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bookph1le's review against another edition
4.0
LOVE this series. It's got lots of elements that make a book a compulsive read for me. Cannot wait for the next in the series! More complete review to come.
Full review:
My introduction to the Brilliance Saga was something of a whim. The concept of the first book sounded interesting, so I borrowed it from the Kindle Owner's Lending Library and the rest is history. The minute I was finished with it, I was dying for the second book, so I jumped all over the chance to get my hands on a copy. Some spoilers to follow.
Marcus Sakey has a particular talent for writing the series in such a way that it's action-packed, exciting, fast-paced, and yet still full of wonderful characterization. I really care about these characters and empathize with their situations and the difficult decisions they must make. All of the characters are flawed, and all of them feel like very distinct personalities.
At the end of Brilliance, Nick made what seemed to be the best decision in his situation, yet he now finds that that decision was only the tip of the iceberg. As big as Nick's decisions in Brilliance were, his decisions in this book have about a thousand times more impact, and I felt like I was in his head as he had to face the agony of second guessing himself and wondering if his actions have any real impact of if he's just flailing along, wanting to feel as though he's doing something.
This book changes the series up in a big way with a revelation that I won't spoil here. Suffice it to say that it changes everything and has enormous implications for the way future installments can go. At heart, these books are about the essential struggles of being human and wondering what that means as we enter an increasingly technologically advanced world. The choices people will face as a result of this revelation illustrate this struggle. Does choosing one way or another make someone more or less human?
The book also serves as a medium for exploring pretty much every -ism imaginable: sexism, racism, etc. Even more so in this book, the characters have a tendency to class people as "other", depending on which side of the fence they stand. The brilliants feel disconnected from their fellow humans, who can't relate to the experience of being brilliant, and the non-brilliants live in increasing fear of what the "otherness" of the brilliants means. Rather than working together, the increasing climate of fear is beginning to lead humanity on a downward spiral, even as people like Nick try their best to reason away the panic and fear. See any parallels between our current world and this book yet?
Fans of the series will be pleased to see characters from the previous book make an appearance here. We don't always get to see them in depth, but they're still a part of this world and moving around within it. Sakey also adds a couple of new characters to the mix in Ethan Park and Soren, both of whom I found fascinating. Ethan lives in Cleveland with his infant daughter and wife, and reading about their struggles to survive in a city that's been cut off from the rest of the country by terrorists gives the book a decidedly apocalyptic flavor. The question of how people would react to a crisis on an epic scale is one that is perpetually intriguing. Soren adds a new dynamic to the brilliants. The descriptions of his abilities are engrossing, and lead to a lot of questions about his character. Is he a sociopath by nature or does his ability render him unable to relate to human beings on any real level?
This book definitely did not disappoint. In fact, it just made me all the more anxious for a third book.
Full review:
My introduction to the Brilliance Saga was something of a whim. The concept of the first book sounded interesting, so I borrowed it from the Kindle Owner's Lending Library and the rest is history. The minute I was finished with it, I was dying for the second book, so I jumped all over the chance to get my hands on a copy. Some spoilers to follow.
Marcus Sakey has a particular talent for writing the series in such a way that it's action-packed, exciting, fast-paced, and yet still full of wonderful characterization. I really care about these characters and empathize with their situations and the difficult decisions they must make. All of the characters are flawed, and all of them feel like very distinct personalities.
At the end of Brilliance, Nick made what seemed to be the best decision in his situation, yet he now finds that that decision was only the tip of the iceberg. As big as Nick's decisions in Brilliance were, his decisions in this book have about a thousand times more impact, and I felt like I was in his head as he had to face the agony of second guessing himself and wondering if his actions have any real impact of if he's just flailing along, wanting to feel as though he's doing something.
This book changes the series up in a big way with a revelation that I won't spoil here. Suffice it to say that it changes everything and has enormous implications for the way future installments can go. At heart, these books are about the essential struggles of being human and wondering what that means as we enter an increasingly technologically advanced world. The choices people will face as a result of this revelation illustrate this struggle. Does choosing one way or another make someone more or less human?
