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freeleo's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
karyn_lynn's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
hopeful
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
abbyfrelier's review against another edition
dark
lighthearted
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.25
This probably wasn't stellar when it was published in 2010 but my god it's aged poorly. The humor is peak pedantic self-important nerd on the Internet of that era. The construct is great but we have zero fun with it! No creative worlds, no fun side characters, no hijinks just a whole lot of musing about how Dad's are sad and distant and you can't change the past.
One of my personal biggest annoyances is that gender stuff here is the worst in a subtle way that makes me so sad. The only female characters are TAMMY the AI that our protagonist is rude too, takes for granted and then decides he's in love with (but of course it's mostly himself he's in love with because she's just reflecting what he wants) and his mother. His poor mother is worse off than a non-character because her "retirement" is repeatedly re-living an hour of her life spent cooking a meal for her family. Laboring her entire retirement! We get pages upon pages of the inner world of his father but his mother doesn't get an inner life apparently.
One of my personal biggest annoyances is that gender stuff here is the worst in a subtle way that makes me so sad. The only female characters are TAMMY the AI that our protagonist is rude too, takes for granted and then decides he's in love with (but of course it's mostly himself he's in love with because she's just reflecting what he wants) and his mother. His poor mother is worse off than a non-character because her "retirement" is repeatedly re-living an hour of her life spent cooking a meal for her family. Laboring her entire retirement! We get pages upon pages of the inner world of his father but his mother doesn't get an inner life apparently.
drfloeem's review against another edition
funny
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
emilychau's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
icelacs's review against another edition
4.0
I was going to give this an average review, at best, 40% into the book and 80% through module alpha. I was contemplating dropping it altogether halfway through module beta, in spite of Yu's lovely way with words, and how you can't help but cling to his words or anguish and desperation for the poetry they are. The science nearly broke my brain, but I would like to think I'm a better person for having gone through it. A beautiful, fist-around-the-heart and ice-water-on-your-head read, and I will attempt to write a better review later on. I just need to rest my brain first.
e_cobbe's review against another edition
emotional
hopeful
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
I listened to the audio version. The narrator does very well, although the format itself left me a bit confused for the first half, given all the faux-technical language and the heavy metaphorical content. The ending was really lovely, even if I was pretty sure the narrator would survive the gunshot. I'm glad he did, but it wasn't very surprising.
sarahrheawerner's review against another edition
4.0
Really enjoyed this one. Heavy on philosophy, if light on plot. But it worked. :)
How To Live Safely In A Science Fictional Universe is the story of the man who invented time travel and mysteriously disappeared, and his son, a time machine repairman who tries to find him.
I've said it before and I'll say it again -- I'm a huge sci-fi nut. But even if you aren't, chances are you may still enjoy this book. It's a quick read, full of wit and humor and deep human feeling.
It's also incredibly accessible -- Yu writes with plain language so that even talk of the space-time continuum and matters of physics are easily understood. There's none of the "parsecs" and "terraforming" and characters with a thousand apostrophes in their names (U'Zorge'drr) that can turn people off to sci-fi. Just a really interesting story about a father and a son, and a nonexistent but ontologically valid dog named Ed.
How To Live Safely In A Science Fictional Universe is the story of the man who invented time travel and mysteriously disappeared, and his son, a time machine repairman who tries to find him.
I've said it before and I'll say it again -- I'm a huge sci-fi nut. But even if you aren't, chances are you may still enjoy this book. It's a quick read, full of wit and humor and deep human feeling.
It's also incredibly accessible -- Yu writes with plain language so that even talk of the space-time continuum and matters of physics are easily understood. There's none of the "parsecs" and "terraforming" and characters with a thousand apostrophes in their names (U'Zorge'drr) that can turn people off to sci-fi. Just a really interesting story about a father and a son, and a nonexistent but ontologically valid dog named Ed.