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teanahk's review against another edition
4.0
A really entertaining read. Like an action movie in book form. Very vivid descriptions of world hopping adventures. Interesting characters.
A bit of hand wavy math stuff of the lolwut? Variety but otherwise a fun book.
A bit of hand wavy math stuff of the lolwut? Variety but otherwise a fun book.
errantdreams's review against another edition
4.0
The idea of a Well between worlds is neat–I enjoy world-hopping adventures. Somewhat original in here is the idea that there are actual towns suspended within the Well. The Red Sand Library is also really neat and original. However, I found the Powers to be very monolithic. All of the Cogs were largely the same; all of the Vats’ agents were largely the same. We only saw some variation in the Librarians through seeing Essa’s background, and there were only two individualized Librarians besides her.
I also found it difficult to really understand the Library. It’s an Intelligence, and the Librarians are researchers. There are creatures called Isms that the various Librarians serve, and which sometimes do battle. I never understood how exactly they do research. And other than Essa’s attempt to research how to create new Doors–something only the Exile knows how to do before her–I never understood what most of the Librarians research. Most of the flashbacks to Essa’s past explore the relationships between her, an old friend of hers, and a Librarian named Gregor, who ends up in the middle of the war against the Exile along with Essa. The unusual things Essa can do involve her Ism and red sand and strange symbols she forms with her hands or writes directly into the sand, and I never got a handle on that. It feels kind of hand-waved, especially when Ben (who happens to be a hacker) gets involved on his laptop.
What’s there is really neat, but I felt like there needed to be more. More variation among the Powers and a greater understanding of how the Library worked. This is an enjoyable book, however, and I’d like to see more of this world.
Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2019/04/review-wellside-robin-shortt/
I also found it difficult to really understand the Library. It’s an Intelligence, and the Librarians are researchers. There are creatures called Isms that the various Librarians serve, and which sometimes do battle. I never understood how exactly they do research. And other than Essa’s attempt to research how to create new Doors–something only the Exile knows how to do before her–I never understood what most of the Librarians research. Most of the flashbacks to Essa’s past explore the relationships between her, an old friend of hers, and a Librarian named Gregor, who ends up in the middle of the war against the Exile along with Essa. The unusual things Essa can do involve her Ism and red sand and strange symbols she forms with her hands or writes directly into the sand, and I never got a handle on that. It feels kind of hand-waved, especially when Ben (who happens to be a hacker) gets involved on his laptop.
What’s there is really neat, but I felt like there needed to be more. More variation among the Powers and a greater understanding of how the Library worked. This is an enjoyable book, however, and I’d like to see more of this world.
Original review posted on my blog: http://www.errantdreams.com/2019/04/review-wellside-robin-shortt/
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