dinojeezus's review against another edition
5.0
Glad I didn't see the earlier reviews, because they would've probably prevented me from reading this. It was excellent and reminiscent of classic cyberpunk.Yes, there are the standby tropes of cyberpunk, but that's kind of what defines the genre, haha.
elliottsuen's review against another edition
3.0
I can confidently say this is the worst book I’ve ever read. Which is to say it was just good enough (or at least showed enough promise) that I read every page of it, but bad enough that I hated almost every moment of reading it.
Let’s start with the good. Void Star presents a civilization on the brink of catastrophe, with rising sea levels rendering many large cities, such as Singapore, nearly unlivable, and highly stratified socioeconomic orders leaving other cities, such as San Francisco, with a sprawling favela. Abandoned megaprojects, such as a space elevator, hint at global economic collapse. The premise forces readers to contend with the consequences of climate change, unbridled capitalism, and tech evangelism. For the most part, Zachary Mason deserves praise for the amazing job he did with world building, creating a rich, detailed, and believable setting.
In the midst of this, artificial intelligence achieved reproductive and operational self-sufficiency, such that most humans no longer understand how AI are created or run. One of the book’s three main protagonists has a brain implant, which grants her the rare ability to jack into a virtual world and interact with AI. Another protagonist is able to learn martial arts using an AI-assisted digital learning tool. Several other characters learn that they are not human, but actually AI copies based on the memories of humans. Sound familiar? That’s because it is. Thematically, the book reads like an amalgamation of popular sci-fi stories, with very little in the way of originality; it’s as if the author combined the most surface level understanding of The Matrix, with the most confusing and polarizing elements of Westworld, and fancied himself the next Neal Stephenson writing Snow Crash. At least Stephenson’s digressions and infamously long infodumps are often somewhat fun and interesting.
The blurb labels the book as a “fugue-like” novel, which is the most apt description I can think of, in that reading it makes me lose myself to sleep, and I struggle to retain anything I read. (As for the other interpretation of “fugue”, the structure of the novel shares no connection to Bach.) Stylistically, the book can only be charitably described as boring. It seems like Mason really enjoys soliloquizing, especially using sesquipedalian syntax that leaves readers constantly reaching for the nearest dictionary, and as a result, the prose feels unnecessarily verbose and loquacious, prone to circumlocution and periphrasis, perambulating through even the most action-packed scenes at a somnambulistic pace. Did you hate reading that sentence above? Now imagine 400 pages of that.
According to The Wired, Zachary Mason is an AI expert based in Silicon Valley, and it shows. The way AI (and technology in general) is portrayed is masterfully done, as are the descriptions of the Bay Area. The same cannot be said for the way he writes about other topics or locations. The most problematic example of this is the heavy reliance on stereotypes and caricatures when depicting Hong Kong and Tokyo. Mason depicts Tokyo thusly: “people in line, all giving each other exactly the right amount of personal space, as though it’s as everyday and banal as can be.” Mason is correct - this scene is indeed everyday and banal, and so the racial stereotyping of Japanese society is unnecessary. Later in the chapter, one of the protagonists sees a “vending machine, kanji dancing anticly across the screen—[she] could read them, but is tired of doing tricks with memory, and in any case there are pictures of black coffee, cappuccino, cafe au lait…” Why waste precious ink on a page to describe a nonexistent linguistic barrier? Just two pages later, the same protagonist encounters a Japanese deliveryman, giving us this absurd quote: “He says something she couldn’t understand in what she belatedly realizes is English, but his accent is impenetrable.” These passages serve no purpose to the overall story, and only serve to cast non-White people as perpetually other, and perpetuate the idea that Asian languages and cultures are exotic and confusing.
In short, Void Star is a brilliant concept ruined by poor execution. I could write more about this book, but doing so would require revisiting it, which I am not willing to do - reading the book once through felt like punishment enough. The writing style, characterized by unnecessarily complex vocabulary and a slow pace, makes the book a tedious read, the similarities with other works of science fiction makes the book feel unoriginal and derivative, and the occasional reliance on stereotypes, combined with the numerous minor but persistent inaccuracies, further detract from the reading experience. Void Star is a novel that overpromised and underdelivered, and its fascinating premise was ultimately not enough to save it.
Let’s start with the good. Void Star presents a civilization on the brink of catastrophe, with rising sea levels rendering many large cities, such as Singapore, nearly unlivable, and highly stratified socioeconomic orders leaving other cities, such as San Francisco, with a sprawling favela. Abandoned megaprojects, such as a space elevator, hint at global economic collapse. The premise forces readers to contend with the consequences of climate change, unbridled capitalism, and tech evangelism. For the most part, Zachary Mason deserves praise for the amazing job he did with world building, creating a rich, detailed, and believable setting.
In the midst of this, artificial intelligence achieved reproductive and operational self-sufficiency, such that most humans no longer understand how AI are created or run. One of the book’s three main protagonists has a brain implant, which grants her the rare ability to jack into a virtual world and interact with AI. Another protagonist is able to learn martial arts using an AI-assisted digital learning tool. Several other characters learn that they are not human, but actually AI copies based on the memories of humans. Sound familiar? That’s because it is. Thematically, the book reads like an amalgamation of popular sci-fi stories, with very little in the way of originality; it’s as if the author combined the most surface level understanding of The Matrix, with the most confusing and polarizing elements of Westworld, and fancied himself the next Neal Stephenson writing Snow Crash. At least Stephenson’s digressions and infamously long infodumps are often somewhat fun and interesting.
