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timinbc's review against another edition
3.0
I agree with Manuel Antão, who said "To fully enjoy this novel you've got to put on your YA hat, otherwise it won't work." You also need to remember that Reynolds thinks BIG and you mustn't look too closely at the magician's hands.
Let's look at the magician's hands anyway.
So here we are in a setting that has dismantled entire solar systems at the atomic level, and now they measure in leagues and spans, carry swords and talk like cartoon pirates (especially Tindouf/Smeagol). But they also have flying eyes, volition pistols, implausibly powerful ship guns and more. They have alien skulls as some kind of psychic ansible.
They have the SF-normal 500' ship with a crew of six.
Glimmery lives on a wretched slum of a wheel out in the armpit of nowhere, but he has milk baths several times a day - and he's a BIG man. Where. Are. The. Dairy. Farms?
Near the end we learn that they are eight million leagues from The Miser, and the best guess for travel time is 50 days. Shall we do some math? A league is three miles. They are going to average 20,000 miles per hour. Now imagine the acceleration pressure on a solar sail; it is roughly equal to being breathed on from 20 feet by an asthmatic butterfly. Sure, it eventually builds up impressively. But here all the acceleration has to be in the first half because they then have to slow down for 25 days. But Reynolds escapes for now: From Revelation Space we know that lighthuggers can accelerate at 1g (which makes it possible- as long as you don't ask how a solar sail can generate 1g acceleration)
I found it really annoying as Reynolds dragged out the scene of letting Eddralder tell Glimmery what he needed to know. But when that was resolved interestingly, I was set up for a key exchange that makes the whole flimsy book OK. One of the older crew members explains to Kid Captain that ain't nobody on this ship is much of a good person. Even those who try to be good aren't succeeding. (Reader reviews cast of characters, hmm, yes, this is true.)
Now we look back at the increasingly impossible situation our "heroes" are in, and we realize that not only are they not very good people, but they have never really had any good choices available to them.
THAT makes me want to read #3. That, and the sentient money.
Let's look at the magician's hands anyway.
So here we are in a setting that has dismantled entire solar systems at the atomic level, and now they measure in leagues and spans, carry swords and talk like cartoon pirates (especially Tindouf/Smeagol). But they also have flying eyes, volition pistols, implausibly powerful ship guns and more. They have alien skulls as some kind of psychic ansible.
They have the SF-normal 500' ship with a crew of six.
Glimmery lives on a wretched slum of a wheel out in the armpit of nowhere, but he has milk baths several times a day - and he's a BIG man. Where. Are. The. Dairy. Farms?
Near the end we learn that they are eight million leagues from The Miser, and the best guess for travel time is 50 days. Shall we do some math? A league is three miles. They are going to average 20,000 miles per hour. Now imagine the acceleration pressure on a solar sail; it is roughly equal to being breathed on from 20 feet by an asthmatic butterfly. Sure, it eventually builds up impressively. But here all the acceleration has to be in the first half because they then have to slow down for 25 days. But Reynolds escapes for now: From Revelation Space we know that lighthuggers can accelerate at 1g (which makes it possible- as long as you don't ask how a solar sail can generate 1g acceleration)
I found it really annoying as Reynolds dragged out the scene of letting Eddralder tell Glimmery what he needed to know. But when that was resolved interestingly, I was set up for a key exchange that makes the whole flimsy book OK. One of the older crew members explains to Kid Captain that ain't nobody on this ship is much of a good person. Even those who try to be good aren't succeeding. (Reader reviews cast of characters, hmm, yes, this is true.)
Now we look back at the increasingly impossible situation our "heroes" are in, and we realize that not only are they not very good people, but they have never really had any good choices available to them.
THAT makes me want to read #3. That, and the sentient money.
sparkie's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-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
longhorn396's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
thedadsie's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
spontaneityhasitstimeandplace's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
The second book of the trilogy is still a (kind of) steampunk space adventure at heart following the (mis)adventures of a pair of sisters. But half of the book has more of a crime noir 1930ties vibe. The overall story is doing good letting the reader learn more about the vast world-setting, making a lot of the intersting but rather vague descriptions for the first book more accessable. At the same time some of the mysteries are revealed, making it worth the read.
One thing I noticed that felt a bit odd is that side characters have little or even none dialog. I do not remember another book that had characters along the whole story (it's a small crew!) that are only mentioned standing around when needed but never ever just say anything.
One thing I noticed that felt a bit odd is that side characters have little or even none dialog. I do not remember another book that had characters along the whole story (it's a small crew!) that are only mentioned standing around when needed but never ever just say anything.
shalmeneser's review against another edition
4.0
A wonderful follow-up to Revenger. Keeps the plot moving with a myriad of unexpected twists and turns.
cerys_isabel's review against another edition
4.0
Got into this one quicker than the 1st book, cannot wait to see what they do with the rest of the story, set it up very well for book 3