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abla933's review
adventurous
hopeful
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
ielerol's review
3.0
I had just about the same reaction to this story as to the first one in the series. Which is that the writing is very beautiful, and the ideas seem like they could go really interesting places, but I struggled to grasp the actual substance of the story. I mean, I could give a basic plot summary of what happens, but could I describe the characters personalities, or explain why they make the choices they do? No. Jorit theoretically studied the gems in school, and maybe also had family knowledge about them passed down (? this is one of the parts I really struggled with), but like, do I know what she learned about them? No. Does she ever use her knowledge in a way that seems to make a difference to the story? Not as far as I can tell. Jorit and Ania appear to communicate mainly through half-finished thoughts and oblique hints, and it was hard for me to feel invested in their friendship when they never have even like, a basic conversation about who they are or what's going on. When it was Sima and Lin I could at least take as given that they'd grown up together, but these two knew each other for... a week? I don't have a good sense of how long the events of the story take, and the time travel part sure didn't help that.
Oh yeah, that's another thing. Time travel opens such a goddamn can of worms, and I am so picky about it, and the time travel here did not feel worth it at all. It's not a fun party trick, it's a radical re-imagining of how the entire world could work, and hedging it around with "oh you just can't time travel anymore if you accidentally create a paradox" to avoid that is deeply unsatisfying to me.
Still, I wanted to like the story a lot, and I can tell that all the pieces might fit together into something I would really love, but it's just not there for me.
Oh yeah, that's another thing. Time travel opens such a goddamn can of worms, and I am so picky about it, and the time travel here did not feel worth it at all. It's not a fun party trick, it's a radical re-imagining of how the entire world could work, and hedging it around with "oh you just can't time travel anymore if you accidentally create a paradox" to avoid that is deeply unsatisfying to me.
Still, I wanted to like the story a lot, and I can tell that all the pieces might fit together into something I would really love, but it's just not there for me.
foolishyetdangerousbooks's review
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0
ielerol's review against another edition
3.0
I had just about the same reaction to this story as to the first one in the series. Which is that the writing is very beautiful, and the ideas seem like they could go really interesting places, but I struggled to grasp the actual substance of the story. I mean, I could give a basic plot summary of what happens, but could I describe the characters personalities, or explain why they make the choices they do? No. Jorit theoretically studied the gems in school, and maybe also had family knowledge about them passed down (? this is one of the parts I really struggled with), but like, do I know what she learned about them? No. Does she ever use her knowledge in a way that seems to make a difference to the story? Not as far as I can tell. Jorit and Ania appear to communicate mainly through half-finished thoughts and oblique hints, and it was hard for me to feel invested in their friendship when they never have even like, a basic conversation about who they are or what's going on. When it was Sima and Lin I could at least take as given that they'd grown up together, but these two knew each other for... a week? I don't have a good sense of how long the events of the story take, and the time travel part sure didn't help that.
Oh yeah, that's another thing. Time travel opens such a goddamn can of worms, and I am so picky about it, and the time travel here did not feel worth it at all. It's not a fun party trick, it's a radical re-imagining of how the entire world could work, and hedging it around with "oh you just can't time travel anymore if you accidentally create a paradox" to avoid that is deeply unsatisfying to me.
Still, I wanted to like the story a lot, and I can tell that all the pieces might fit together into something I would really love, but it's just not there for me.
Oh yeah, that's another thing. Time travel opens such a goddamn can of worms, and I am so picky about it, and the time travel here did not feel worth it at all. It's not a fun party trick, it's a radical re-imagining of how the entire world could work, and hedging it around with "oh you just can't time travel anymore if you accidentally create a paradox" to avoid that is deeply unsatisfying to me.
Still, I wanted to like the story a lot, and I can tell that all the pieces might fit together into something I would really love, but it's just not there for me.
rara2018's review
3.0
I had absolutely despised the first book, but decided to pick this one up anyway, and actually ended up enjoying it. It wasn’t perfect and a lot of my problems from the first book I still found to be an issue here (mainly the utter lack of characters I could actually care about), but the story and overall narrative structure made for a much better experience. As other people have said, this was a Gemworld take on Fahrenheit 451 that brought up a lot of questions on barriers to information, with one hand being total authoritarian control, and the other being controlled by money and education, which I thought was especially poignant given the cost of education today. The story was fun and I thought the transcripts broke it up nicely. This wasn’t exactly a new favorite, but I’m glad I picked it up anyway.
quirkycatsfatstacks's review
4.0
I received a copy of The Fire Opal Mechanism through NetGalley in exchange for a fair and honest review.
