Doors and Spaceships
Sep. 22nd, 2019 12:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearA couple of days ago, I reread Every Heart A Doorway by Seanan McGuire and have reviewed it in detail for an episode of the podcast I'm developing with Dave. It's an interesting and well-written book, but I do have some issues with it.
This week, I also read Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, yet another book that was recommended by Alyson and Kales of the Novel Predictions podcast (though not one they are reviewing on the show).
It tells the story of two teenagers who are caught up in life-changing events when their colony is destroyed by a surprise attack and they have to flee with thousands of others on a damaged spaceship, with the attacking vessel in pursuit. What makes it stand out is that it's compiled of various documents, from online chats to transcripts of surveillance footage, to official memos, to the ravings of a deteriorating AI. Visually and conceptually, it's a stunning and impressive piece of fiction.
But all the text speak and the offensive teenage-boy banter gets a bit wearing and the format makes it quite a difficult book to read - physically. I chose Dorian as my favourite character early on, purely because he types in complete sentences with proper punctuation!
The authors pack in all the possible tropes, though - space battles, pursuit in a damaged ship, zombies in an enclosed space, a rogue AI, conspiracy and lies from those in authority - you name it, and it's in there.
There's apparently a well-reviewed audio version but I have no idea how this could be done in audio format, given the visual nature of the text.
The ending was excellent, with several very satisfying reveals I didn't see coming. However, I don't think I'm going to continue with the other two books in the series. This one pretty much works as a standalone story and the effort of getting through it doesn't make me want to repeat the experience.
This week, I also read Illuminae by Amie Kaufman and Jay Kristoff, yet another book that was recommended by Alyson and Kales of the Novel Predictions podcast (though not one they are reviewing on the show).
It tells the story of two teenagers who are caught up in life-changing events when their colony is destroyed by a surprise attack and they have to flee with thousands of others on a damaged spaceship, with the attacking vessel in pursuit. What makes it stand out is that it's compiled of various documents, from online chats to transcripts of surveillance footage, to official memos, to the ravings of a deteriorating AI. Visually and conceptually, it's a stunning and impressive piece of fiction.
But all the text speak and the offensive teenage-boy banter gets a bit wearing and the format makes it quite a difficult book to read - physically. I chose Dorian as my favourite character early on, purely because he types in complete sentences with proper punctuation!
The authors pack in all the possible tropes, though - space battles, pursuit in a damaged ship, zombies in an enclosed space, a rogue AI, conspiracy and lies from those in authority - you name it, and it's in there.
There's apparently a well-reviewed audio version but I have no idea how this could be done in audio format, given the visual nature of the text.
The ending was excellent, with several very satisfying reveals I didn't see coming. However, I don't think I'm going to continue with the other two books in the series. This one pretty much works as a standalone story and the effort of getting through it doesn't make me want to repeat the experience.
