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nirgal's review against another edition
4.0
Romanzo strano, per più della metà del libro ci si concentra sulla descrizione di questa europa fratturata in una miriade di stati e sulla vita, noiosa dei corrieri.
Ad un certo punto avviene una accelerazione notevole nello svolgimento della trama e si inizia a far emergere gli elementi di fantascienza.
Purtroppo questa seconda parte è molto più veloce e frammentaria, conseguentemente la storia volge velocemente alla sua fine, o meglio conclude l'inizio della trilogia, perché questo libro può essere considerato un buon pilot per usare un termine televisivo.
Il punto forte del romanzo è sicuramente l'ambientazione, in cui una visione futura dell'europa che si è dissolta in stati dalle dimensioni più disparate, si fonde con l'idea di universi paralleli, in uno stile che ricorda l'Arcipelago di Christopher Priest.
Il suo problema più grosso è che le parti non sono bilanciate, più della prima metà del libro è lenta e abbastanza statica, finendo per concentrarsi su una serie di episodi della vita del protagonista, la seconda parte invece viene narrata con un ritmo vertiginoso, senza grossi approfondimenti della situazione.
Un maggior equilibrio tra le parti avrebbe sicuramente giovato al libro.
Nel complesso resta un libro interessate ed originale, soprattutto se letto come primo volume di una trilogia.
Ad un certo punto avviene una accelerazione notevole nello svolgimento della trama e si inizia a far emergere gli elementi di fantascienza.
Purtroppo questa seconda parte è molto più veloce e frammentaria, conseguentemente la storia volge velocemente alla sua fine, o meglio conclude l'inizio della trilogia, perché questo libro può essere considerato un buon pilot per usare un termine televisivo.
Il punto forte del romanzo è sicuramente l'ambientazione, in cui una visione futura dell'europa che si è dissolta in stati dalle dimensioni più disparate, si fonde con l'idea di universi paralleli, in uno stile che ricorda l'Arcipelago di Christopher Priest.
Il suo problema più grosso è che le parti non sono bilanciate, più della prima metà del libro è lenta e abbastanza statica, finendo per concentrarsi su una serie di episodi della vita del protagonista, la seconda parte invece viene narrata con un ritmo vertiginoso, senza grossi approfondimenti della situazione.
Un maggior equilibrio tra le parti avrebbe sicuramente giovato al libro.
Nel complesso resta un libro interessate ed originale, soprattutto se letto come primo volume di una trilogia.
lucardus's review against another edition
4.0
Hochinteressanter Roman in einem "zerbrochenen" Europa, wobei hier zunächst ein, sieht man vom Near-Future-Setting einmal ab, Agenten-Thriller abzulaufen scheint. Humorvoll und mit vielen Einfällen, die zumindest mir als Nicht-Agenten-Thriller-Leser originell vorkamen, wandert der Protagonist als kleines Rädchen einer zwielichtigen, europaweit gespannten Organisation von Auftrag zu Auftrag. Diese laufen nicht immer so wie es vorgesehen war und es geht einiges schief, ohne dass der Progatonist genau weiß, warum und was genau eigentlich schief läuft.
Hier liegt auch eine kleine Schwäche des Romans. Man hat, selbst wenn ziemlich üble Methoden angewandt werden, nie das Gefühl, der Protagonist sei ernsthaft in Gefahr, und später wirkt er auch recht emotionslos gegenüber persönlichen Verlusten. Hier tritt der Autor plötzlich etliche Schritte vom Protagonisten zurück, den in der ersten Hälfte dem Leser eigentlich sehr nahebringt. Es sind dann auch die Ereignisse im letzten Drittel des Romans, die einen weiteren, echten SF-Aspekt in die Handlung einbringen, den ich nicht vorhergesehen habe und den man vordringlich vielleicht gar nicht für SF halten würde. Aber ich will nicht zuviel verrraten, wer nichts wissen möchte, sollte möglichst auch keine Klappentexte für die Fortsetzungen lesen.
Einerseits hat mich dieses letzte Drittel aus beginnender Orientierungslosigkeit als Leser in interessantere Gewässer geführt. Andererseits ist durch die damit verbundene Zurückstellung des Protagonisten zum, wie sagt man als Rollenspieler? NSC eine gewisse Gleichgültigkeit gegenüber dem, was (ihm) geschieht in gefährliche Nähe gerückt. Hier schwächelt das Konzept für meinen Geschmack.
Ingesamt ist dieser Roman trotz der angemäkelten Punkte ein hochinteressantes und wirklich gut geschriebenes Werk dessen Fortsetzungen sicher auf meinen Lesestapel landen werden, schon weil hier eine für mich dystopische zerfledderte Landkarte eines künftige Europas gezeigt wird, wie es vielerorts mittlerweile ja angestrebt und mit große Energie vorangetrieben wird.
And by the way. There is a funny mistake using the german language in my edition: "Braunkohl" instead of "Braunkohle".
The first would translate to "curly kale" the latter (which obviously was intended) is "lignite". So burning cabbage is in my opinion probably not what Mr. Hutchinson wanted to describe here. :)
Hier liegt auch eine kleine Schwäche des Romans. Man hat, selbst wenn ziemlich üble Methoden angewandt werden, nie das Gefühl, der Protagonist sei ernsthaft in Gefahr, und später wirkt er auch recht emotionslos gegenüber persönlichen Verlusten. Hier tritt der Autor plötzlich etliche Schritte vom Protagonisten zurück, den in der ersten Hälfte dem Leser eigentlich sehr nahebringt. Es sind dann auch die Ereignisse im letzten Drittel des Romans, die einen weiteren, echten SF-Aspekt in die Handlung einbringen, den ich nicht vorhergesehen habe und den man vordringlich vielleicht gar nicht für SF halten würde. Aber ich will nicht zuviel verrraten, wer nichts wissen möchte, sollte möglichst auch keine Klappentexte für die Fortsetzungen lesen.
