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history_bot's review against another edition
1.0
Thanks to Flame Tree Press and Netgalley for the eARC.
Just a quick disclaimer. I like sci-fi, but not to the point where I’ve gone back to read the classics, and I haven’t read any pre-1990s sci-fi besides some H. G. Wells and Jules Verne. Thus, I’m not sure how this book compares to others of its era.
I hated this book.
Firstly, plot. The narrator was unlikable and a brat and shallow and rude (and yet women flung themselves at him). All of the characters had the blatant inability to empathize with others or consider their point of view, so the majority of the book was Character A saying, “I want this!”, and when Character B says no, Character A decides to put thousands of people’s lives in danger out of stubbornness. The plot also seriously meandered. It didn’t feel like there was any direction and the action didn’t feel meaningful. The book didn’t come to any satisfying conclusion because the storyline that it wrapped up was whether or not the main character had one ounce of character growth (supposedly he did) and not any of the big picture stuff.
Prose-wise, it also sucked! I’m not sure how much was the original author and how much was the translation, and I can’t find the original online to cross-check (it’s French title is “Pour patrie l’espace”). This book is 90% dialogue, and poorly written dialogue at that, in which characters have no unique voice and continuously over explain everything. It’s clunky and it’s boring and it’s confusing. There’s basically no transition in between scenes—you can skip over three months and not have any idea at all. If you skim, you’ll miss plot points, but you’ll want to skim because it’s so awful. I read this as fast as I could because I wanted to get this book over with.
As I was reading this, though, there is one thing I think could save this story: turning it into a comic book. As a novel, it sucks. However, with more visual cues, I think it would work a lot better. And the way it jumps from one absurd scenario to the next is better suited to comic book form and more forgivable. It still wouldn’t be a phenomenal story, but it would be much more digestible.
Just a quick disclaimer. I like sci-fi, but not to the point where I’ve gone back to read the classics, and I haven’t read any pre-1990s sci-fi besides some H. G. Wells and Jules Verne. Thus, I’m not sure how this book compares to others of its era.
I hated this book.
Firstly, plot. The narrator was unlikable and a brat and shallow and rude (and yet women flung themselves at him). All of the characters had the blatant inability to empathize with others or consider their point of view, so the majority of the book was Character A saying, “I want this!”, and when Character B says no, Character A decides to put thousands of people’s lives in danger out of stubbornness. The plot also seriously meandered. It didn’t feel like there was any direction and the action didn’t feel meaningful. The book didn’t come to any satisfying conclusion because the storyline that it wrapped up was whether or not the main character had one ounce of character growth (supposedly he did) and not any of the big picture stuff.
Prose-wise, it also sucked! I’m not sure how much was the original author and how much was the translation, and I can’t find the original online to cross-check (it’s French title is “Pour patrie l’espace”). This book is 90% dialogue, and poorly written dialogue at that, in which characters have no unique voice and continuously over explain everything. It’s clunky and it’s boring and it’s confusing. There’s basically no transition in between scenes—you can skip over three months and not have any idea at all. If you skim, you’ll miss plot points, but you’ll want to skim because it’s so awful. I read this as fast as I could because I wanted to get this book over with.
As I was reading this, though, there is one thing I think could save this story: turning it into a comic book. As a novel, it sucks. However, with more visual cues, I think it would work a lot better. And the way it jumps from one absurd scenario to the next is better suited to comic book form and more forgivable. It still wouldn’t be a phenomenal story, but it would be much more digestible.
miramanga's review against another edition
2.0
I am always so keen to read classic Sci Fi, not least because my dearly beloved father was the one who got me into this genre, I'd sneak books from his pile of library books and devour them when I should have been sleeping. This is a translation of a "Golden Age Science Fiction Classic" and so I was pleased to get hold of a copy!
Although at the time of initial publishing this book it must have felt furiously futuristic, I'm afraid that as with many others of this time period - the book has aged horribly.
Tankar, our protagonist is misogynistic, self absorbed and indoctrinated. He makes dumb decisions that make no sense and blames them on the women in his life, who are all out to manipulate him, or get something from him or use him. He punches one woman and she falls in love with him, another woman tries to kill him but realises the error of her ways...it goes on a lot like this. Women are BAD!
The story covers deep space, a massive city in the stars (hence the title!) a Jurassic Park type planet, space wars and more. It has all those imaginative flashes of brilliance that must have been so cool to read back in the day. If only Tankar had been less of a miserable git!
