Reviews

Counterweight by Djuna

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timinbc's review

2.0

This one lost me pretty early. One of the characters appears to be unknowingly carrying some or all of the late President's thoughts, and it's pretty clear that this is going to degenerate into "you see, Jim, Choo is actually under the control of this AI copy of Jung, who works for Park, who is unaware that Chee is controlling him based on implanted orders from Koo ....

Worth discussing, no doubt. Let me know when you're done and I'll read the abstract.

tacochelle's review

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challenging mysterious reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

It's an interesting exploration of colonization, capitalism, and where our relationship with AI can lead to. The narration from the main character's pov felt a little too detached, both from the story and the characters around them. Why it's like that makes sense from the background of that character, but it also made it harder to care about what happens. For such a short book, it took me a while to finish.

allisoncrutch's review

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fast-paced

Strong character development? No
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

3.5

astrawitch's review

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slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

stephaniellejem's review

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adventurous mysterious fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix

3.5

emmaraeempowered's review

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fast-paced

2.5

voxvenati's review against another edition

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adventurous medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

Short but dense, this book was an interesting perspective on/look into current trends in Korean scifi. Also, the prose of the translation was very good.

For how short the book was, there were a lot of characters and family dynamics to keep track of. You’re given a heads up by way of a family tree in the front matter of the book.

The mystery aspect was fine, but I enjoyed the world building more than the mystery itself. The political situation, history with the area, structure of the company were all fascinating. The resolution to the actual plot/mystery was just fine. Nothing groundbreaking. Not really any twists for how twisty the route was to get there. It was less of a thriller than I was hoping, though there’s a fair amount of action and death.

Overall, had a good time. I would read more from Djuna, and the translation by Anton Hur was pleasant to read, as usual.