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lonelylooper's review
adventurous
dark
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Death, Gore, Mental illness, Violence, Murder, and Confinement
Minor: Cancer, Homophobia, War, and Racism
sarahweyand's review
adventurous
dark
funny
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.25
After my success with Elder Race, I decided to give another short book by Tchaikovsky a try, and unfortunately this was more of a miss for me. This novella started out strong and I really enjoyed the voice of our main character throughout. It reminded me a lot of Mark Watney from The Martian if he had been transplanted into a dark and wacky alternative exoplanet. I chuckled out loud at a couple lines, so props to the good writing and the good line delivery by the audiobook narrator.
Apart from the fun protagonist and interesting first few chapters, this book sort of lost me about halfway in. This book kind of had a hard time keeping my attention, but I'll admit that that might be on me for listening to an audiobook during a stressful time of year. Going to leave my rating where it is right now but could be convinced to give this one another go.
Apart from the fun protagonist and interesting first few chapters, this book sort of lost me about halfway in. This book kind of had a hard time keeping my attention, but I'll admit that that might be on me for listening to an audiobook during a stressful time of year. Going to leave my rating where it is right now but could be convinced to give this one another go.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Violence, and Gore
Moderate: Body horror
pacifickat's review
adventurous
dark
funny
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
"His alien spirit would travel far, into the Fiend's keeping." -Beowulf
Thoroghly enjoyed the author-narrated audiobook. Sci-Fi short fiction is truly one of my favorite sub-genres, and this didn't disappoint. It's witty, smart, and irreverent even as it plays with great literary stories and tropes. The twist was fun and horrible, even if I saw it coming a long way off. I love a well executed use of an unreliable narrator!
I know Tchaikovsky is a smart dude, and was trying to figure out how monster horror fit into a more clever overarching story. The novella feels like part twisted hero quest, meets Alice In Wonderland, Howl's Moving Case, The Martian, Frankenstein, and Shaun of the Dead. He sprinkles on references to other literary works, as well as forboding mentions of "intelligent design" and the theory of relativity. I knew I was missing some obvious point. In the end, it was another reviewer who mentioned his name being G. Rendell, his many references to Mother, and his arm being torn off: Beowulf. Duh. This is a play on that ancient tale. I'd like to think that given enough time and patience, I would have figured that out myself.
Now I want to re-read it and pick out all the references and easter eggs.
Thoroghly enjoyed the author-narrated audiobook. Sci-Fi short fiction is truly one of my favorite sub-genres, and this didn't disappoint. It's witty, smart, and irreverent even as it plays with great literary stories and tropes.
I know Tchaikovsky is a smart dude, and was trying to figure out how
Now I want to re-read it and pick out all the references and easter eggs.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Death, Blood, Cursing, Injury/Injury detail, Mental illness, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Gore, Cannibalism, and Confinement
Moderate: Excrement and Gun violence
Minor: Fire/Fire injury
iono's review
adventurous
mysterious
fast-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? It's complicated
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism
Moderate: Murder, Body horror, Death, and Violence
Minor: War
mar's review
dark
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.5
Content Warnings
Graphic: Cannibalism, Body horror, Violence, and Injury/Injury detail
Minor: War
orangegroves's review against another edition
3.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Gore, Violence, Cannibalism, and Body horror
gilnean's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.75
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence, Gore, Body horror, Cannibalism, Injury/Injury detail, Gun violence, Death, Murder, and Blood
Moderate: Cursing
Minor: Racism, Suicidal thoughts, Hate crime, Xenophobia, Genocide, Vomit, Homophobia, and War
steffiraquel's review against another edition
I lost interest a long time ago...
Content Warnings
Moderate: Cursing and Violence
teaandtales1's review
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
4.75
I've yet to read anything by Tchaikovsky that isn't great, and this novella is no exception. We start out with a stranded astronaut named Gary, as he winds his way through the dark caverns of an artifact/crypt/mysterious space object. There's a lot of sarcastic humor in his narration, which reminded me a lot of reading The Martian.
From there it takes a turn though, and while the sarcasm never really ceases, you begin to think something is just a bit off. Gary may or may not be the most reliable narrator, but as time jumps back and forth between recollections and the present tour through tunnels, it's best to just go along for the ride.
This is Tchaikovsky's allegory to a very famous old story - to say more would spoil the fun - and it's 3 parts scifi, horror, and humor. Well done again, sir.
From there it takes a turn though, and while the sarcasm never really ceases, you begin to think something is just a bit off. Gary may or may not be the most reliable narrator, but as time jumps back and forth between recollections and the present tour through tunnels, it's best to just go along for the ride.
This is Tchaikovsky's allegory to a very famous old story - to say more would spoil the fun - and it's 3 parts scifi, horror, and humor. Well done again, sir.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Violence
raivyn's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
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