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ward_ja's review against another edition
3.0
I love Mr. Reynolds' earlier work so I was disappointed here a bit. This series should be left for later when considering which of his works to next read.
The approach to Poseidon by Kanu and Dakota was particularly rough because of the unrealistic plot contrivances of speed, trajectory and timing of the various action. It finally cost me all of my willing suspension of disbelief, sadly.
But Mr. Reynolds is still and always a wonderful image builder; one of the best.
The approach to Poseidon by Kanu and Dakota was particularly rough because of the unrealistic plot contrivances of speed, trajectory and timing of the various action. It finally cost me all of my willing suspension of disbelief, sadly.
But Mr. Reynolds is still and always a wonderful image builder; one of the best.
diatomsattack's review
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
The story (plot) and characters (conceptually) were okay, but the dialogue was awkward and underwhelming throughout most of the book. In several places the dialogue just seemed underdeveloped and it made the characters less interesting and a little one-dimensional.
lesliefh's review against another edition
2.0
I really liked the first two books in the Poseidon's Children cycle. And I really liked this one for the first 80%. Unfortunately, an extremely important plot point hinges on complete misunderstanding of space travel and space travel physics - there's a ship with a magical drive that is somehow unable to avoid hitting a planet because it can only do sustained 1g acceleration instead of sustained 3g acceleration.
Missing a planet with a magical constant thrust drive is extremely easy. It's like basing an important plot point in a book on the fact that someone sees a train coming to crush him and tries to outrun it along the tracks but fails, instead of just getting off the tracks.
It's an SF magnum opus with interstellar travel, artificial intelligences, nanotech and talking elephants, and nothing there broke my suspension of disbelief. But being unable to avoid hitting a planet with a supercharged fusion drive and hours to spare? This jarred me rather unpleasantly.
Missing a planet with a magical constant thrust drive is extremely easy. It's like basing an important plot point in a book on the fact that someone sees a train coming to crush him and tries to outrun it along the tracks but fails, instead of just getting off the tracks.
It's an SF magnum opus with interstellar travel, artificial intelligences, nanotech and talking elephants, and nothing there broke my suspension of disbelief. But being unable to avoid hitting a planet with a supercharged fusion drive and hours to spare? This jarred me rather unpleasantly.
walden2ite's review against another edition
5.0
An incredible conclusion to this trilogy; definitely some of Alastair Reynold's best work. The scope of every book increased, and there were moving characters and deep philosophical explorations along the way.
elzabetg's review against another edition
3.0
I had the audiobook and frankly the reader did not help what was already a book that needed...something. Parsley? Sage? Rosemary? Thyme? This story could have been so much more but it just fell flat. I usually can't say enough good about Alastair Reynolds but...Meh.
ashryn's review against another edition
5.0
There are a lot of great things about Alastair Reynolds' writing, but the one that most impresses me right now is that he doesn't lazily copy chunks of previous stories into the current one as if his readers are too stupid to either notice, or remember the previous story. He expects, and quite rightly, a certain level of intelligence in his readers, and if you can't remember what happened in the lat book, read it again or lookup a plot summary, he doesn't slow down the story with recaps for the lazy or distracted, the story is crafted for the fully engaged reader.
Having said all that, before you read this, if it's been a while, go and re read the Akinya novels, though the story stands alone, the historical background of the family and human endeavours helps to place current events in context.
I enjoyed it a lot.. As I enjoy all his books, but as it's the third book, I won't go into details. Chances are you already know what Reynolds' worlds are like, but if this is your first taste, I'd recommend visiting some of his earlier work first.
Having said all that, before you read this, if it's been a while, go and re read the Akinya novels, though the story stands alone, the historical background of the family and human endeavours helps to place current events in context.
I enjoyed it a lot.. As I enjoy all his books, but as it's the third book, I won't go into details. Chances are you already know what Reynolds' worlds are like, but if this is your first taste, I'd recommend visiting some of his earlier work first.
aibird's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
5.0
pauljacobson's review against another edition
5.0
Terrific conclusion
I really enjoyed this series of books. This last book was particularly good. I already regret finishing it so quickly!
I really enjoyed this series of books. This last book was particularly good. I already regret finishing it so quickly!
gullevek's review against another edition
4.0
A nice fitting end for this pretty good Trilogy. It had less "bumps" as the second book in my opinion. Definitely a good read, and a recommend for all who read the first two books and were a bit turned off by the content of the second one.