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3.42 AVERAGE
3.42 AVERAGE
This follow-up to "The Unincorporated Man" was interesting but not as great as the first book. "Man" got to set up the universe and explore the (rather fascinating) idea of personal incorporation and how it would affect society. Now in "War", the people and ideas get lost to an extent as the story becomes a saga of system-wide war. Still an engaging story... but not as high on my list as the first book.
First of all, I would like to point out that I did not read the earlier book, The Unincorporated Man. I picked up this book at my local bookstore based on the blurb.
At the beginning, it showed all the promise of a standard space opera with descriptive space battles and your classic huge underdog Alliance against the evil UHF. Although unrealistic with the heavily outgunned Alliance winning stunning upset victories and the characters polarized as either very good or very evil, it had a level of fun to it that was at first enjoyable, even if it was aimed at young boys between 10 and 14. Unfortunately, as the story moved along it tried to appeal to an adult audience and it devolved from there.
The science was abysmal, especially the all too human avatars whose subplot in the novel left me wondering why the author even bothered to put it in. A lack of how the solar system actually works was evident in simple things like a static battle front for years between Mars and Ceres when the orbits around the sun vary. Again, this was the kind of stuff a mid-grade to young adult reader might accept, but far too off the mark for an educated adult reader.
Another aspect that was disappointing was the constant head hopping making it difficult at times to follow. The story would flip from the point of view of one character to another constantly, sometimes within the same paragraph.
My greatest disappointment is with the publisher, Tor Books. After I finished reading I went and examined the front pages carefully to discover who the editor was. To no surprise, there wasn't one listed. That does not mean there wasn't one employed, but based on the quality of the writing, I would find it highly unlikely one was. I can only guess Tor couldn't wait to try and capitalize on the success of the first novel and rushed to print without the novel getting the proper revisions it needed.
At the beginning, it showed all the promise of a standard space opera with descriptive space battles and your classic huge underdog Alliance against the evil UHF. Although unrealistic with the heavily outgunned Alliance winning stunning upset victories and the characters polarized as either very good or very evil, it had a level of fun to it that was at first enjoyable, even if it was aimed at young boys between 10 and 14. Unfortunately, as the story moved along it tried to appeal to an adult audience and it devolved from there.
The science was abysmal, especially the all too human avatars whose subplot in the novel left me wondering why the author even bothered to put it in. A lack of how the solar system actually works was evident in simple things like a static battle front for years between Mars and Ceres when the orbits around the sun vary. Again, this was the kind of stuff a mid-grade to young adult reader might accept, but far too off the mark for an educated adult reader.
Another aspect that was disappointing was the constant head hopping making it difficult at times to follow. The story would flip from the point of view of one character to another constantly, sometimes within the same paragraph.
My greatest disappointment is with the publisher, Tor Books. After I finished reading I went and examined the front pages carefully to discover who the editor was. To no surprise, there wasn't one listed. That does not mean there wasn't one employed, but based on the quality of the writing, I would find it highly unlikely one was. I can only guess Tor couldn't wait to try and capitalize on the success of the first novel and rushed to print without the novel getting the proper revisions it needed.
I am not sure it is time to rate this book. It ends with so very many plot points unresolved that it is basically incomplete. I'll have to read the next one (two?) to figure out where this thing goes.
On a positive note, many of the very creative ideas about future society are taken to their logical ends in a very thought provoking discussion of rights, freedom and even religion - all within the confines of an epic space battle.
Yep - space battles. While the last book went with flying cars, this one has fleets of space ships and all manner of hollowed out asteroids et all.
Also I think the author hates Neela. It is pretty crazy and almost makes me wonder if he got divorced while he was writing the book.
Either way, a very good book to follow a wonderful first one.
On a positive note, many of the very creative ideas about future society are taken to their logical ends in a very thought provoking discussion of rights, freedom and even religion - all within the confines of an epic space battle.
Yep - space battles. While the last book went with flying cars, this one has fleets of space ships and all manner of hollowed out asteroids et all.
Also
Either way, a very good book to follow a wonderful first one.