Axiom's End
Jul. 26th, 2020 04:51 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearI've been looking forward to reading Axiom's End by Lindsay Ellis every since I discovered it was coming out, so much so that I pre-ordered it, and read it in two days upon its arrival at my door. It's about people discovering there have been aliens on Earth for some time, and the protagonist, Cora, getting up close and personal with one of them, due to her familial connection both to those covering up the secret and those trying to reveal it to the world at large. It's also about questioning authority, ethical dilemmas, conspiracy theorists and not being able to trust the government.
It took a while to get going - I wasn't all that drawn to Cora at the start, and the build up to it really getting good was quite slow. The main interest for me was the development of the relationship between Cora and the alien (who was by far the best character in the book), which was masterfully drawn in a way that made it sweet without ever letting you forget the underlying fear and potential for threat/betrayal on both sides. The story really slowed down and got quite repetitive in the middle section, but picked up again towards the end, with some great emotional beats.
Cora had to struggle with a lot of really interesting issues in her attitude towards the alien, which made following her through the story compelling. Some of the plot points were a bit convenient, and some of the exposition was a bit laboured, but I enjoyed the book overall and it had a very good conclusion, even if it was left a bit unresolved in places.
It took a while to get going - I wasn't all that drawn to Cora at the start, and the build up to it really getting good was quite slow. The main interest for me was the development of the relationship between Cora and the alien (who was by far the best character in the book), which was masterfully drawn in a way that made it sweet without ever letting you forget the underlying fear and potential for threat/betrayal on both sides. The story really slowed down and got quite repetitive in the middle section, but picked up again towards the end, with some great emotional beats.
Cora had to struggle with a lot of really interesting issues in her attitude towards the alien, which made following her through the story compelling. Some of the plot points were a bit convenient, and some of the exposition was a bit laboured, but I enjoyed the book overall and it had a very good conclusion, even if it was left a bit unresolved in places.