The book also serves as a medium for exploring pretty much every -ism imaginable: sexism, racism, etc. Even more so in this book, the characters have a tendency to class people as "other", depending on which side of the fence they stand. The brilliants feel disconnected from their fellow humans, who can't relate to the experience of being brilliant, and the non-brilliants live in increasing fear of what the "otherness" of the brilliants means. Rather than working together, the increasing climate of fear is beginning to lead humanity on a downward spiral, even as people like Nick try their best to reason away the panic and fear. See any parallels between our current world and this book yet?
Fans of the series will be pleased to see characters from the previous book make an appearance here. We don't always get to see them in depth, but they're still a part of this world and moving around within it. Sakey also adds a couple of new characters to the mix in Ethan Park and Soren, both of whom I found fascinating. Ethan lives in Cleveland with his infant daughter and wife, and reading about their struggles to survive in a city that's been cut off from the rest of the country by terrorists gives the book a decidedly apocalyptic flavor. The question of how people would react to a crisis on an epic scale is one that is perpetually intriguing. Soren adds a new dynamic to the brilliants. The descriptions of his abilities are engrossing, and lead to a lot of questions about his character. Is he a sociopath by nature or does his ability render him unable to relate to human beings on any real level?
This book definitely did not disappoint. In fact, it just made me all the more anxious for a third book.
shadybanana's review
4.0
Way better than the last one. I liked the pacing of the action and the implied philosophy at times. The plot was predictable but that’s pardonable. We got more dimensions in old characters, which is exactly what I wanted. Natalie. John and to some extent Shannon. Things seem less ambiguous now. One thing that bugged me slightly was the fact that Nick was remorseful over his decision to “reveal the truth”. The alternate idea he’d had in the previous book was umpteen times worse than this. I mean blackmailing President Walker, someone who had ruthlessly killed all those people was never going to work out well. Secondly, he wouldn’t have played according to John’s plans and that would’ve pissed him definitely. By sharing the video, Nick not only revealed the truth but he also nevertheless got the position as the special advisor to the President. Were he doing something else in the DAR or simply retired, he would never have been in on the action. But I digress.
A particular detail somehow bothers me more than it should. There’s just this one line about Ethan being a kind of protege who won Noble Prizes and stuff. Looks flawless. Except I mean the existence of Brilliants brought down the entire financial system, I don’t understand how the Noble Prize Institution would’ve fared through the Brilliants constantly guzzling innovative stuff and the Normies just standing by the bylines.
I sound so petty
A particular detail somehow bothers me more than it should. There’s just this one line about Ethan being a kind of protege who won Noble Prizes and stuff. Looks flawless. Except I mean the existence of Brilliants brought down the entire financial system, I don’t understand how the Noble Prize Institution would’ve fared through the Brilliants constantly guzzling innovative stuff and the Normies just standing by the bylines.
I sound so petty
zer0faults's review against another edition
4.0
A good followup, but with a greater cliffhanger that I am not too pleased with. You pretty much see it coming 4 chapters away, largely because there isn't time left to clean up all that has been done before.
Ignoring the cliffhanger ending that tied up so little, it was still a good read. Starting to like the characters more as we explore their pasts, their motivations, etc. Even the switches in motivation / alliance seem to flow better then some other books I have read. I think its largely because from the outset you understand you are reading all of this from one person's perspective as he tries to unravel it all, and you know the people he is trying to understand are master planners. It feels more like a ride you are taking with Cooper and not simply turns added for the sake of throwing off the reader.
I am eagerly awaiting the next installment, though I hope its not too far off ...
Ignoring the cliffhanger ending that tied up so little, it was still a good read. Starting to like the characters more as we explore their pasts, their motivations, etc. Even the switches in motivation / alliance seem to flow better then some other books I have read. I think its largely because from the outset you understand you are reading all of this from one person's perspective as he tries to unravel it all, and you know the people he is trying to understand are master planners. It feels more like a ride you are taking with Cooper and not simply turns added for the sake of throwing off the reader.
I am eagerly awaiting the next installment, though I hope its not too far off ...
shadybanana's review against another edition
4.0
Way better than the last one. I liked the pacing of the action and the implied philosophy at times. The plot was predictable but that’s pardonable. We got more dimensions in old characters, which is exactly what I wanted. Natalie. John and to some extent Shannon. Things seem less ambiguous now. One thing that bugged me slightly was the fact that Nick was remorseful over his decision to “reveal the truth”. The alternate idea he’d had in the previous book was umpteen times worse than this. I mean blackmailing President Walker, someone who had ruthlessly killed all those people was never going to work out well. Secondly, he wouldn’t have played according to John’s plans and that would’ve pissed him definitely. By sharing the video, Nick not only revealed the truth but he also nevertheless got the position as the special advisor to the President. Were he doing something else in the DAR or simply retired, he would never have been in on the action. But I digress.
