Reviews

A Darkling Sea by James L. Cambias

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isabel005's review

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adventurous dark funny reflective tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

Awesome!

ingo_lembcke's review against another edition

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Hm, not so good, thinking of DNF-ing it.

(Still / currently pause, as of May 12th, 2016, possible DNF!)

ceacler's review

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adventurous mysterious slow-paced

3.0

pretty interesting setting and speculative biology. pretty well developed along the length of the book too. i think it is worth the read just for that.

The characters were fairly interesting too, but the execution of the plot arc was downright weird. some fairly important characters were killed off for no apparent purpose, other just sort of disappeared, never to be heard from again. there were a number of threads that never really got tied off either.

overall the writing was excellent but the pieces just didn't seem to fit together well. I'd be interested in trying future books from Cambias, especially since i loved "Corsair", but this one was a bit of a bust.

joshhall13's review

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4.0

Very fun, quick read.

I loved the exploration of a Ganymede-like world and it's potential inhabitants. So, this was pure imagination candy for me.

trid_for_kicks's review

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4.0

While the plot wasn't SUPER engaging, I liked the main characters, and LOVED the world-building. The author created two different alien species, with cultures, backgrounds, and language/communication styles, and had them (and the humans, too) clash and complement each other in satisfying ways. It came to the point where I wasn't particularly invested in what was happening or how the book would end: I just wanted to know more about the Ilmatarans and the Sholen, and to see more interactions between them and the human race.

So, I may be a nerd, but I had fun, anyway.