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timinbc's review against another edition
4.0
I'm awarding 4 stars for the balancing of SF and philosophy. There were so many opportunities for this story to have gone off the rails or to have gone too deep.
Instead we get a solid "What if" followed by a sensible exploration of what mostly-rational people would DO about it. Mixed with a review of existing philosophy on the theme of "what is reality anyway?" and a bit of thought about how THAT might change if this thing actually happened.
There's room for quibbles about conservation of this and that, but one of the most solid rules of SF is that the author gets ONE freebie that can be explained by handwaving, but after that everything has to be rational again. As in "FTL may actually be impossible, but just suppose ... "
I didn't much care for any of the characters, and their intro got a tad tedious, but the variety of them was well done.
If the embedded book with the same title as this one was telling me something, I must have missed it. Perhaps if you believe theory X you will find a way to incorporate the book in it.
Thought-provoking, for sure.
Instead we get a solid "What if" followed by a sensible exploration of what mostly-rational people would DO about it. Mixed with a review of existing philosophy on the theme of "what is reality anyway?" and a bit of thought about how THAT might change if this thing actually happened.
There's room for quibbles about conservation of this and that, but one of the most solid rules of SF is that the author gets ONE freebie that can be explained by handwaving, but after that everything has to be rational again. As in "FTL may actually be impossible, but just suppose ... "
I didn't much care for any of the characters, and their intro got a tad tedious, but the variety of them was well done.
If the embedded book with the same title as this one was telling me something, I must have missed it. Perhaps if you believe theory X you will find a way to incorporate the book in it.
Thought-provoking, for sure.
ambermk's review against another edition
3.75
the last five minutes of this took me OUT. why is the french media I consume always like this 😭
canadian_cristal's review against another edition
challenging
slow-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
2.5
p25n's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
gabriel98's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75
cecile87's review against another edition
4.0
Four stars for the engaging short stories about some of the characters on Air France 6. I didn’t follow all of the science as the science characters tried to explain the anomaly.
Some parts I was horrified, others had me laughing. Americans are buffoons, mostly, in their weaponized capitalism and fanatical religiosity. The French are philosophical and civilized.
The story dragged on a bit towards the end—I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Overall, intriguing and kept me reading it quickly until I started to get bored. Finally finished it and what a hoot at the very end.
Some parts I was horrified, others had me laughing. Americans are buffoons, mostly, in their weaponized capitalism and fanatical religiosity. The French are philosophical and civilized.
The story dragged on a bit towards the end—I kept waiting for the other shoe to drop.
Overall, intriguing and kept me reading it quickly until I started to get bored. Finally finished it and what a hoot at the very end.
maddie_can_read's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
funny
mysterious
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
I went into this book only knowing that it was categorized as science fiction.
Very interesting read. I can see how it's not for everyone, but I really enjoyed it.
Really enjoyed the humour throughout the book and the pop culture references.
there are a LOT of characters and the build up is very long but I think the payoff is worth it. I did not see what happened coming.
Very interesting read. I can see how it's not for everyone, but I really enjoyed it.
Really enjoyed the humour throughout the book and the pop culture references.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Confinement, Death, Cancer, Animal death, Gore, and Murder
Moderate: Toxic relationship, Child abuse, Pedophilia, Torture, and Suicide
Minor: Sexual content, Gun violence, Rape, Religious bigotry, Pregnancy, Sexual violence, and Sexual assault
apbart's review against another edition
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.5
writerreader's review against another edition
1.25
[spoilers]
Not even sure where to start. Another award winning novel that falls so far short of any kind of decent bar I have to assume coke and bribes were made to have it win so much acclaim. Or maybe it's me. I swear this would have done better as a short story... but that just might be me again. The premise is pretty intriguing. An entirely exact plane lands with the exact same people on it as another flight that had experienced turbulence some time ago. Filled with duplicate people, this mystery now needs to be solved. But it isn't. Not even in the realist sense that we couldn't possibly know (it seems most settle on it being the result of us living in a simulation) but it doesn't dive into the true reactions humanity would have to both that realization and how each person would deal with having a "duplicate" around.
So in the end the idea was great, but both not fully realized as well as not truthful to how people act in such situations.
Not even sure where to start. Another award winning novel that falls so far short of any kind of decent bar I have to assume coke and bribes were made to have it win so much acclaim. Or maybe it's me. I swear this would have done better as a short story... but that just might be me again. The premise is pretty intriguing. An entirely exact plane lands with the exact same people on it as another flight that had experienced turbulence some time ago. Filled with duplicate people, this mystery now needs to be solved. But it isn't. Not even in the realist sense that we couldn't possibly know (it seems most settle on it being the result of us living in a simulation) but it doesn't dive into the true reactions humanity would have to both that realization and how each person would deal with having a "duplicate" around.
So in the end the idea was great, but both not fully realized as well as not truthful to how people act in such situations.
silviaamaturo's review against another edition
mysterious
medium-paced
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0