A particular detail somehow bothers me more than it should. There’s just this one line about Ethan being a kind of protege who won Noble Prizes and stuff. Looks flawless. Except I mean the existence of Brilliants brought down the entire financial system, I don’t understand how the Noble Prize Institution would’ve fared through the Brilliants constantly guzzling innovative stuff and the Normies just standing by the bylines.
I sound so petty
A particular detail somehow bothers me more than it should. There’s just this one line about Ethan being a kind of protege who won Noble Prizes and stuff. Looks flawless. Except I mean the existence of Brilliants brought down the entire financial system, I don’t understand how the Noble Prize Institution would’ve fared through the Brilliants constantly guzzling innovative stuff and the Normies just standing by the bylines.
I sound so petty
h3dakota's review against another edition
3.0
Good follow to the first one. Action packed. Not keen on the developing love triangle though.
debbie13410's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
jmoses's review against another edition
4.0
I didn't like this as much as [b:Brilliance|17171909|Brilliance|Marcus Sakey|https://d.gr-assets.com/books/1372505433s/17171909.jpg|23599367], but I'm not sure why. The story didn't feel as coherent and unified, I guess. It was still an entertaining read in a _really_ interesting world, but...I don't know. I'm almost 3 stars on this, I just feel "meh" about it.
gertrude314's review against another edition
4.0
This was another one that was so intense that I had to put off reading until I could handle the stress! It ended in more of a cliffhanger, but that's fine because I planned ahead and have the third book ready to start right away. This series is so entertaining, I wish more books were like this!
madskbae's review against another edition
1.0
This book is wet garbage. Not that Brilliance was great literature - but it was good, pulpy fun that I blazed through in 3 days. THIS one took me a month to slog through, and I only finished it out of grim determination. Not that it was worth it, what with the total cliffhanger ending: if Brilliance read like the screenplay to a mildly enjoyable sci-fi action film, this read like the pilot script to some shitty NBC adaptation of said film.
Almost no new, interesting characters or twists are introduced. Everything, down to the settings, are just retreads of the same people and places from the first book. And good lord, what's with the unnecessary recapping of Brilliance? Why are you reading this if you haven't read the previous book, and why not just put a recap up front if you have to bring everyone up to speed? I checked - at 65% in, Sakey was still recapping events from the first book whenever they went to a new place or met a new character.
So many nitpicks. Shannon is still the most annoying, clichéd "cool girl" character ever (Sakey in general writes women terribly - an angry woman is described as a "fierce mama bear". Why isn't her equally angry husband described as a "fierce papa bear"?). The protagonist is supposedly superhumanly good at reading people, yet he is SHOCKED when his ex-wife, drunk on red wine, the two of them sitting inside a tent in their living room on Thanksgiving, leans over and kisses him. A secondary protagonist is introduced, since we needed the perspective of ANOTHER grimly determined family man on the run in this book. I could go on forever.
In short: this book is absolutely horrible.
Almost no new, interesting characters or twists are introduced. Everything, down to the settings, are just retreads of the same people and places from the first book. And good lord, what's with the unnecessary recapping of Brilliance? Why are you reading this if you haven't read the previous book, and why not just put a recap up front if you have to bring everyone up to speed? I checked - at 65% in, Sakey was still recapping events from the first book whenever they went to a new place or met a new character.
So many nitpicks. Shannon is still the most annoying, clichéd "cool girl" character ever (Sakey in general writes women terribly - an angry woman is described as a "fierce mama bear". Why isn't her equally angry husband described as a "fierce papa bear"?). The protagonist is supposedly superhumanly good at reading people, yet he is SHOCKED when his ex-wife, drunk on red wine, the two of them sitting inside a tent in their living room on Thanksgiving, leans over and kisses him. A secondary protagonist is introduced, since we needed the perspective of ANOTHER grimly determined family man on the run in this book. I could go on forever.
In short: this book is absolutely horrible.