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pjonsson's review
4.0
I find it difficult to rate and review this book. Overall I found it quite enjoyable to read, enough for a four star rating, but I also got the feeling that the book series is not progressing as I would have liked and has perhaps even outstayed it’s welcome a wee bit.
The first books were rather straightforward space adventure pitting humans against a technologically superior foe. Great action, technically and scientifically sound, great characters and generally well written.
In the latest book you sometimes get the feeling that the author is struggling to invent more and more mysterious and complicated enemies and plots. The enemies are everything from intelligent bacteria to huge planet sized brains. The action is generally fairly one sided where the various alien entities beat the crap out of the humans and any victories for the home team is not won by superior tactics and military prowess but by various complicated schemes using things the humans do not really fully understand.
In addition to this little gripe of mine the author spends a lot of time wandering out into technological and, sometimes, philosophical musings. It is difficult for me to complain about this since I generally like science fiction that has a solid foundation in science but you can have too much of everything. In this book I felt like there was just too much info-dumping going on. It was like a musical where the plot is interrupted by some song and dance every so often except in the book it was interrupted by these long blobs of text which did not really move the plot forward.
However, despite this I quite enjoyed the book. It could have been better as far as I am concerned but it is still a good and well written book.
The first books were rather straightforward space adventure pitting humans against a technologically superior foe. Great action, technically and scientifically sound, great characters and generally well written.
In the latest book you sometimes get the feeling that the author is struggling to invent more and more mysterious and complicated enemies and plots. The enemies are everything from intelligent bacteria to huge planet sized brains. The action is generally fairly one sided where the various alien entities beat the crap out of the humans and any victories for the home team is not won by superior tactics and military prowess but by various complicated schemes using things the humans do not really fully understand.
In addition to this little gripe of mine the author spends a lot of time wandering out into technological and, sometimes, philosophical musings. It is difficult for me to complain about this since I generally like science fiction that has a solid foundation in science but you can have too much of everything. In this book I felt like there was just too much info-dumping going on. It was like a musical where the plot is interrupted by some song and dance every so often except in the book it was interrupted by these long blobs of text which did not really move the plot forward.
However, despite this I quite enjoyed the book. It could have been better as far as I am concerned but it is still a good and well written book.
bosermoki's review
adventurous
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
tomwklose's review against another edition
5.0
Another good one in this series
It has been a while since I read a book in this series. I am not Disappointed! It brings back memories of the other books, characters, experiences and one of my favorites, technology.
It has been a while since I read a book in this series. I am not Disappointed! It brings back memories of the other books, characters, experiences and one of my favorites, technology.
sbisson's review
Recent Reads: Dark Mind. The latest in Ian Douglas' Star Carrier milSF series ramps the threats: a Kardashev Type III civilization attacks!
snowcrash's review
3.0
_Dark Mind_ starts off where _Deep Time_ left off. It took a few pages to get back into the swing of things. This time around, the book feels more like a bridge between two antagonists more than anything else.
There isn't a lot of carrier action this time around. A few scenes with the carrier squadrons, but not much. A lot of different threads moving along. Sh'daar and its resolution felt weak. Hard to wrap your head around doing peace negotiations with your present day attacker 800+ million years in the past. The final reason for why the Sh'daar fear GRIN I didn't find that satisfying.
The book has the usual Ian Douglas traits of long winded explinations of technical details between lines of dialogue. If you are not used to this, it can be disconcerting to have a character mention something then end up with several thick paragraphs of detail. This time around he brings in Tabby's Star and his take on why the Kepler spacecraft saw what it saw.
Overall, this is an OK entry into the Star Carrier series. But isn't the best.
There isn't a lot of carrier action this time around. A few scenes with the carrier squadrons, but not much. A lot of different threads moving along. Sh'daar and its resolution felt weak. Hard to wrap your head around doing peace negotiations with your present day attacker 800+ million years in the past. The final reason for why the Sh'daar fear GRIN I didn't find that satisfying.
The book has the usual Ian Douglas traits of long winded explinations of technical details between lines of dialogue. If you are not used to this, it can be disconcerting to have a character mention something then end up with several thick paragraphs of detail. This time around he brings in Tabby's Star and his take on why the Kepler spacecraft saw what it saw.
Overall, this is an OK entry into the Star Carrier series. But isn't the best.
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