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corymojojojo's review against another edition
5.0
This book has changed my opinion on Stephen Baxter. I thought he was just an imaginative writer who sometimes gets lucky when his ideas are good enough that his writing quality doesn’t really matter, but now I’m inclined to believe this guy is seriously a genius. I can’t wrap my head around how he can write books this well when he pumps out something like two novels every year….
Coalescent is a very different book than his other Xeelee stories, even though it’s technically set in the same universe. Instead of the usual super hard sci-fi space opera, this is more of a historical thriller set plainly on Earth. Whereas Baxter usually focuses his intensive info dumps on science and cosmology, this time he focuses it on Roman history and Darwinian biology. This book is very much a slow burn, but man is the payoff worth it. And not only are his ideas mind-boggling as always, he actually managed to write some great and compelling characters this time. Thank god for that too, if Regina wasn’t such a well-conceived character, I don’t know if I could have made it through the Roman history info dumps that filled the middle of the book. I’m not sure how he did it, but somehow he snuck a book about Roman history into his hard sci-fi space opera series and inexplicably succeeded.
Coalescent is a very different book than his other Xeelee stories, even though it’s technically set in the same universe. Instead of the usual super hard sci-fi space opera, this is more of a historical thriller set plainly on Earth. Whereas Baxter usually focuses his intensive info dumps on science and cosmology, this time he focuses it on Roman history and Darwinian biology. This book is very much a slow burn, but man is the payoff worth it. And not only are his ideas mind-boggling as always, he actually managed to write some great and compelling characters this time. Thank god for that too, if Regina wasn’t such a well-conceived character, I don’t know if I could have made it through the Roman history info dumps that filled the middle of the book. I’m not sure how he did it, but somehow he snuck a book about Roman history into his hard sci-fi space opera series and inexplicably succeeded.
zmb's review against another edition
4.0
That was an interesting and unexpected dystopia. And I'm always a sucker for a little historical fiction.
nwhyte's review against another edition
http://nhw.livejournal.com/64380.html[return][return]Rather a surprise, this, as Baxter tries to tell a human story and also a grand historical narrative using his characteristic stark narrative technique. While this may not be the best book I've read by him, it is probably the most interesting.
tome15's review against another edition
4.0
Baxter likes the long form. He steals from everybody but he does a pretty good job of it. Sometimes though I think his 500 page novels would be better if they were 300 page novels.
evescarby's review
challenging
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Rape, Sexual violence, Forced institutionalization, and Body shaming
riduidel's review against another edition
2.0
Gros bouquin, au thème pourtant simple : le personnage principal découvre que sa famille est beaucoup plus étendue dans le temps qu'il ne pouvait le croire, mais aussi que son organisation sociale la rapproche pas mal d'une secte.
Bon, en fait, c'est plus compliqué et parfois plus spectaculaire que ça. mais, surtout, cet élément, qui est le coeur de l'intrigue, m'est passé complètement à côté, focalisé que j'étais sur le décor. Pourquoi ? simple : Rome. Rome, la ville éternelle ! Je me suis plongé moi-même dans cette ville où l'Histoire transpire dans chaque ruelle. j'ai vu moi aussi l'estrade depuis laquelle Cicéron haranguait les citoyens romains. Et je peux vous dire que, face à ça, pour qu'une histoire emporte mon intérêt, il faut qu'elle soit bien solide.
Or cette histoire de société/ruche familiale terrée sous la voie Appienne ne m'a absolument pas fasciné. Si le personnage initial de Regina, qui fuit l'Angleterre en quête d'une terre sûre m'a rappelé les personnages du [b:Printemps d'Helliconia], le reste m'a paru assez (voire franchement) téléphoné, et la quête familiale de George n'était qu'un parasite dans ses errances romaines.
Du coup je ne sais pas trop si je lirai le prochain tome ...
Hein ? Quoi ? m'interroger sur la nature humaine (ou pas) des femmes de l'Ordre ? Pfff ... aucun intérêt.
Bon, en fait, c'est plus compliqué et parfois plus spectaculaire que ça. mais, surtout, cet élément, qui est le coeur de l'intrigue, m'est passé complètement à côté, focalisé que j'étais sur le décor. Pourquoi ? simple : Rome. Rome, la ville éternelle ! Je me suis plongé moi-même dans cette ville où l'Histoire transpire dans chaque ruelle. j'ai vu moi aussi l'estrade depuis laquelle Cicéron haranguait les citoyens romains. Et je peux vous dire que, face à ça, pour qu'une histoire emporte mon intérêt, il faut qu'elle soit bien solide.
