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testaroscia's review against another edition
3.0
I think Galland drew the "Book 2 of a trilogy" short straw and it sort of shows. Story moves along just fine, some fun moments in Shakespearean London and sorties in Tuscany and Sicily but there just seems to be a sprint to set up the third and final book (presumably by Neal?)
katushka's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
4.0
crimsoncor's review against another edition
4.0
Worthy follow-up to the first novel but I think gets lost in the weeds a bit more. Less overt humor and some of the previous main characters are basically reduced to cutouts (). But really fun romp through Shakespear's England, with some jaunts to the super horny Roman empire as well. Book ends relatively abruptly so hopefully there is something more coming.
Spoiler
or fridged in the first 5 pages of the bookholly_keimig's review against another edition
5.0
I spotted this the day it came in as an advanced reader copy at work and I got SO excited! I loved The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O and always hoped there would be a sequel. Apparently, my wishes came true! I am always a bit nervous with sequels and was a little worried since Stephenson was not co-writing this one that it would read too differently or lose something. It did not. The ragtag original crew of D.O.D.O from the first book now must work as outcasts on their own to stop a powerful witch Grainne (still employed at D.O.D.O) from changing the course of history. Grainne is trying to insert dark magical spells into Shakespeare's Macbeth and everyone must work together to stop her before she alters things too much. The story is told (as it was in the first book) in snippets of letters, work memos, and from all different points of view. I really enjoy reading a story from that perspective. It feels like historical research or something instead of just a novel. I lost so much sleep the week I was reading this because I did not want to stop reading each night. It definitely has that unputdownable quality. I highly recommend checking this one out if you are a sci-fi/fantasy fan, enjoy thinking about time travel, are annoyed at crazy government bureaucracy, or really like Shakespeare. I know I will be recommending this to customers at work when it comes out. It ends on a bit of a cliffhanger so now I am cautiously hoping for a Book #3 in the series.
aclong's review
4.0
I enjoyed this book very much and was glad that it had been edited down by two hundred pages, when compared to the length of the first DODO book. However, I gave it four stars instead of five because the fonts used in a couple of the entries were very hard for me to read, as I am dyslexic. I ended up having to skip them. Thankfully, I was still able to get a gist of what was happening.
krackenthorpe's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
The book is strong satire
agessaman's review
The epistolary format felt like it was creeping back toward a normal narrative, and it felt far more like an infodump than anything else. Might try again later, but this one lost whatever spark the last book had.
trishwah's review against another edition
3.0
This took a much darker turn from the first. Not sure I'm down with the character death. Maybe there will be a theirs and the dead will come back?
thehokx's review against another edition
4.0
To fuck up time or not to fuck up time? That is the question.