metaphorosis's review
4.0
4 stars, Metaphorosis Reviews
Summary
Humans, resettled on New Earth after Origin Earth was destroyed, have entered a partnership with the Kmet, who have Portals allowing instantaneous transport across the galaxy. Only it's a partnership the humans don't really understand. When word comes that one of six long-shot arkships from New Earth has arrived at its destination, the Kmet insist on gathering all humans in one place.
Review
I’m a big fan of Julie Czerneda’s writing. Yet I’ve been disappointed by her most recent books. I went into this book, therefore, with a little trepidation. I’m happy to say, though, that the Czerneda I enjoy is largely back. It’s not a perfect book, but it’s got strong characters, nifty aliens, and good ideas, (fairly) well executed.
The book stumbles a bit in its early stages, too eager to introduce us to all the key characters and shifting viewpoints before we’ve got a real footing in the story. There are telepresence clones (epitomes), sophisticated shape-changing AI (alternate intelligences), a teleportation portal, and mysterious aliens. Unfortunately, Czerneda doesn’t spend much time explaining how any of this works. The AIs are pretty clear, and develop throughout the story. The aliens are … mysterious, and that’s partly what the book is about. The epitomes, though, get by on the thinnest of handwaving, and the Portals are never really explained at all. You need two of them, they need ‘pilots’ to manage them, and they just work, somehow. It’s not entirely a minor point – the Portals are key to the plot, and I found the fact that they were so vague a continued irritant – especially toward the end, when they’re used in a way that made no sense to me, and was not required.
Somewhat surprisingly, for Czerneda, the aliens are also somewhat underplayed. We learn interesting things about them through the course of the book, but one key aspect – what their ‘Duality’ would actually, physically mean – is never really explained. Czerneda does incorporate a number of other gee-whiz aspects that largely make up for it, though. She also sprinkles in some red herrings – tantalizing suggestions that never really come to anything. Whether that’s verisimilitude or annoyance will likely vary by the reader.
The end also wraps up surprisingly quickly. Maybe because the book was already 600 pages long (though it reads quickly). I would have wished though, for a little more resolution for the fate of some key characters. Those characters don’t always act consistently, which undermines them a bit – e.g., in one case, the Arbiter saves people against their will, where in another he does not, for no clear reason. Another, introduced early on, and important toward the end, is a little too intuitive to be credible.
Largely, though, this is a welcome return to form from a talented, inventive author.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
Summary
Humans, resettled on New Earth after Origin Earth was destroyed, have entered a partnership with the Kmet, who have Portals allowing instantaneous transport across the galaxy. Only it's a partnership the humans don't really understand. When word comes that one of six long-shot arkships from New Earth has arrived at its destination, the Kmet insist on gathering all humans in one place.
Review
I’m a big fan of Julie Czerneda’s writing. Yet I’ve been disappointed by her most recent books. I went into this book, therefore, with a little trepidation. I’m happy to say, though, that the Czerneda I enjoy is largely back. It’s not a perfect book, but it’s got strong characters, nifty aliens, and good ideas, (fairly) well executed.
The book stumbles a bit in its early stages, too eager to introduce us to all the key characters and shifting viewpoints before we’ve got a real footing in the story. There are telepresence clones (epitomes), sophisticated shape-changing AI (alternate intelligences), a teleportation portal, and mysterious aliens. Unfortunately, Czerneda doesn’t spend much time explaining how any of this works. The AIs are pretty clear, and develop throughout the story. The aliens are … mysterious, and that’s partly what the book is about. The epitomes, though, get by on the thinnest of handwaving, and the Portals are never really explained at all. You need two of them, they need ‘pilots’ to manage them, and they just work, somehow. It’s not entirely a minor point – the Portals are key to the plot, and I found the fact that they were so vague a continued irritant – especially toward the end, when they’re used in a way that made no sense to me, and was not required.
Somewhat surprisingly, for Czerneda, the aliens are also somewhat underplayed. We learn interesting things about them through the course of the book, but one key aspect – what their ‘Duality’ would actually, physically mean – is never really explained. Czerneda does incorporate a number of other gee-whiz aspects that largely make up for it, though. She also sprinkles in some red herrings – tantalizing suggestions that never really come to anything. Whether that’s verisimilitude or annoyance will likely vary by the reader.
The end also wraps up surprisingly quickly. Maybe because the book was already 600 pages long (though it reads quickly). I would have wished though, for a little more resolution for the fate of some key characters. Those characters don’t always act consistently, which undermines them a bit – e.g., in one case, the Arbiter saves people against their will, where in another he does not, for no clear reason. Another, introduced early on, and important toward the end, is a little too intuitive to be credible.
Largely, though, this is a welcome return to form from a talented, inventive author.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.
bookswithautumnceleste's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-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? No
4.5
definitelynotreading's review
I really wanted to love this book. The premise was fascinating, the characters had lovable qualities and there was unique world building. The writing style left much to be desired and the pacing was slow, even when there was action happening. I may give this book another chance in the future, because I really do want to know what happens to these characters and their worlds, but right now, I can't devote my energy to 500 pages that I'm constantly re-reading because the phrasing didn't make sense.
Thanks to NetGalley for my eARC version in exchange for my honest review.
Thanks to NetGalley for my eARC version in exchange for my honest review.
charitie's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
5.0
randi_jo's review
If someone asked me to read chapter one and then decide if I should buy this book, I'd say: "Absolutely not." It has some of the strangest sentence structuring I've ever seen in my life, and when I first read it I thought maybe I was too tired to understand what was happening, so I slept only to find it was just as confounding in the morning. It's not written in academia, that's for sure, but I feel like if there are a lot of people saying "this was confusing" or "this made me feel stupid", it's probably not good.
Even though the following chapters weren't as stunted as the first, there was almost no exposition to the world, just throws some made up words at us and expects us to pretend to understand what's happening until we can finally make a few connections later on (which is great when it comes to mysteries, but not when you're trying to paint a setting, PLEASE). Also the character Flip is completely incongruous with literally everything else, so much so that it feels shallow rather a comic relief character.
Thank goodness this was an ARC because without some heavy editing this book is impossible to read unless you have a massive amount of patience and some aspirin for the guarantied headaches.
Even though the following chapters weren't as stunted as the first, there was almost no exposition to the world, just throws some made up words at us and expects us to pretend to understand what's happening until we can finally make a few connections later on (which is great when it comes to mysteries, but not when you're trying to paint a setting, PLEASE). Also the character Flip is completely incongruous with literally everything else, so much so that it feels shallow rather a comic relief character.
Thank goodness this was an ARC because without some heavy editing this book is impossible to read unless you have a massive amount of patience and some aspirin for the guarantied headaches.
readingwithrosie's review
3.75
I am an idiot and it takes me a while to think critically so in the beginning I understood very little even though it was explained to me. I then figured it out and it was a pleasant sci-fi read. I wanted more world building but what we got was incredibly imaginative and intriguing. My baby Henry deserves to live the rest of his life with his grandfather on their farm.
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