astrangerhere's review
4.0
Pretty cool, super quick. Left me with more questions than answers; but, I suppose, that is the purpose of good sci-fi.
suncani's review
4.0
This worked really well as a novella. Long enough to broadly sketch out the main characters, and the concept of light, but not too long. For me, I most enjoyed how the book examined Light and what effect it had and ultimately what it was trying to do. It almost became another character. Chu and Zola act as two sides of the same coin, something that becomes apparent as the story goes on. The world outside that they exist in is never directly described, you only get brief glimpses here and there without any great info dumps but enough to support the story.
All in all, a book I really enjoyed, one to read and maybe think about afterwards.
All in all, a book I really enjoyed, one to read and maybe think about afterwards.
misterwisp's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
There is a lot here! Without going into spoilers, the ending made me stop and think for awhile. I can't decide whether it's hopeful or sinister, which is something I'm surprised to find I'm appreciating. It was satisfying regardless. It's a fast paced little book. There is a lot of action. The characters are well established and well written. Ideas about humanity and where we're going are woven into it in a compelling and interesting way. I liked it a lot! I recommend it for a thoughtful fast paced action sci-fi. It makes me want to check out the authors' other works.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Addiction and Confinement
Moderate: Death and Gun violence
Minor: Animal death and Blood
tpanik's review
5.0
I want more of this world! This perfectly crated novella has strong female characters, a universal enemy (The Light), and complicated relationships within both sides of the war.
lizshayne's review against another edition
3.0
I'm enjoying Tor.com's ongoing work to make novellas a viable genre. They're good at recognizing stories where the scope is not the right size for a novel, but the world is too interesting for a short story. This is one of those. It's one of those books that people who like this sort of thing will like. I'm not sure if I'm a person who likes such things, but I can tell that it was well done.
intotheheartwyld's review against another edition
2.0
This book left me confused. If your interested in following a story that is basically about a bunch of junkies addicted to something called The Light and an exiled government worker he’ll bent on revenge, then this is for you. If not, I would pass it up.
The thing that bothered me most about this book was that I have honest to god no idea what the hell The Light is, aside from it leaving people strung out and addicted to it. The Light is never really fully explained, it’s all so vague and it just leaves an empty feeling when the story is over.
None of the characters were that interesting and frankly I’m confused as to what happened to two of them at the end. Like are they are dead? Or they just like Zola now? Did they vanish? What the hell happened to them? They just disappeared after the final events of the story and I don’t like that. Their role was considered pivotal to the plot and yet there is no closure as to what happened, why??
It felt slow and dragged on a times and other times it felt like descriptions were being dragged out, to the point of feeling like I wasn’t sure what was trying to be told to me. You don’t always need a huge paragraph to describe something. Also felt like some paragraphs were just written as an excuse to throw in a long string of complicated sounding words.
I’m not even sure I would say this is an interesting plot, the execution leaves much to be desired with the lack of real explanation, I just felt like I knew nothing when it was over.
I’ll be honest the gorgeous cover art by my favorite artist is what I liked most about this book.
The thing that bothered me most about this book was that I have honest to god no idea what the hell The Light is, aside from it leaving people strung out and addicted to it. The Light is never really fully explained, it’s all so vague and it just leaves an empty feeling when the story is over.
None of the characters were that interesting and frankly I’m confused as to what happened to two of them at the end. Like are they are dead? Or they just like Zola now? Did they vanish? What the hell happened to them? They just disappeared after the final events of the story and I don’t like that. Their role was considered pivotal to the plot and yet there is no closure as to what happened, why??
It felt slow and dragged on a times and other times it felt like descriptions were being dragged out, to the point of feeling like I wasn’t sure what was trying to be told to me. You don’t always need a huge paragraph to describe something. Also felt like some paragraphs were just written as an excuse to throw in a long string of complicated sounding words.
I’m not even sure I would say this is an interesting plot, the execution leaves much to be desired with the lack of real explanation, I just felt like I knew nothing when it was over.
I’ll be honest the gorgeous cover art by my favorite artist is what I liked most about this book.
jameseckman's review against another edition
2.0
Who do I root for? Murderous police or druggies who will destroy the human race? Interesting concept but maybe too dark for me.
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