Einerseits hat mich dieses letzte Drittel aus beginnender Orientierungslosigkeit als Leser in interessantere Gewässer geführt. Andererseits ist durch die damit verbundene Zurückstellung des Protagonisten zum, wie sagt man als Rollenspieler? NSC eine gewisse Gleichgültigkeit gegenüber dem, was (ihm) geschieht in gefährliche Nähe gerückt. Hier schwächelt das Konzept für meinen Geschmack.
Ingesamt ist dieser Roman trotz der angemäkelten Punkte ein hochinteressantes und wirklich gut geschriebenes Werk dessen Fortsetzungen sicher auf meinen Lesestapel landen werden, schon weil hier eine für mich dystopische zerfledderte Landkarte eines künftige Europas gezeigt wird, wie es vielerorts mittlerweile ja angestrebt und mit große Energie vorangetrieben wird.
And by the way. There is a funny mistake using the german language in my edition: "Braunkohl" instead of "Braunkohle".
The first would translate to "curly kale" the latter (which obviously was intended) is "lignite". So burning cabbage is in my opinion probably not what Mr. Hutchinson wanted to describe here. :)
meyers5j's review against another edition
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
3.5
rocketiza's review against another edition
5.0
Extremely well crafted thrilled that I was very into, hit the twist and thought it wasn't great, then he turned it around and ended it setting up a second book I am very excited to read.
60degreesn's review against another edition
5.0
Better than I expected - a really interesting alternative world European crime novel. Alan Furst meets Zelzany.
absoluteturkey's review against another edition
5.0
Absolutely superb. One of the finest thrillers I have read in a long time. I was very much taken by the quality and episodic nature of the writing, which balanced characters, conversations and descriptions perfectly. The ending and setup for the next novels in the series was excellent; I can't wait to dive into the next one!
theciz's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
A weird book I only really enjoyed half of.
This book was released in 2014 and god knows the politics of 2014 are all over it - Scottish independence, the eurozone crisis, austerity, Schengen - hell even the old War on Terror gets a nod. Our protagonist is supposed to be a young Estonian, but his perspective comes across as a middle aged English man on a lot of things (there’s a certain strain of that particular kind of Anglo-American disdain for "Europeans", while we get treated to the main character’s homily to London. All very eye-roll inducing, frankly).
That aside, it had some interesting world building, and although slow, I found the concept of an organisation like the Coureurs navigating a divided continent fascinating, so I could forgive the disjointed short story concept, wonkily conceived alt-polities and slow pace. There is, however, a twist - and I kind of hated it. This is partly on me for forgetting this was a sci-fi book and not just a speculative near-future spy thriller, but after getting the latter for most of the book, that’s where I wanted to stay. So I probably won’t be bothering with the sequels. A similar book is The City and The City by China Miéville, which I preferred.
This book was released in 2014 and god knows the politics of 2014 are all over it - Scottish independence, the eurozone crisis, austerity, Schengen - hell even the old War on Terror gets a nod. Our protagonist is supposed to be a young Estonian, but his perspective comes across as a middle aged English man on a lot of things (there’s a certain strain of that particular kind of Anglo-American disdain for "Europeans", while we get treated to the main character’s homily to London. All very eye-roll inducing, frankly).
That aside, it had some interesting world building, and although slow, I found the concept of an organisation like the Coureurs navigating a divided continent fascinating, so I could forgive the disjointed short story concept, wonkily conceived alt-polities and slow pace. There is, however, a twist - and I kind of hated it. This is partly on me for forgetting this was a sci-fi book and not just a speculative near-future spy thriller, but after getting the latter for most of the book, that’s where I wanted to stay. So I probably won’t be bothering with the sequels. A similar book is The City and The City by China Miéville, which I preferred.
jhouses's review against another edition
3.0
Lo que comienza siendo una novela de espionaje organizada en episodios discretos de la vida del protagonista que recuerda un poco a LeCarré y situada en un futuro cercano levemente distópico en el que Europa entera se ha galvanizado hasta un nivel ridículo; se convierte de pronto en su último cuarto en un sorprendente historia de ciencia ficción con mucho mas calado del que aparentaba. Promete secuela.
robarnold's review against another edition
3.0
I've heard very good things about this book but, although it was ok, I don't think it's worthy. The end half was good but it definately didn't make up for the slow start. Interesting final twist though.
chromatick's review against another edition
4.0
3.75 stars / 4.5 stars for the audio narration
This was not quite a 4 star book for me, but it was still really good. It's a spy/espionage book that takes place in a near future fractured Europe. There was lots of spycraft and really the bulk of the book was spent doing world building and setting up the main character for the twist that comes near the end.
I wouldn't recommend reading this book unless you are fairly certain you will like it because it leaves off on a pretty big cliffhanger. I for one am looking forward to the next book in the sequence to find out more.
Also, even though the book is listed as sci-fi, there is very little of that until right near the end so if you are wanting something along those lines you may be disappointed in this one. However if you are looking for a really good spy novel this one might be for you.
This was not quite a 4 star book for me, but it was still really good. It's a spy/espionage book that takes place in a near future fractured Europe. There was lots of spycraft and really the bulk of the book was spent doing world building and setting up the main character for the twist that comes near the end.
I wouldn't recommend reading this book unless you are fairly certain you will like it because it leaves off on a pretty big cliffhanger. I for one am looking forward to the next book in the sequence to find out more.
Also, even though the book is listed as sci-fi, there is very little of that until right near the end so if you are wanting something along those lines you may be disappointed in this one. However if you are looking for a really good spy novel this one might be for you.