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tpoisot's review
adventurous
hopeful
tense
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
catbooking's review
3.0
Not as tight or as well crafted of a narrative as the first book, but still enjoyable.
In more detail: Characters seemed to change their minds at a drop of a hat. It felt as if it was done to move the plot along, rather than some single grand narrative. A lot of time was dedicated to navel gazing, and while I really enjoy that, in this case it almost always did not have a reason.
I am going to keep an eye out for other books by the author. The trilogy was VERY enjoyable, even if I felt book 3 was a bit slacking.
In more detail: Characters seemed to change their minds at a drop of a hat. It felt as if it was done to move the plot along, rather than some single grand narrative. A lot of time was dedicated to navel gazing, and while I really enjoy that, in this case it almost always did not have a reason.
I am going to keep an eye out for other books by the author. The trilogy was VERY enjoyable, even if I felt book 3 was a bit slacking.
pyrh's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? N/A
0.5
banjax451's review
3.0
While I absolutely loved the first two books in this series...this book fell flat with me. In retrospect, I think Powell had 2 great books, but either he or his publisher decided it was necessary to stretch to 3. This book feels like a tacked on 400 page coda to book 3. It wraps everything up, and yet...there's almost no character development. There was nothing in this book that couldn't have been in the prior book. Frustrating to say the least.
cybergoths's review against another edition
4.0
The forces of the Generality have been crushed by the Marble Armada, and the Trouble Dog retreats towards the Intrusion, an area of space where reality is flexible due to the existence of a wormhole. The Intrusion connecting two universes was established by the builders of the fleet of knives when they fled their creation. The destruction of the forces of the humanity has attracted the attention of creatures from the hypervoid, exactly the opposite of the aim of the Marble Armada.
Running for safety, the Trouble Dog continues to find itself at the heart of the story, and as the series end, several of the characters find their own routes to redemption.
I enjoyed the series; overall, it doesn't grab me quite as much as Neal Asher's work does, nor does it engage me intellectually the way that Iain M Banks does, but it's really good space opera, with energy and entertaining and interesting characters. Worth reading.
Running for safety, the Trouble Dog continues to find itself at the heart of the story, and as the series end, several of the characters find their own routes to redemption.
I enjoyed the series; overall, it doesn't grab me quite as much as Neal Asher's work does, nor does it engage me intellectually the way that Iain M Banks does, but it's really good space opera, with energy and entertaining and interesting characters. Worth reading.
mactammonty's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
medium-paced
3.0
There was an roo easy ending with this one. I do like the characters.
meltingthemoon's review
adventurous
challenging
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
2.0
Where do I begin with this book?
[warning - stray mentions of spoilers through out]
First things first: compared to the others, the narrative felt much looser, with far more random pieces, as a reader it really felt like the author didn’t know how to conclude this series and had to make up a lot more lore not originally integrated into the previous books and so it lacked the satisfying build and resolution most triologies or series contain.
In my opinion, the introduction of the Plates and a new major character - Cordelia - is poorly done. Her story steps away from the established society of the first two books but the pace is far too slow, the setting too poorly introduced to remain intriguing.
Overall, I think most of the pieces of this series that had the most intrigue were underutilized or took far too long to receive any elaboration, namely the Hearthers as well as Sofia of the House of Reclamation. I think this also holds true for the way the central conflict is addressed - 50 pages to address the slaughter of humanity that has been occurring since early book 2 is not satisfying at all.
Not to mention - the weird back and forth Cordelia has where she triumphantly declares they can fight the Fleet of Knives, only to reverse and take the Plates into the intrusion? And there is very little added about this decision or the outcome. Hardly a satisfying end.
Additionally, as an LGBT person I was deeply shocked and disappointed. I like my scifi, and realistically, I know a lot of published LGBT fiction these days is contained in romances or YA. My expectations were at a fat zero for LGBT characters. And yet, Light of Impossible Stars introduces/mentions 2 LGBT characters in this book.
First - a transgender Conglomeration soldier - I admit I was impressed that this character was directly identified as transgender with no-nonsense. However - he plainly states he is not a woman, and the dialogue makes no mention in this conversation about names? Pronouns? This is trans 101. Nothing felt more uncomfortable than finishing out the chapter with narration continuing to refer to the character exactly the same with she/her pronouns.
If that wasn’t strange enough, this character had a somewhat antagonistic relationship with Sal Kostanz, but after being able to transition in a matter of hours (another detail that felt like a lazy attempt to incorporate representation without any real familiarity with trans people) suddenly she is attracted to him, aches to be held by him. After spending the whole series closed off and yearning for her lost love Sedge. SO strange.
The final nail in the coffin for me was the singular throwaway line in the very last chapter about the captain Sal eventually falling for and spending her days with another woman. Really? I could forgive this in isolation, but the shoddy romance between Johnny Schultz and Riley Addison, plus the very weird portrayal of a trans person, one last bare scrap of an LGBT relationship really just made me role my eyes.
Overall, it just felt like a weak addition featuring a slew of character deaths that left me feeling disconnected from the characters and missing out on the actual interesting world building. The only reason I gave it 2 stars instead of 1 is because despite the aforementioned flaws, there was at least some intrigue in the lore and some interesting characters.
burns_cheadle's review against another edition
4.0
4.5 stars: a very satisfying conclusion to the Embers of War trilogy, and highly recommended for fans of character-driven space opera. Gareth Powell has a gift for telling a grand tale on a grand scale but manages to maintain a very relatable human quality throughout. With occasional flashes of laugh-out-loud humour to punctuate the taut action, this series is a delightful escape populated by a cast of engaging and complex characters who bind the reader in a web of compassion and intrigue.
journeymouse's review
adventurous
emotional
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0