I do think it's great that a classic novel like this is available in English for people to read. There is lots to learn about where we came from and it is impressive to see how authors like Francis Carsac were imagining our future in the stars so long ago. I appreciate these trailblazers that made way for the amazing scifi that was to evolve. That said, I got through it with gritted teeth and was relieved when it was done.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for providing a free ebook copy for review!
Check out Flame Tree Press on the web at https://www.flametreepress.com
&
Twitter: https://twitter.com/flametreepress
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flametreepress
Although at the time of initial publishing this book it must have felt furiously futuristic, I'm afraid that as with many others of this time period - the book has aged horribly.
Tankar, our protagonist is misogynistic, self absorbed and indoctrinated. He makes dumb decisions that make no sense and blames them on the women in his life, who are all out to manipulate him, or get something from him or use him. He punches one woman and she falls in love with him, another woman tries to kill him but realises the error of her ways...it goes on a lot like this. Women are BAD!
The story covers deep space, a massive city in the stars (hence the title!) a Jurassic Park type planet, space wars and more. It has all those imaginative flashes of brilliance that must have been so cool to read back in the day. If only Tankar had been less of a miserable git!
I do think it's great that a classic novel like this is available in English for people to read. There is lots to learn about where we came from and it is impressive to see how authors like Francis Carsac were imagining our future in the stars so long ago. I appreciate these trailblazers that made way for the amazing scifi that was to evolve. That said, I got through it with gritted teeth and was relieved when it was done.
Thanks so much to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for providing a free ebook copy for review!
Check out Flame Tree Press on the web at https://www.flametreepress.com
&
Twitter: https://twitter.com/flametreepress
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/flametreepress
wxrldwalker's review against another edition
1.0
Thank you to NetGalley and Flame Tree Press for an ARC of this book! (comes out 21st May)
When I found out that this book was actually published ages ago and only now translated into English, my expectations plummeted. There is a lot of old sci-fi out there written to show women as feeble and stupid and I had an inkling this would venture into that territory. But the more I read, the more I began to realise that it was the characters thoughts itself that were poisoned. This book is basically low-budget Star Trek (the classical series), which as you might know is VERY sexist and misogyny is a running theme throughout each episode (which is why I stopped watching it).
The main character is 24-year-old Tankar Holroy, who was born to be a soldier on Earth (as you will see him mention this MULTIPLE times). While Earth is controlled by the Empire, there are ships floating in space with Stellarans (called the people of the stars) and another tribe of people called the Pilgrims. Both of these groups of people live in peace on the same ship but are separated. The Stellarans basically treat everyone equally, whereas the Pilgrims are described as monks. The Earth people like Tankar on the other hand, believe in a society where women are only for 'pleasure and breeding' (a literal quote from the book i shit you not), to which I give one giant middle finger to.
The story follows this insufferable character whose mission is to deliver a message to the 7th fleet to come and help Earth. But his ship is sabotaged, and he is floating in space, only to be rescued by the Stellarans. He then realises they actually want information on a tracer, which is a device that can track other ships that jump through hyperspace. The Stellarans basically want to use this device to follow the Mpfifis, who are alien-like creatures that are vile and terrible and want to find their home planet to destroy them. Tankar has this information but apparently doesn’t want to share, because he’s a stubborn nugget.
Now the MC is the most stubborn, annoying, sexist, insufferable, stupid, dumb character I have ever read about. He views women as fragile, and constantly shouts at all the female characters, thinking they all are in love with him. He’s someone who wants attention constantly and starts throwing a tantrum when he doesn’t get his way. I HAVE NEVER WANTED TO STRANGLE A CHARACTER WITH MY BARE HANDS AS I WANTED TO IN THIS BOOK. I wanted to throw this book across the room multiple times, but the plot drew me in. Orena is one strong female character in this that I really liked- she stands up for herself and doesn’t let Tankar the sexist man-baby walk all over her. I’m glad she threw away his friendship and ran off with Pei the painter.
The writing was a mess. I think this is a case of lost in translation, because whoever translated this basically entered all of this into Google Translate and printed it word to word. The sentences are disjointed and there is no flow. But it actually helped with the pacing, because I got through it quite quickly. The story had SOOOOOOOO much potential, but it was all wasted. Honestly the pacing and plot was the only thing keeping me going. The ending was such a mess lol. He basically blames himself for his wife’s death, but then this girl he says he isn’t in love with says she can’t live without him, and he decides to live for her ermmmm???
