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meliemelo's review against another edition
4.0
Very, very interesting read. I do wish we'd spent more time in each era, and with each character, while understanding that the shortness of the vignettes is what made them so sweet. I enjoyed the different perspectives on parentality and conception, and how the abundance of characters and points of views made it so that in the end, overall, the book doesn't seem to be passing judgment on the different options presented. A longer look at abortion could also have been interesting, but I accept that this is not the direction the book wanted to go to.
littleblackduckbooks's review against another edition
2.0
2.5
read for Buzzwordathon in January - Dream
read for Buzzwordathon in January - Dream
wmhenrymorris's review against another edition
I enjoyed the subtle way that changes in technology are integrated into the story--almost as a backdrop--so that it's very much near future SF but reads like literary fiction but the two are not pushing against each other. On the other hand, Abigail Nussbaum's Strange Horizons review makes some great points about the weaknesses of the novel, and I agree with them: http://strangehorizons.com/non-fiction/dreams-before-the-start-of-time-by-anne-charnock/
nwhyte's review against another edition
4.0
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/2976098.html
This story is told through a series of closely linked vignettes, following the two main characters, Millie and Toni, from their discovery that they are pregnant in 2034 to their old age, exploring how technology changes their relationships to their parents, lovers, children and grandchildren. I guess I rate it just a little lower because the ending is rather abrupt, but in other ways it's a book very much for the present day, when we are on the cusp of redefining a lot of these concepts.
This story is told through a series of closely linked vignettes, following the two main characters, Millie and Toni, from their discovery that they are pregnant in 2034 to their old age, exploring how technology changes their relationships to their parents, lovers, children and grandchildren. I guess I rate it just a little lower because the ending is rather abrupt, but in other ways it's a book very much for the present day, when we are on the cusp of redefining a lot of these concepts.
tasadion's review against another edition
1.0
The reader was left unchallenged and uncaring. The characters and the setting do not stay with you and neither does the plot.
ania_star's review against another edition
1.0
DNF. I could not get into this book. It just didn't connect. Not a fan of this concept, or writing.
a_l_deleon's review against another edition
2.0
I read until about halfway and then just couldn't get through the rest of it. It's not badly written, it's just not catching my interest at all.
inkymouse's review against another edition
4.0
I picked up this book after reading it had been shortlisted for the Arthur C. Clarke Award, and the synopsis made it sound like the kind of book I would be in to.
The structure is similar to that taken by David Mitchell in the Bone Clocks in that it tells the story of several different people and how their lives intertwine across a century, however, the themes explored are completely different.
The story took a while to get going as the first section was quite long and focused a lot on families and relationships and what these are and how we navigate them. I found this section boring, and while I didn’t struggle to get through it, it made me question whether I wanted to persevere. However, the perseverance was worthwhile, even through a section where it felt as though Charnock had several good ideas and forced them uncomfortably together.
Ultimately the book was an exploration of alternative family values. Of what conception might look like in future. This included the option of both men and women having children which are genetically only their own.
This then led into questions around what is the limit of parental obligation to their children? For example, would it be considered better or safer to have your child carried to term in an artificial womb? Is it responsible to have your child genetically screened and then altered?
There were also hints of an underclass forming, which was made up of those born to parents who couldn’t afford artificial wombs or to have their children genetically modified, but also explores why making the assumption that one is better than the other is not fool proof, and that genetic modification does not guarantee a better, smarter, more beautiful child. There was so much to unpack and explore
At times I found it difficult to keep track of everyone due to the structure and complexity of the story being told, but this wasn’t a bad thing, as Charnock was excellent at pulling you back into the story and catching you up on what had happened in intervening years, illustrating who had links to who.
There was so much going on – the book could easily have been much longer or had several different stories attached to it. However, I like that it doesn’t, as it allows your own mind to wander and explore these possibilities. Overall, I ended up loving this book for what felt like incredibly real future possibilities, for exploring what family unities may look like in the future, the controversies and conversations that might come with these, and what the economic realities of such a future might look like.
The structure is similar to that taken by David Mitchell in the Bone Clocks in that it tells the story of several different people and how their lives intertwine across a century, however, the themes explored are completely different.
The story took a while to get going as the first section was quite long and focused a lot on families and relationships and what these are and how we navigate them. I found this section boring, and while I didn’t struggle to get through it, it made me question whether I wanted to persevere. However, the perseverance was worthwhile, even through a section where it felt as though Charnock had several good ideas and forced them uncomfortably together.
Ultimately the book was an exploration of alternative family values. Of what conception might look like in future. This included the option of both men and women having children which are genetically only their own.
This then led into questions around what is the limit of parental obligation to their children? For example, would it be considered better or safer to have your child carried to term in an artificial womb? Is it responsible to have your child genetically screened and then altered?
There were also hints of an underclass forming, which was made up of those born to parents who couldn’t afford artificial wombs or to have their children genetically modified, but also explores why making the assumption that one is better than the other is not fool proof, and that genetic modification does not guarantee a better, smarter, more beautiful child. There was so much to unpack and explore
At times I found it difficult to keep track of everyone due to the structure and complexity of the story being told, but this wasn’t a bad thing, as Charnock was excellent at pulling you back into the story and catching you up on what had happened in intervening years, illustrating who had links to who.
There was so much going on – the book could easily have been much longer or had several different stories attached to it. However, I like that it doesn’t, as it allows your own mind to wander and explore these possibilities. Overall, I ended up loving this book for what felt like incredibly real future possibilities, for exploring what family unities may look like in the future, the controversies and conversations that might come with these, and what the economic realities of such a future might look like.
jmeston's review against another edition
3.0
I might have enjoyed this as a discussion more than a novel. The brief character sketches were too brief for me. There were some refreshingly unlikable folks in the line up but sadly no one who I felt invested in or could root for. The last bit wrangles with inequality issues but it's too little, too late. Most of the book is deep into the issues of the well off and excludes any mention of the implied mass population of poors. I like the language and the imaginative strides even if I couldn't warm to it.