In the second episode of the Final Architecture trilogy, Tchaikovsky turns up the speed and volume and it becomes an even more engaging story than theIn the second episode of the Final Architecture trilogy, Tchaikovsky turns up the speed and volume and it becomes an even more engaging story than the first book, Shards of Earth. The Vulture God is not finished with its unspoken mission to save humanity from the Architects and our friends Ollie, Kit, Kris, Solace, and Idris are once again teamed up despite their multiple conflicting alliances. Aklu the Razor and the Whatever-the-fuck is back too and we get to see both the ceremony of one Deified Clam killing another as well as a renegade Tothiat. I find this universe more addictive and compelling than that of the Children of Time series and am impatient to read the final volume, Lords of Uncreation to find out who is driving the Architects and why they are sculpting the universe as the wipe out life. Is this like the bad guys in Hamilton's Commonwealth series that see any intelligent lifeform as a threat? I don't think so, but we need to move to book 3 to find out!...more
This was a great story! I really liked the first person narrative and the rather elliptical style that the author moved around in time throughout. TheThis was a great story! I really liked the first person narrative and the rather elliptical style that the author moved around in time throughout. The protagonists were well-drawn and it was rather unpredictable. That being said, I felt the ending was a bit rushed. I kept being reminded of the Oxford Time Travel series by Connie Willis, particularly about the Blitz in Blackout and wonder if Ms North used that for inspiration at some point. Nonetheless, this Groundhog's Day / Zelig story was a fun read and a nice introduction to North/Webb's writing....more
This was more coherent with its predecessor Broken Angels than that one was with its predecessor Altered Carbon. I did like this version of Takeshi KoThis was more coherent with its predecessor Broken Angels than that one was with its predecessor Altered Carbon. I did like this version of Takeshi Kovacs and felt that the story arc gets a satisfactory conclusion here. I especially appreciated the setting on Harlan's Planet that was referred to in the previous books, but never actually visited. It also becomes clearer some of the inherent conflict between the various warring parties (Kempists versus the Protectorate). The story seemed to hold better coherence than Angels while deepening our understanding of Kovacs himself. A great ending to this now-classic trilogy....more
The second Kovacs novel has almost nothing in common apart from its protagonist with Altered Carbon. I feel a bit of ambivalence about that. It is almThe second Kovacs novel has almost nothing in common apart from its protagonist with Altered Carbon. I feel a bit of ambivalence about that. It is almost as if Morgan disavowed the first book and wanted to take Takeshi along a completely different vector. This book is a bit more confusing (albeit AC is a complexly-plotted book as well) mostly because I kept getting stuck trying to reconcile the fact that this book is supposed to be taking place 50-100 years from now, but kept referencing Martian ruins that were half a million years old. And, these Martians flew on leathery wings and just vanished at some point. So, are we in a parallel universe or are we supposed to suspend disbelief about life on Mars? I think others must have had similar misgivings because the TV version refers to "Elders" instead of Martians. Maybe there is an interview with the author about this somewhere?
That reminds me of another huge discrepancy between the book and the TV show: the show pretends that Envoys are extinct, Kovacs being the last one, but the books do not go this way at all. The TV show seemed to confuse Quellists and Envoys somehow. Or I fell asleep in an episode along the way...
In any case, Takeshi still proves to be a total badass, fucking his way through a mercenary group. The action is non-stop and vulgarity and violent splashed across every page. I enjoyed the story, but did feel a bit overwhelmed by the senseless bloodshed at times. Let's see how he wraps this up in Woken Furies....more
This was VERY different from the previous trilogy I read by Tchaikovsky, the Children of Time. Adrian must be channeling his inner Scalzi or perhaps LThis was VERY different from the previous trilogy I read by Tchaikovsky, the Children of Time. Adrian must be channeling his inner Scalzi or perhaps Leckie in creating an interesting set of crewmates up against a seemingly unbeatable foe in a kaleidoscope of alliances and rivals in this post-Earth sci-fi book. The Architects are a pretty scary bunch, but are they perhaps a Not Always Evil villain (https://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.ph...)? I liked Idris even if the platonic romance between him and Solace was annoying (and a bit confusing because initially Idris sejour with the Partheni sounded like an orgy...). I thought that it was rather predictable in some ways (particularly the ending), but still the tech was cool and I enjoyed the banter. The only other grievance I have is that we return to Idris' initial contact with the Architects time and time again - at one point it felt a little repetitive. Nonetheless, it was still a pleasure to read and I'll be heading on to the second book, Eyes of the Void....more
I was disappointed with this story of a village in a fictional country in central Asia coming to terms with the internet and the Instagram economy. ItI was disappointed with this story of a village in a fictional country in central Asia coming to terms with the internet and the Instagram economy. It felt trite and some of the action was rather predictable. I guess the characters like Mae were ok, but the overall story just felt too contrived. I wonder if Ryman's other books are written like this one, but based on my experience, I probably won't seek out his other books unless someone gives me a compelling reason to do so....more
I really couldn't stand this one very much. Unlike Perdido Street Station, there was no steady plotline to keep me interested and unlike The Scar, it I really couldn't stand this one very much. Unlike Perdido Street Station, there was no steady plotline to keep me interested and unlike The Scar, it didn't feature as imaginative IMO dreamscapes upon which to tell the story. There is just a chaotic mess where the author tries to accomplish too much in a big soup of confusion. I would have appreciated something with better characters and a more comprehensible and compelling plot like the previous one, but this one just turned me off because there were no sympathetic, 3-dimensional characters, and I was never invested in the character arcs. For a series called New Crobuzon, we spent almost no time there in Book 2 and only a small fraction of Book 3. Strange. At least I finished the series. ...more
I liked this book better than its predecessor Perdido Street Station because the plot was less uneven and the characters more interesting. It takes plI liked this book better than its predecessor Perdido Street Station because the plot was less uneven and the characters more interesting. It takes place entirely outside New Crobuzon, even if NC plays a big part in the plot. I liked the Bellis character a lot and found her relatable and interesting. The idea of the Armada city was full of wonder and imagination. I like much more how the world-building was done and the many ideas around alternate realities, and possibility machines (there is some mention of crisis engines from the previous book, but the focus here is more on possibility than crisis as an energy source.) The vampirs and the other imaginary beasties are well-done and I was glad to suspend my disbelief for a while and enjoy the story. I am likely to finish off the series with Iron Council.