ANYWHO, I really don’t recommend this to anyone. I thought it would get better but nah x
When I found out that this book was actually published ages ago and only now translated into English, my expectations plummeted. There is a lot of old sci-fi out there written to show women as feeble and stupid and I had an inkling this would venture into that territory. But the more I read, the more I began to realise that it was the characters thoughts itself that were poisoned. This book is basically low-budget Star Trek (the classical series), which as you might know is VERY sexist and misogyny is a running theme throughout each episode (which is why I stopped watching it).
The main character is 24-year-old Tankar Holroy, who was born to be a soldier on Earth (as you will see him mention this MULTIPLE times). While Earth is controlled by the Empire, there are ships floating in space with Stellarans (called the people of the stars) and another tribe of people called the Pilgrims. Both of these groups of people live in peace on the same ship but are separated. The Stellarans basically treat everyone equally, whereas the Pilgrims are described as monks. The Earth people like Tankar on the other hand, believe in a society where women are only for 'pleasure and breeding' (a literal quote from the book i shit you not), to which I give one giant middle finger to.
The story follows this insufferable character whose mission is to deliver a message to the 7th fleet to come and help Earth. But his ship is sabotaged, and he is floating in space, only to be rescued by the Stellarans. He then realises they actually want information on a tracer, which is a device that can track other ships that jump through hyperspace. The Stellarans basically want to use this device to follow the Mpfifis, who are alien-like creatures that are vile and terrible and want to find their home planet to destroy them. Tankar has this information but apparently doesn’t want to share, because he’s a stubborn nugget.
Now the MC is the most stubborn, annoying, sexist, insufferable, stupid, dumb character I have ever read about. He views women as fragile, and constantly shouts at all the female characters, thinking they all are in love with him. He’s someone who wants attention constantly and starts throwing a tantrum when he doesn’t get his way. I HAVE NEVER WANTED TO STRANGLE A CHARACTER WITH MY BARE HANDS AS I WANTED TO IN THIS BOOK. I wanted to throw this book across the room multiple times, but the plot drew me in. Orena is one strong female character in this that I really liked- she stands up for herself and doesn’t let Tankar the sexist man-baby walk all over her. I’m glad she threw away his friendship and ran off with Pei the painter.
The writing was a mess. I think this is a case of lost in translation, because whoever translated this basically entered all of this into Google Translate and printed it word to word. The sentences are disjointed and there is no flow. But it actually helped with the pacing, because I got through it quite quickly. The story had SOOOOOOOO much potential, but it was all wasted. Honestly the pacing and plot was the only thing keeping me going. The ending was such a mess lol. He basically blames himself for his wife’s death, but then this girl he says he isn’t in love with says she can’t live without him, and he decides to live for her ermmmm???
ANYWHO, I really don’t recommend this to anyone. I thought it would get better but nah x
rrkreads's review against another edition
3.0
Ok, this book made me realize that science fiction is just not for me. I found something very lacking in this story too.
I honestly detested Tankar the protagonist. You probably won't find a more immature and whiny guy than Tankar. The entire book he whines, he cribs, he complains. He was supposedly treated a little rashly in the beginning in a new place and he holds that silly grudge till the end of the book? I couldn't tolerate the juvenile nature of it all.
And let's not even begin with the "romance" portions of this book. Zero chemistry, insta-love, supposedly hate to love but it was more physical attraction than any other deep form of love. I couldn't care less for the romance or for any of the characters in this book.
I enjoyed the first part of the book a lot. The science parts were good, the concept of a star city was novel. But, apart from that, there was nothing much that appealed me to the story. I would recommend it to science-fiction fans, also to people who are starting out with the science-fiction genre as the language is quite easy to follow. The novel reads fast and you can complete it in no time.
RRKReads rating: ⭐⭐1/2
I honestly detested Tankar the protagonist. You probably won't find a more immature and whiny guy than Tankar. The entire book he whines, he cribs, he complains. He was supposedly treated a little rashly in the beginning in a new place and he holds that silly grudge till the end of the book? I couldn't tolerate the juvenile nature of it all.
And let's not even begin with the "romance" portions of this book. Zero chemistry, insta-love, supposedly hate to love but it was more physical attraction than any other deep form of love. I couldn't care less for the romance or for any of the characters in this book.
I enjoyed the first part of the book a lot. The science parts were good, the concept of a star city was novel. But, apart from that, there was nothing much that appealed me to the story. I would recommend it to science-fiction fans, also to people who are starting out with the science-fiction genre as the language is quite easy to follow. The novel reads fast and you can complete it in no time.