The blurb labels the book as a “fugue-like” novel, which is the most apt description I can think of, in that reading it makes me lose myself to sleep, and I struggle to retain anything I read. (As for the other interpretation of “fugue”, the structure of the novel shares no connection to Bach.) Stylistically, the book can only be charitably described as boring. It seems like Mason really enjoys soliloquizing, especially using sesquipedalian syntax that leaves readers constantly reaching for the nearest dictionary, and as a result, the prose feels unnecessarily verbose and loquacious, prone to circumlocution and periphrasis, perambulating through even the most action-packed scenes at a somnambulistic pace. Did you hate reading that sentence above? Now imagine 400 pages of that.
According to The Wired, Zachary Mason is an AI expert based in Silicon Valley, and it shows. The way AI (and technology in general) is portrayed is masterfully done, as are the descriptions of the Bay Area. The same cannot be said for the way he writes about other topics or locations. The most problematic example of this is the heavy reliance on stereotypes and caricatures when depicting Hong Kong and Tokyo. Mason depicts Tokyo thusly: “people in line, all giving each other exactly the right amount of personal space, as though it’s as everyday and banal as can be.” Mason is correct - this scene is indeed everyday and banal, and so the racial stereotyping of Japanese society is unnecessary. Later in the chapter, one of the protagonists sees a “vending machine, kanji dancing anticly across the screen—[she] could read them, but is tired of doing tricks with memory, and in any case there are pictures of black coffee, cappuccino, cafe au lait…” Why waste precious ink on a page to describe a nonexistent linguistic barrier? Just two pages later, the same protagonist encounters a Japanese deliveryman, giving us this absurd quote: “He says something she couldn’t understand in what she belatedly realizes is English, but his accent is impenetrable.” These passages serve no purpose to the overall story, and only serve to cast non-White people as perpetually other, and perpetuate the idea that Asian languages and cultures are exotic and confusing.
In short, Void Star is a brilliant concept ruined by poor execution. I could write more about this book, but doing so would require revisiting it, which I am not willing to do - reading the book once through felt like punishment enough. The writing style, characterized by unnecessarily complex vocabulary and a slow pace, makes the book a tedious read, the similarities with other works of science fiction makes the book feel unoriginal and derivative, and the occasional reliance on stereotypes, combined with the numerous minor but persistent inaccuracies, further detract from the reading experience. Void Star is a novel that overpromised and underdelivered, and its fascinating premise was ultimately not enough to save it.
ashercsb's review against another edition
5.0
I seem to have read quite a few books about what humanity might become, dealing with digital futures. None, however, have been this well structured. Yes, the world building is expansive, the plot is gripping, the characters have distinct personalities, and it's intriguing without being incomprehensible. Above all that, though, I found myself appreciating the way the storylines tied together naturally, the way the seeds of resolution had been believably sown.
I will note that Mason is more fond of very long sentences than I am, and while I loved the simile and description he produced, there are places where I wished he would stop so I could catch my metaphorical breath. This seems to happen mostly in the middle of the novel - at the beginning, perhaps, it's more tightly edited, and at the climax, the plot drove me forwards such that I didn't notice if that was still the case.
I will note that Mason is more fond of very long sentences than I am, and while I loved the simile and description he produced, there are places where I wished he would stop so I could catch my metaphorical breath. This seems to happen mostly in the middle of the novel - at the beginning, perhaps, it's more tightly edited, and at the climax, the plot drove me forwards such that I didn't notice if that was still the case.
godzillaismycopilot's review against another edition
4.0
Three-star story, 3.5-star character-depth, four-star take on artificial intelligence.
sizrobe's review against another edition
3.0
I usually judge a science fiction book on the quantity of cool ideas they present. This book had some neat stuff about the unfathomable inhumanness of hard AI and the constantly vertically expanding favelas, well seasoned with stuff like drones and power armor. Sadly, it wasn't enough to save this book. Honestly I found it hard to follow at times, which is remarkable given that there are only about six major characters in the whole thing. I was ready to give it 2 stars, but I liked the ending enough to bump it up to three. Generally, I felt like reading it was a chore.
zellyn's review against another edition
5.0
This novel is worth reading for the flooded post-global-warming future world-building alone, and in that way reminded me of Snow Crash. Low-star reviewer complaints about it being confusing had me expecting a Stephenson-like ending, but everything was tied together quite neatly.
My main complaint was that every character seemed to have world-class skills: there didn't seem to be many ordinary characters.
But definitely recommended.
My main complaint was that every character seemed to have world-class skills: there didn't seem to be many ordinary characters.
But definitely recommended.
jrae_miller's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
sarahl8on's review against another edition
challenging
dark
tense
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? It's complicated
2.5
soubhi's review against another edition
challenging
medium-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
2.5