I wonder how much Mieville was influenced by Iain M Banks’ Masaq’ floating cities in Look to Windward or the ones in Snow Crash by Neal Stephenson when he came up with the idea of Armada?
One thing I thought of as I was reading it, was that The Scar was so similar to the one at the center of the Grisha books by Bardugo. Since this book is from 2003, it is not a stretch to imagine that the 2012, Shadow and Bone was largely inspired by Miéville's writing and world-building....more
I was expecting more with this one. I did not like the protagonist Isaac at all and found Yak annoying af. The other characters like Lin and Motley weI was expecting more with this one. I did not like the protagonist Isaac at all and found Yak annoying af. The other characters like Lin and Motley were interesting, but not exceptional. New Crobuzon city reminded me a lot of the Bardugo's Ketterdam in Six of Crows and it actually makes me wonder if she borrowed some of Miéville's ideas when crowd-sourcing that novel. The steampunk aspect of the book is OK, but the town's geography gets rather hard to follow. I think that the author overdid the sordidness at times and that the over-the-top violence was overbearing and distracting from the plot. The narrative is decent here, but the conclusion disappointed me. I don't think I'll be vacationing in New Crobuzon any time soon, but I might try reading The Scar because I saw that some readers felt it was the strongest of the books in this trilogy....more
As much as I enjoyed The City & the City, I felt this book was a little uneven and confusing. I get it that maybe aliens will have completely differenAs much as I enjoyed The City & the City, I felt this book was a little uneven and confusing. I get it that maybe aliens will have completely different ways to communicate than what we call language. That stuff was kind of interesting. But the narrative which seemed to recurse on a dystopian, apocalyptic scenario sort of dragged and felt redundant through the middle. I don't think that the protagonists were drawn with enough passion to grab my interest. I'll still give his Perdido Street Station/New Crobuzon series a spin....more
As much as I appreciated Glasshouse, I was a little disappointed with this one. The author wants to take us from basically current 21st-century tech tAs much as I appreciated Glasshouse, I was a little disappointed with this one. The author wants to take us from basically current 21st-century tech to the 23rd C tech of the aforementioned book and he takes lots of shortcuts. I mean there are interesting ideas here, but it is all sort of jumbled together and sometimes a bit silly. Just as I nearly got attached to a character, we would race forward and change protagonists. Maybe other readers appreciate this kind of jumpy writing style which reminded me a bit of the first Foundation book in that sense. And the tech is kind of cool, it is just a bit hard maybe to imagine the future that he predicts. I will say that the galaxy-consuming aliens of The Expanse and other books probably got a non-negligible bit of ideas here....more
Sadly, I was disappointed to find that the end of the Children of Time trilogy did not live up to my expectations following the second book, Children Sadly, I was disappointed to find that the end of the Children of Time trilogy did not live up to my expectations following the second book, Children of Memory. While it is true that I found the first eponymous book Children of Time underwhelming, I thought the second book brought a bit better character-building and more interesting intersections than the first. It also had great ideas about terraforming. However, this conclusion was unsatisfying and confusing. There is a great risk of spoilers here if I delve too much into the plot, so suffice it to say that this one starts off fine, but over time gets bogged down by its own gravitas until it becomes more of a chore than a pleasure to read. I also felt no sense of closure at all when the book was over. I was hoping to either feel hope for the stranded communities or deal with mourning for the death of all of them, but Tchaikovsky in this final book didn't give me either of those but rather an ambiguous Sopranos-like ending. I'll still give it 3* for the ideas, but no more because the plot got so convoluted and non-sensical (at one point it was like the Truth religion from Peter Hamilton's Confederation Trilogy or something). I hope that the Architecture series does a better job of landing at the end......more
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