Scan barcode
birdieglassjaw's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
inspiring
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
I never thought I’d love a book about spiders building a space station to talk to god, but here we are.
Content Warnings
Minor: Confinement, Death, Violence, Xenophobia, Colonisation, and War
Spiders you can’t help but root forzeneszerzo's review against another edition
adventurous
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Blood, Murder, and War
sheyri's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I do not want to see a visual adaptation of that book.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexism and Colonisation
Moderate: Slavery, War, Classism, and Pandemic/Epidemic
sadtourist's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
Picking up this book, 'space spiders' was not on my Bingo card. After finishing it, I can honestly say that I'll never look at a spider the same way again. 🕸️
This was solid science fiction: lots of exciting plot points, reflections and commentaries about the nature of humanity, anthropological explorations of 'alien' cultures, and a dash of humor/irony thrown in.
The writing took me a while to get into, I kept fumbling over some words or sentences, but now that I'm into it I'll continue on to books 2 and 3.
This was solid science fiction: lots of exciting plot points, reflections and commentaries about the nature of humanity, anthropological explorations of 'alien' cultures, and a dash of humor/irony thrown in.
The writing took me a while to get into, I kept fumbling over some words or sentences, but now that I'm into it I'll continue on to books 2 and 3.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Animal death, Violence, and War
If you're uncomfortable with spiders, this book will either help you get over that, or not.linda_wolf's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Body horror, Death, Gore, Violence, Blood, Medical trauma, and War
Spiders are frequently mentioned in case anyone has a phobiacadimy's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
3.5
It was a bit slow to get through, and the needless use of a slur was off putting. Interesting idea, will make me think twice next time I go to squish a spider.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Genocide, Violence, War, and Classism
jetpackdracula's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death and War
Moderate: Animal death
starbits140's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? No
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Cursing, Death, Abortion, and War
Moderate: Sexual content
bethr's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
This novel kept surprising me. I couldn’t predict the ending, but it was excellent. Audiobook narration also excellent.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing, Mental illness, and War
Minor: Animal death and Xenophobia
kirtreads's review against another edition
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.75
I could not put this book down. It is one of those books that I will be thinking about for a long time. The book takes the human life is on the brink of collapse idea and turns it into something unique. This book, while playing on a lot of classic sci-fi tropes, really does something new and exciting. I really enjoyed the plot of this book, the themes that it explored and the ideas and conclusions that the novel came to.
I don't think that this book is for everyone. There is a lot of time jumping, there are some things that are left vague for the sake of time that you just kind of need to accept, and the way that characters are handled in the time skipping is confusing at first. You need to really be okay with not knowing what is going on for the first 25% of the book, but it is worth it. If you like Asimov's Foundations series you will really enjoy this. It felt like classic sci-fi without as many problematic elements.
It was confusing at first trying to keep track of all the characters. A lot are introduced quickly, and then you might not come back to that character for a good chunk of the book, but they are all important. I did struggle to keep them all straight at some points, but I generally struggle with that.
My only other critique would be that I wanted a little bit more from the ending. We spend so much time (literal centuries) getting to the conclusion that it felt a little rushed. I wanted to sit with the conclusion a little more. I know that this was originally written as a stand alone but is now the first in a trilogy so I am hoping that some of that will be resolved in the next book.
Overall, I really loved this book. It felt unique, fun, thoughtful and well written. It is hard to bring something new to the genre of sci-fi but I think that this novel did just that!
I don't think that this book is for everyone. There is a lot of time jumping, there are some things that are left vague for the sake of time that you just kind of need to accept, and the way that characters are handled in the time skipping is confusing at first. You need to really be okay with not knowing what is going on for the first 25% of the book, but it is worth it. If you like Asimov's Foundations series you will really enjoy this. It felt like classic sci-fi without as many problematic elements.
It was confusing at first trying to keep track of all the characters. A lot are introduced quickly, and then you might not come back to that character for a good chunk of the book, but they are all important. I did struggle to keep them all straight at some points, but I generally struggle with that.
My only other critique would be that I wanted a little bit more from the ending. We spend so much time (literal centuries) getting to the conclusion that it felt a little rushed. I wanted to sit with the conclusion a little more. I know that this was originally written as a stand alone but is now the first in a trilogy so I am hoping that some of that will be resolved in the next book.
Overall, I really loved this book. It felt unique, fun, thoughtful and well written. It is hard to bring something new to the genre of sci-fi but I think that this novel did just that!
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Religious bigotry, Colonisation, and War