The Fire Opal Mechanism is the second novel in the Gemworld series. I was a little conflicted about this novella. On the one hand – I desperately wanted to see more of this world. On the other hand, I wasn't quite over the heartbreak caused by The Jewel and Her Lapidary (a brilliant novella, but one that hit me on an emotional level).
The world has changed since the time of The Jewel and Her Lapidary. Gems and lapidaries have all but faded out of existence. And in their place a war has been waged. One against books and academies. Shudder the thought, I know.
Ania was the librarian at one of the last standing academies. And she's determined to save as many books as possible from the Pressmen. The Pressmen are the big bad in this novella – they're the ones going after what they consider 'private knowledge' and trying to force into the public. By taking books and destroying schools. There's more to it than that, of course.
Meanwhile, Jorit is just doing what it takes to survive. She's always done what it takes. That is, until she met Ania, where everything changed for her.
The Fire Opal Mechanism took the story told in The Jewel and Her Lapidary and brought it to whole new heights. It had a different material focus – books and words over gems and lapidaries, but it was still extremely powerful.
Books, determination, passion, and time travel are all major elements in this novella. And I couldn't have been happier with their inclusions. This was a fast-paced novella, one whose heart I couldn't sympathize with more if I tried.
I was surprised that the focus changed slightly. From gems to books. Granted, gems still play a part in this new (and arguably darker) world. Just a different role than I had expected. Despite that, I greatly enjoyed the portrayal.
Ania and Jorit's adventure and attempts to save the written word were powerful and fascinating. I loved so much about this. Starting from their emotional ties to their pasts, to their determination to keep going forward. And admittedly I also appreciated just how different these two are, and how they came together despite it all.
While I loved everything about The Jewel and Her Lapidary (and found myself moved by it) I feel like I was more emotionally compelled by this tale. Perhaps it was the subject of books that really brought it home for me. No matter the reason, I'm happy about it.
I don't know if there will be more to tell from Gemworld, but I certainly hope to see more of this unique and magical world.
For more reviews check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks
The Fire Opal Mechanism is the second novel in the Gemworld series. I was a little conflicted about this novella. On the one hand – I desperately wanted to see more of this world. On the other hand, I wasn't quite over the heartbreak caused by The Jewel and Her Lapidary (a brilliant novella, but one that hit me on an emotional level).
The world has changed since the time of The Jewel and Her Lapidary. Gems and lapidaries have all but faded out of existence. And in their place a war has been waged. One against books and academies. Shudder the thought, I know.
Ania was the librarian at one of the last standing academies. And she's determined to save as many books as possible from the Pressmen. The Pressmen are the big bad in this novella – they're the ones going after what they consider 'private knowledge' and trying to force into the public. By taking books and destroying schools. There's more to it than that, of course.
Meanwhile, Jorit is just doing what it takes to survive. She's always done what it takes. That is, until she met Ania, where everything changed for her.
The Fire Opal Mechanism took the story told in The Jewel and Her Lapidary and brought it to whole new heights. It had a different material focus – books and words over gems and lapidaries, but it was still extremely powerful.
Books, determination, passion, and time travel are all major elements in this novella. And I couldn't have been happier with their inclusions. This was a fast-paced novella, one whose heart I couldn't sympathize with more if I tried.
I was surprised that the focus changed slightly. From gems to books. Granted, gems still play a part in this new (and arguably darker) world. Just a different role than I had expected. Despite that, I greatly enjoyed the portrayal.
Ania and Jorit's adventure and attempts to save the written word were powerful and fascinating. I loved so much about this. Starting from their emotional ties to their pasts, to their determination to keep going forward. And admittedly I also appreciated just how different these two are, and how they came together despite it all.
While I loved everything about The Jewel and Her Lapidary (and found myself moved by it) I feel like I was more emotionally compelled by this tale. Perhaps it was the subject of books that really brought it home for me. No matter the reason, I'm happy about it.
I don't know if there will be more to tell from Gemworld, but I certainly hope to see more of this unique and magical world.
For more reviews check out Quirky Cat's Fat Stacks