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willrefuge's review against another edition
4.0
Excellent.
Edge to THE RISING over the first book, but just barely. It didn't hit me quite the same way THE MECHANICAL did, but kept the action up in its stead, with a pace that moved quickly and never became weighed down with philosophy or the historical adequacies it struggled (and succeeded, mostly) to maintain. The philosophy was just enough but without becoming beleaguering, and the adventure of the rogue Clakker Jax was more than enough to keep me entertained. In fact, I enjoyed all the characters THE RISING had to offer, while Jax remained my favorite, the story never stalled for me enough that I struggled between his chapters.
Full-er review to come, hopefully.
4.5 / 5 stars
Edge to THE RISING over the first book, but just barely. It didn't hit me quite the same way THE MECHANICAL did, but kept the action up in its stead, with a pace that moved quickly and never became weighed down with philosophy or the historical adequacies it struggled (and succeeded, mostly) to maintain. The philosophy was just enough but without becoming beleaguering, and the adventure of the rogue Clakker Jax was more than enough to keep me entertained. In fact, I enjoyed all the characters THE RISING had to offer, while Jax remained my favorite, the story never stalled for me enough that I struggled between his chapters.
Full-er review to come, hopefully.
4.5 / 5 stars
crimsoncor's review against another edition
4.0
Even though it is building towards a relatively inevitable conclusion, it does so with great pacing and quite a variety of surprises along the way. Also, the inevitability of the conclusion isn't really a problem since this is the only second book in the series. It builds to this immense crescendo and then you have any entire third book in which to see how the pieces all fall out.
gavinsteyn's review against another edition
adventurous
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
p3tt1tt's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
scheu's review against another edition
4.0
I'm pretty sure that Ian Tregillis could write a take-out menu and I would love it. This continues a fun and fascinating series that is both philosophical and action-packed. I'm eager to see how it ends.
cameronkc's review
4.0
This book tackles some extensive violence and gore along with very broad themes like freedom, slavery and free will. Longchamp and Bernice and both interesting as is Jax. I enjoyed Tregillis's and his descriptions, his writing is actually quite good. There is a lot going on in this story and while no one is truly the protagonist, I enjoyed this story more than the first.
adamrbrooks's review against another edition
4.0
This review has some spoilers
Anyone who reads my reviews knows I think Milkweed is amazing, and book 1 in this series wasn’t quite as strong.
Similar for book 2, though I enjoyed this one more. It gets just a tad long, but has a great ending.
And the author continues to make me think about the nature of people; As Daniel becomes more human, he becomes more devious.
Good line as he realizes this: “Why did everything always boil down to murder ... it was a sad world, populated by savages of flesh and brutes of brass.”
Another good line about being forced into impure choices: “It wasn’t bestowing Free Will ... It was merely changing their loyalty.” Exactly the sort of brutal realizations I need from this author.
Anyone who reads my reviews knows I think Milkweed is amazing, and book 1 in this series wasn’t quite as strong.
Similar for book 2, though I enjoyed this one more. It gets just a tad long, but has a great ending.
And the author continues to make me think about the nature of people; As Daniel becomes more human, he becomes more devious.
Good line as he realizes this: “Why did everything always boil down to murder ... it was a sad world, populated by savages of flesh and brutes of brass.”
Another good line about being forced into impure choices: “It wasn’t bestowing Free Will ... It was merely changing their loyalty.” Exactly the sort of brutal realizations I need from this author.
mlore95's review
4.0
A small improvement over the first novel that drives the plot forward and has a pretty satisfying ending, which is pretty rare for middle books in a trilogy. Our main cast returns, with Hugo Longchamp being made a POV character and given lots of screentime.I liked this change. Hugo's definitely not a unique character by any means, but the 'grizzled hardass snarky veteran with a hidden sensitive side' is always a fun archetype and it's nailed here. There's a lot less outright torture in this book, and most of the graphic violence is contained in Hugo's chapters. I thought the first book was maybe a bit extreme in its violence, so having it mostly contained was welcome.
The Rising is much more fast-paced and action-focused than The Mechanical. Hugo's chapters are almost entirely focused on the war and the siege, which was really well done, but it comes at the cost of having less room to dive into the deeper philosophical and ethical questions of the first novel.
I really liked this one. It was definitely more of a page turner than the first book, and the ending sets up the finale fantastically. The ending also really sets up Jax as the main character. While other characters share equal screentime, the series at its core is about the Mechanicals' struggle for free will and autonomy and that point is driven home at the finale of the novel.
The writing itself is consistently good. For most genre fiction (that isn't Le Guin, Kay, Tolkien, or their ilk) the highest praise you can give is that the prose doesn't get in the way of a good story. Tregillis can write really well, and there were no awkward phrases or poorly constructed sentences that took me out of the story. There is quite a bit more cursing, which felt the tiniest bit out of place compared to the first novel, but this one having a much more militaristic focus didn't make that too jarring.
The Rising is much more fast-paced and action-focused than The Mechanical. Hugo's chapters are almost entirely focused on the war and the siege, which was really well done, but it comes at the cost of having less room to dive into the deeper philosophical and ethical questions of the first novel.
I really liked this one. It was definitely more of a page turner than the first book, and the ending sets up the finale fantastically. The ending also really sets up Jax as the main character. While other characters share equal screentime, the series at its core is about the Mechanicals' struggle for free will and autonomy and that point is driven home at the finale of the novel.
The writing itself is consistently good. For most genre fiction (that isn't Le Guin, Kay, Tolkien, or their ilk) the highest praise you can give is that the prose doesn't get in the way of a good story. Tregillis can write really well, and there were no awkward phrases or poorly constructed sentences that took me out of the story. There is quite a bit more cursing, which felt the tiniest bit out of place compared to the first novel, but this one having a much more militaristic focus didn't make that too jarring.
indigooryx's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.75