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matt357's review against another edition
4.0
This is quite a strange book to try and write a review for. It starts in the Antarctic and seems like it's going to be very lovecraftian in what it's doing, then 30 pages in it pivots and seems to become a series of short stories.
In reality it's a series of vignettes, half set in the plot and in sequence, half set out of this time, but still exploring the themes of the story. Roberts uses these non-plot sections to play around with the formatting, which is always interesting to see, and commits writing these in another style.
Overall this book is all over the place. It starts off fantasticaly, but does get worse as it goes on and explains itself more (I'd say the low point is about 250 pages in), rescues itself with some confusing, strange action scenes, pivots down for the end of the plot and recovers a bit with a fitting epilogue.
This is worth it, so long as you like something a bit confusing with some experimentation. The occasional bit of action and dark comedy help carry this though some of the rough patches. It's worth the work, though I'd be surprised to find out it was anyone's favourite book
In reality it's a series of vignettes, half set in the plot and in sequence, half set out of this time, but still exploring the themes of the story. Roberts uses these non-plot sections to play around with the formatting, which is always interesting to see, and commits writing these in another style.
Overall this book is all over the place. It starts off fantasticaly, but does get worse as it goes on and explains itself more (I'd say the low point is about 250 pages in), rescues itself with some confusing, strange action scenes, pivots down for the end of the plot and recovers a bit with a fitting epilogue.
This is worth it, so long as you like something a bit confusing with some experimentation. The occasional bit of action and dark comedy help carry this though some of the rough patches. It's worth the work, though I'd be surprised to find out it was anyone's favourite book
echotechne's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
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
patchworkbunny's review
5.0
Wow, well I’ll try and do The Thing Itself justice, but you’re better off just reading it and marvelling in its mind-blowing awesomeness. The blurb would have you think it’s a version of John Carpenter’s The Thing (a film I love) but really only the first part deals with the isolation and ensuing madness of Antarctica. There’s philosophy, a shady organisation, artificial intelligence, a shoeless man on the run and whole raft of stories throughout time.
At the heart of the book is the theme of how humans perceive reality. We can only experience things in a human way, describe things in a human way. The concepts of time and space are human constructs even if we perceive that we are measuring them scientifically.
Roy is obsessed with the works of Immanuel Kant, an 18th Century German philosopher, so much so that Charles blames Kant for driving his fellow researcher mad. Yet Roy is convinced the answers of the Fermi paradox can be explained by Kant, and perhaps so much more.
The Fermi paradox deals with the argument for the existence of extra-terrestrial life and the fact that there is no proof of said life. The chances of us being the only beings in the universe are slim but, if so, then where are they? Perhaps it’s because we are looking for them in human terms, within the constraints of our perception of reality. Maybe aliens exist outside of what we can perceive, and taken further, this argument can give credence to the existence of a deity without proof too.
You would be mistaken in thinking this is going to be a hard read when in fact, despite all the philosophy, it was a surprisingly fast-paced page-turner, with a dash of humour and plenty of style. It just also happens to be a work out for the brain cells too. The book partly follows Charles in the modern day but it also has pieces from the past and future, a little bit reminiscent of Cloud Atlas, but unlike Mitchell’s book, the connections of the different time periods all came together in the end.
Review copy provided by publisher.
At the heart of the book is the theme of how humans perceive reality. We can only experience things in a human way, describe things in a human way. The concepts of time and space are human constructs even if we perceive that we are measuring them scientifically.
Roy is obsessed with the works of Immanuel Kant, an 18th Century German philosopher, so much so that Charles blames Kant for driving his fellow researcher mad. Yet Roy is convinced the answers of the Fermi paradox can be explained by Kant, and perhaps so much more.
The Fermi paradox deals with the argument for the existence of extra-terrestrial life and the fact that there is no proof of said life. The chances of us being the only beings in the universe are slim but, if so, then where are they? Perhaps it’s because we are looking for them in human terms, within the constraints of our perception of reality. Maybe aliens exist outside of what we can perceive, and taken further, this argument can give credence to the existence of a deity without proof too.
You would be mistaken in thinking this is going to be a hard read when in fact, despite all the philosophy, it was a surprisingly fast-paced page-turner, with a dash of humour and plenty of style. It just also happens to be a work out for the brain cells too. The book partly follows Charles in the modern day but it also has pieces from the past and future, a little bit reminiscent of Cloud Atlas, but unlike Mitchell’s book, the connections of the different time periods all came together in the end.
Review copy provided by publisher.
adamrshields's review against another edition
4.0
Short Review: This is one of those philosophically oriented sci-fi books. I don't know enough Kant to fully appreciate the book. But I enjoyed it. About the first 1/3 is supposed to not really make sense. But then it starts pulling the threads together. At some point I will read a book on Kant and then come back and read this one again.
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/the-thing-itself-by-adam-roberts/
My full review is on my blog at http://bookwi.se/the-thing-itself-by-adam-roberts/
davidsteinsaltz's review
5.0
Philosophical fiction that takes the philosophy seriously (but not solemnly!) So much genre mashup and copying and pastiche that it comes out the other end as fiendishly original. What are the human and cosmic implications of taking Kant seriously?
jhouses's review
2.0
Me estoy empezando a dar cuenta de que Adam Roberts es un poco especial. Sus obras son siempre MUY originales. Por desgracia los estupendos conceptos y el buen uso de la forma y la estructura no siempre son suficientes. En esta novela juega con sucesivas máscaras, empieza con reminiscencias de La Cosa para abandonarlas en favor de una narración Lovecraftiana, pasar a historias sobre la Singularidad etc... ¡Todo urdido en torno a la filosofía de Kant! La filosofía de Kant, por desgracia tiene el mismo atractivo y potencial que el escroto de un carnero a la hora de basar en ella una novela de ciencia ficción: un genio podría hacer algo con ello pero lo normal es que no ocurra.
Buen arranque, intrigante continuación y final plaaaaano.
Buen arranque, intrigante continuación y final plaaaaano.
newishpuritan's review
4.0
Entertaining novel of ideas inspired by Kant. (Despite what some of the publicity would have you believe, it has nothing whatsoever to do with the John Carpenter film.)
davieid's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
aurora69006's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
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
2.25
banker's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.75