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kidawalker's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Jo Walton is so skilled at ignoring genre tropes and doing whatever the hell she wants. Robots in a classical city with Greek gods and goddesses? Hell yeah. If you love Greek and Roman history and hate romantasy, you might like this book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
vemilla's review against another edition
challenging
informative
inspiring
reflective
slow-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
3.25
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, and Slavery
machadamia's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75
I really enjoyed this book and after which had a compelling urge to read Plato. I loved all the questioning dialogues and the thought of someone setting up an ideal city, a form of utopia, supposedly, and for it to end that way was so unexpected but also completely justified. I liked all the relationships that formed between the cast of characters and even thought it was a large cast, it never felt like I was lost. I also loved the portrayal of socrates. The author clearly read and researched and loved greek literature and philosophers. A very interesting premise and is really only just getting started.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape
Moderate: Sexual assault
poharu's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Sexual assault
pferdina's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
informative
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Really enjoyed this and looking forward to reading the next volume in the series.
Athena and Apollo set up an isolated city on an island with a volcano that will destroy it in the future as an experiment to test Plato’s Republic. Apollo takes mortal form to be part of the experiment and learn about volition and equal significance. I thoroughly loved the idea of the city as a way for people to become their best selves, but of course Plato did not consider human nature and the complexity of what he was asking these people to do. The sentient workers were an additional wonderful bit, as Sokrates shows they have souls.
Athena and Apollo set up an isolated city on an island with a volcano that will destroy it in the future as an experiment to test Plato’s Republic. Apollo takes mortal form to be part of the experiment and learn about volition and equal significance. I thoroughly loved the idea of the city as a way for people to become their best selves, but of course Plato did not consider human nature and the complexity of what he was asking these people to do. The sentient workers were an additional wonderful bit, as Sokrates shows they have souls.
Content Warnings
Minor: Child death, Rape, Sexism, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Slavery, and Pregnancy
thuguely's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Slavery
recorderkfk's review against another edition
challenging
emotional
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
Fascinating concept, mixed execution.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Rape, Sexual assault, and Sexual content
Moderate: Slavery, Stalking, and Pregnancy
Minor: Grief
alexhaydon's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, and Sexual harassment
liorallen's review against another edition
challenging
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
More than anything, this feels like Plato fan fiction. I got there overwhelming feeling that I was reading a lot of world building, which was interesting, but because the characters are poorly developed and the plot is thin it fell flat for me. Several significant incidents (see content warnings) happened with no character being held accountable, which was disappointing. Also, because of the concept (a group of time traveling philosophers trying to create Plato’s Republic), the text is cisheteronormative to the extreme.
Disappointed is the best word to describe my feelings during and after reading this book. Which is sad, because I’ve met and had lovely conversations with Jo in the past. She’s a delight, and I had hoped for better.
Disappointed is the best word to describe my feelings during and after reading this book. Which is sad, because I’ve met and had lovely conversations with Jo in the past. She’s a delight, and I had hoped for better.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Rape, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Slavery
Contains multiple incidents of rape and/or sexual coercion, with the offenders facing zero consequences.zober's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
I had really high hopes for this one - I assumed it was in the vein of Ada Palmer's Terra Ignota series, since both authors have stated that they've been helped/influenced by each another. The premise is fun - use some time traveling to bring together people from different eras to try and create Plato's idea of a Just City. Some of the characters are interesting, and I love the mesh of fantasy and philosophy.
There were three narrators with alternating viewpoint sections, but the narrative voice was very similar for all of them. Dialogue felt stilted; I suppose if I'm being generous I'd say it's to invoke the feeling that this has been translated from characters speaking in Greek and Latin, but it makes for a really dry read.
The ending was abrupt and very unsatisfying. I suppose something does happen that can be described as the climax of the book, but despite that it felt anti-climactic as a whole. I found out this is actually the first book in a trilogy, but I don't like it enough to keep reading. If you want to read, check content warnings.
There were three narrators with alternating viewpoint sections, but the narrative voice was very similar for all of them. Dialogue felt stilted; I suppose if I'm being generous I'd say it's to invoke the feeling that this has been translated from characters speaking in Greek and Latin, but it makes for a really dry read.
The ending was abrupt and very unsatisfying. I suppose something does happen that can be described as the climax of the book, but despite that it felt anti-climactic as a whole. I found out this is actually the first book in a trilogy, but I don't like it enough to keep reading. If you want to read, check content warnings.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape and Sexual assault