This point alone may have more to do with my disappointment then anything. I can usually understand when a story I don't like still would have merit through the eyes of others but this one I'm just not sure how anyone could truly enjoy it.
The story is set in the moderately distant future. One of the first things to rub me wrong about the story was they way it would hold back mysterious information. I was left for far to long wondering about what all these futuristic things really were. Withholding information is sometimes useful in story telling but the information was withheld for too long and often the explanations were still vague. I felt confused far too much during the course of the story.
Another aspect that turned me off was the action. This didn't come across as necessarily a 'literature' piece. It wanted to be exciting. It had action beats. They just didn't pace well. It all seemed flat and uneventful. Not nearly as exciting as it intended to be. Ho hum.
The biggest problem I had was that I just wasn't able to step into the world of SEED. When you read a story you enjoy, even mildly, you find yourself unaware of the words. You step into the words, the page. With SEED I just saw the words on the page. I never really got sucked into the page. It was tedious reading.
When all is said and done, I can not find a silver lining to SEED. I was eager to read it based upon the synopsis but the story inside just did not play out as well. Rob Ziegler may have a way with words but I think he needs to aim at the soul a bit better.
minsies's review against another edition
2.0
Argh. Goodreads just ate my review.
A summary: 2 stars that should've been 3 if there hadn't been so many stupid typos throughout. Nightshade Books, employ better copy editors.
The end.
A summary: 2 stars that should've been 3 if there hadn't been so many stupid typos throughout. Nightshade Books, employ better copy editors.
The end.
ashesmann's review
1.0
Wish there was a hate button to push for this book. I left me feeling like I needed a bath. Violent and vulger. Any person who would write this trash is a sick person.
aewalk's review
1.0
This book was bizarre; I couldn't finish it. Ziegler shoves you into a futuristic world where humans rely on manufactured and heavily rationed seed to survive in the midst of a second dust bowl. There are weird machine/human hybrids and a dialect to which there was no introduction or explanation, and I guess my deduction skills are just not good enough because it took me a long time to figure out the lingo. I made it about 150 pages in before I gave up. Good premise, bad execution. (note: this is Ziegler's first novel)
bboerner's review against another edition
4.0
First off, this isn't just another dystopian science fiction book. I enjoyed it quite a bit, even though I sometimes had trouble figuring out who the sympathetic figures should be. I'm guessing this was by design, as there weren't any characters in the book (maybe one exception) that weren't responsible for a significant amount of bloodshed and violence.
The underlying concepts of the book had some familiar elements, but for the most part were really fresh and new to me. I liked the idea of Satori, the living, self-sustaining "city" that was one of the main settings as well as being a character in itself. As outlandish as some of the biotechnology seems when described, how far out of our reach is that concept?? I can't say, but it's somewhat scary to be able to envision the world these characters inhabit as something quite possibly in our future.
We spend most of the story looking over the shoulder of Brood, who is praised by other characters for his ability to survive and his ruthlessness. He has a softer core, and though we see that only rarely, it makes him a good protagonist for this story.
One of the reasons this didn't quite get a bump up to 5 stars is that there were too many silly errors in the writing and/or printing. I think it was just poor use of spell-check for the most part. Some examples: "tenants" used rather than "tenets", "breaks" rather than "brakes", "pours" rather than "pores", "first" rather than "fist". There are a few other errors, but these types of mistakes just make it tough for me to stay involved in the story when I have to re-read a sentence or phrase to get the proper meaning.
Finally, I have to say that I really like the name and cover of this book. Both are very appropriate to the story.
The underlying concepts of the book had some familiar elements, but for the most part were really fresh and new to me. I liked the idea of Satori, the living, self-sustaining "city" that was one of the main settings as well as being a character in itself. As outlandish as some of the biotechnology seems when described, how far out of our reach is that concept?? I can't say, but it's somewhat scary to be able to envision the world these characters inhabit as something quite possibly in our future.
We spend most of the story looking over the shoulder of Brood, who is praised by other characters for his ability to survive and his ruthlessness. He has a softer core, and though we see that only rarely, it makes him a good protagonist for this story.
One of the reasons this didn't quite get a bump up to 5 stars is that there were too many silly errors in the writing and/or printing. I think it was just poor use of spell-check for the most part. Some examples: "tenants" used rather than "tenets", "breaks" rather than "brakes", "pours" rather than "pores", "first" rather than "fist". There are a few other errors, but these types of mistakes just make it tough for me to stay involved in the story when I have to re-read a sentence or phrase to get the proper meaning.
Finally, I have to say that I really like the name and cover of this book. Both are very appropriate to the story.
disobedientlib's review against another edition
4.0
A compelling and fascinating post-ecopocalypse world. Multifaceted and deeply drawn characters all fighting for their own idea of survival. In equal parts description, inner dialogue and rip-roaring scifi action, Zeigler has given us a smart and fun romp that is screaming for a movie treatment.
lisagray68's review against another edition
My rule is 100 pages before I give up on a book. However, 50 pages in I still have no idea what is going on and no interest in any of the characters. The premise sounded good, but nothing here intrigues me.