RRKReads rating: ⭐⭐1/2
davebushe's review
2.0
I am very glad that I knew this is a translated publiaction of an older novel. It let me stick with it.
There's no flow, the words feel staid and perhaps even machine translated. The story itself is .. well an old story and bring with it a lot of baggage.
I think it's generally it's a good thing to get classic works translated so that they can be recognised or shared with the world but in this case, it just didn't work.
I very much suggest this is published without the slick apperence of a modern piece of sci-fi, otherwise readers will be very disapointed!
There's no flow, the words feel staid and perhaps even machine translated. The story itself is .. well an old story and bring with it a lot of baggage.
I think it's generally it's a good thing to get classic works translated so that they can be recognised or shared with the world but in this case, it just didn't work.
I very much suggest this is published without the slick apperence of a modern piece of sci-fi, otherwise readers will be very disapointed!
librarycryptid's review
1.0
Thanks to Flame Tree Press and Netgalley for the eARC.
Just a quick disclaimer. I like sci-fi, but not to the point where I’ve gone back to read the classics, and I haven’t read any pre-1990s sci-fi besides some H. G. Wells and Jules Verne. Thus, I’m not sure how this book compares to others of its era.
I hated this book.
Firstly, plot. The narrator was unlikable and a brat and shallow and rude (and yet women flung themselves at him). All of the characters had the blatant inability to empathize with others or consider their point of view, so the majority of the book was Character A saying, “I want this!”, and when Character B says no, Character A decides to put thousands of people’s lives in danger out of stubbornness. The plot also seriously meandered. It didn’t feel like there was any direction and the action didn’t feel meaningful. The book didn’t come to any satisfying conclusion because the storyline that it wrapped up was whether or not the main character had one ounce of character growth (supposedly he did) and not any of the big picture stuff.
Prose-wise, it also sucked! I’m not sure how much was the original author and how much was the translation, and I can’t find the original online to cross-check (it’s French title is “Pour patrie l’espace”). This book is 90% dialogue, and poorly written dialogue at that, in which characters have no unique voice and continuously over explain everything. It’s clunky and it’s boring and it’s confusing. There’s basically no transition in between scenes—you can skip over three months and not have any idea at all. If you skim, you’ll miss plot points, but you’ll want to skim because it’s so awful. I read this as fast as I could because I wanted to get this book over with.
As I was reading this, though, there is one thing I think could save this story: turning it into a comic book. As a novel, it sucks. However, with more visual cues, I think it would work a lot better. And the way it jumps from one absurd scenario to the next is better suited to comic book form and more forgivable. It still wouldn’t be a phenomenal story, but it would be much more digestible.
Just a quick disclaimer. I like sci-fi, but not to the point where I’ve gone back to read the classics, and I haven’t read any pre-1990s sci-fi besides some H. G. Wells and Jules Verne. Thus, I’m not sure how this book compares to others of its era.
I hated this book.
Firstly, plot. The narrator was unlikable and a brat and shallow and rude (and yet women flung themselves at him). All of the characters had the blatant inability to empathize with others or consider their point of view, so the majority of the book was Character A saying, “I want this!”, and when Character B says no, Character A decides to put thousands of people’s lives in danger out of stubbornness. The plot also seriously meandered. It didn’t feel like there was any direction and the action didn’t feel meaningful. The book didn’t come to any satisfying conclusion because the storyline that it wrapped up was whether or not the main character had one ounce of character growth (supposedly he did) and not any of the big picture stuff.
Prose-wise, it also sucked! I’m not sure how much was the original author and how much was the translation, and I can’t find the original online to cross-check (it’s French title is “Pour patrie l’espace”). This book is 90% dialogue, and poorly written dialogue at that, in which characters have no unique voice and continuously over explain everything. It’s clunky and it’s boring and it’s confusing. There’s basically no transition in between scenes—you can skip over three months and not have any idea at all. If you skim, you’ll miss plot points, but you’ll want to skim because it’s so awful. I read this as fast as I could because I wanted to get this book over with.
As I was reading this, though, there is one thing I think could save this story: turning it into a comic book. As a novel, it sucks. However, with more visual cues, I think it would work a lot better. And the way it jumps from one absurd scenario to the next is better suited to comic book form and more forgivable. It still wouldn’t be a phenomenal story, but it would be much more digestible.
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