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silea's review against another edition
4.0
Vastly more coherent than the first book, that's for sure.
There are basically three conditions under which you might be reading this review, so i'll address them in turn:
1) You haven't read the first book (The Obsidian Blade). If so, go read the reviews of that and make your decision. This book will make no sense whatsover if you haven't read Book 1.
2) You loved the first book, and just want to make sure this one isn't dreadful. If so, buy it. Buy it now.
3) You were intrigued by book 1, but couldn't help but admit that it had many failings, both in terms of writing and narrative structure. Then you, dear reader, are in the same camp i was, and i assure you, you need to read this one. The story of Book 1 caught me, but the book itself was mediocre. I waffled about picking up this one. But whatever growing pains the author had in book 1 are not evident in book 2. This is a good, trippy book, with entangled timelines and... well, i'm not going to say, because it verges on spoilery. But if you're waffling because book 1 was... flawed, then fear not. Book 2 does not suffer the same issues.
There are basically three conditions under which you might be reading this review, so i'll address them in turn:
1) You haven't read the first book (The Obsidian Blade). If so, go read the reviews of that and make your decision. This book will make no sense whatsover if you haven't read Book 1.
2) You loved the first book, and just want to make sure this one isn't dreadful. If so, buy it. Buy it now.
3) You were intrigued by book 1, but couldn't help but admit that it had many failings, both in terms of writing and narrative structure. Then you, dear reader, are in the same camp i was, and i assure you, you need to read this one. The story of Book 1 caught me, but the book itself was mediocre. I waffled about picking up this one. But whatever growing pains the author had in book 1 are not evident in book 2. This is a good, trippy book, with entangled timelines and... well, i'm not going to say, because it verges on spoilery. But if you're waffling because book 1 was... flawed, then fear not. Book 2 does not suffer the same issues.
rachelolivea's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
melissabalick's review against another edition
5.0
I’m shocked at how few reads/reviews this book has. It’s a treasure. It makes me love book 1, The Obsidian Blade, even more—though I loved it enough to eagerly reserve book 2 from the library. I’ll never understand how books as fascinating and page-turning as this one are overlooked somehow. It’s technically a YA series, but adults would love this as much as any young reader. My advice: read these books! I am reserving the third and and final book in the series right now!
dairyqueen84's review against another edition
3.0
This second volume in the Klaatu Diskos trilogy alternates between Tucker Feye’s and Lah Lia’s perspectives of the same time period as The Obsidian Blade. It opens with Tucker Feye time traveling through the diskos and landing near a US submarine in the Arctic Circle in 1959 at the height of the Cold War. He tries to explain to the ship’s doctor how he got there but has a lot of difficulty with that because the doctor thinks he is a Soviet Spy. Lah Lia escapes the fate of the Pure Girls in Romelas of dying by sacrifice as per the Lah Sept religion when Tucker and his uncle fall through a disko onto the altar. Most of the book follows Lahlia’s travels through the diskos and time, past and future including when she first met Tucker in the first volume. Hautman blends politics, religion, the promise or curse of technology, quantum kabbalistc science, abuse and many more issues in this fascinating yet confusing mélange of a book. The character development is strong but only the most patient fans will stick with this series. It is necessary to read the first volume and preferably close to the reading of the second.
chwaters's review against another edition
4.0
In book one of the Klaatu Diskos, we are introduced to Tucker Feye and we follow his journeys through time as he attempts to find his missing family. In book two, we focus on Lah Lia, the strange girl that Tucker's father brought back to town after going missing the first time. It's always been clear that Lah Lia is not an ordinary girl, but her story adds entirely new dimensions to the Klaatu Diskos world.
Born and raised as a sacrifice for the Lah Sept, Lah Lia is scheduled to be sacrificed when Tucker and his father come through the Diskos atop the Cydonian Pyramid. Lah Lia is able to escape the knife and throws herself into the nearest Disko. When she reaches Tucker's time, she realizes that their time lines are intertwined and that, by avoiding her own fate, she may have undone history.
In the meantime, Tucker has found himself stranded in the Arctic, which is not a particularly convenient place for a Disko to deposit a person.
The Klaatu Diskos really starts taking off with the second book in the series. For every question that is answered, several more crop up. Hautman has created a universe that challenges and subverts in new and intriguing ways.
Born and raised as a sacrifice for the Lah Sept, Lah Lia is scheduled to be sacrificed when Tucker and his father come through the Diskos atop the Cydonian Pyramid. Lah Lia is able to escape the knife and throws herself into the nearest Disko. When she reaches Tucker's time, she realizes that their time lines are intertwined and that, by avoiding her own fate, she may have undone history.
In the meantime, Tucker has found himself stranded in the Arctic, which is not a particularly convenient place for a Disko to deposit a person.
The Klaatu Diskos really starts taking off with the second book in the series. For every question that is answered, several more crop up. Hautman has created a universe that challenges and subverts in new and intriguing ways.
thecatochronicles's review against another edition
2.0
I was just so disappointed with the beginning of this book that it was too hard to recover from. I wanted it to pick up where book one left off. It was such a climactic ending! But instead, it started quite after that scene and then backed WAY up and essentially retold book one from the perspective of Lalia. Ugh. Tucker was hardly in this book at all until 3/4 of the way through. And it wasn't all that exciting (since I knew all the important scenes from book one) until 1/2 way through.
While this book was easier to follow since I was familiar with many of the terms and concepts established in book one, this one wasn't all that interesting. And still left me with lots of questions. For instance, what happened with Tucker's mom? Why isn't he trying to find her anymore? Why isn't he trying to figure out how to get back to his timeline's dad? Why isn't he trying to get home at all? AND WHAT IS THE POINT OF THIS SERIES? Are they trying to destroy the diskos? WHAT?!
However, I will finish the series since I already have the third book in my possession and I NEED to find some kind of answerable closure.
While this book was easier to follow since I was familiar with many of the terms and concepts established in book one, this one wasn't all that interesting. And still left me with lots of questions. For instance, what happened with Tucker's mom? Why isn't he trying to find her anymore? Why isn't he trying to figure out how to get back to his timeline's dad? Why isn't he trying to get home at all? AND WHAT IS THE POINT OF THIS SERIES? Are they trying to destroy the diskos? WHAT?!
However, I will finish the series since I already have the third book in my possession and I NEED to find some kind of answerable closure.
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