Or cette histoire de société/ruche familiale terrée sous la voie Appienne ne m'a absolument pas fasciné. Si le personnage initial de Regina, qui fuit l'Angleterre en quête d'une terre sûre m'a rappelé les personnages du [b:Printemps d'Helliconia], le reste m'a paru assez (voire franchement) téléphoné, et la quête familiale de George n'était qu'un parasite dans ses errances romaines.
Du coup je ne sais pas trop si je lirai le prochain tome ...
Hein ? Quoi ? m'interroger sur la nature humaine (ou pas) des femmes de l'Ordre ? Pfff ... aucun intérêt.
mw2k's review
5.0
I don't buy the concept of human eusociality, so I found that a little hard to take, yet Baxter has presented the idea with such iron plausibility you want to believe. And he has laid it bare on the table, with no judgementalism or bias. It's for you, dear reader, to decide if Regina's Order of human termites is a boon or a bane for mankind.
Theme aside, it's a compelling tale that weaves its warps between disparate periods of time with aplomb. I found the tale of Regina to be the highlight of these - her struggles in the dying days of the Roman Empire are frankly captivating.
I'm glad I read this. It's left a palpable impression on me.
Theme aside, it's a compelling tale that weaves its warps between disparate periods of time with aplomb. I found the tale of Regina to be the highlight of these - her struggles in the dying days of the Roman Empire are frankly captivating.
I'm glad I read this. It's left a palpable impression on me.
weegra's review against another edition
2.0
For the vast majority of this book I was deeply, deeply uncomfortable. The choices of an unlikeable, selfish character set in the fall of the Roman character were almost enough to make me put the whole thing down, from prostituting out her daughter to the strange, gut reactions she had in the formation of her heritage-worshiping cult. Glimpses of a historical Arthur were possibly the only thing that saves this from a one-star review— that and the promise of science fiction world-building at the end that hinted at something better, a greater purpose to the suffering sprinkled out throughout the book. I can’t tell if the insect-like people that the Order became was misogynistic or not, or if it was a warning of groupthink, or something different. I’ll be thinking about this story for a long time, and not in a good way.
errantdreams's review against another edition
4.0
The back cover text led me to believe that this was a very different flavor of book than it turned out to be. Almost the entirety of that supposed teaser applies not to the entire book, but to the end of the book. That’s right–instead of providing the premise, they provide the climax (and some of that description is actually incorrect). Also, the text presents an impression of a book that is heavily sci-fi and suspenseful, which simply isn’t the case. The majority of the book is a combination of George slowly tracking down his sister in parallel with the Order’s origin story in ancient Rome. Which means that most of the book is actually a historical with no sci-fi content whatsoever. There’s also virtually no suspense to the pacing–it’s a slow unfolding of history, location, and plot, with a gradual, immersive pacing and a great deal of information to impart.
Here’s the really frustrating part of that: it’s a good book. Despite the fact that historicals aren’t my thing, I’m not fond of didactic books that spend whole pages on geography and history lessons, and I was really looking forward to the SF/suspense book that I thought I was getting, it totally hooked me in. I loved it.
The characterization is interesting. Regina is the star of the show--her drive to survive, and some of the things she does in order to do so, are fascinating. Note that there’s some dark material in here–the sacking of places by invaders is rarely anything but horrific. I also appreciated the use of Lucia, a member of the Order who doesn’t entirely fit in, as a means to explore the modern-day Order.
The slow unfolding of both stories engaged me despite the fact that I’d really wanted a suspenseful novel and don’t normally read historicals. I found some of the epilogue material, which jumps ahead very far in time, confusing, but that didn’t ruin the rest of the book for me. I just hope that my review allows you to decide whether you’d enjoy the book based on the actual content.
Visit my site for a longer review including premise: http://www.errantdreams.com/2014/06/review-coalescent-stephen-baxter/
Here’s the really frustrating part of that: it’s a good book. Despite the fact that historicals aren’t my thing, I’m not fond of didactic books that spend whole pages on geography and history lessons, and I was really looking forward to the SF/suspense book that I thought I was getting, it totally hooked me in. I loved it.
The characterization is interesting. Regina is the star of the show--her drive to survive, and some of the things she does in order to do so, are fascinating. Note that there’s some dark material in here–the sacking of places by invaders is rarely anything but horrific. I also appreciated the use of Lucia, a member of the Order who doesn’t entirely fit in, as a means to explore the modern-day Order.
The slow unfolding of both stories engaged me despite the fact that I’d really wanted a suspenseful novel and don’t normally read historicals. I found some of the epilogue material, which jumps ahead very far in time, confusing, but that didn’t ruin the rest of the book for me. I just hope that my review allows you to decide whether you’d enjoy the book based on the actual content.
Visit my site for a longer review including premise: http://www.errantdreams.com/2014/06/review-coalescent-stephen-baxter/