Sci-Fi

The narrator is so compelling, these books are just fun. I’m going to read every book in this series.

Satisfying conclusion, pulled some of the same tricks as the original on a grander scale, but ended the series on a good note. Worth reading this series to the finish.

Fun. Reminded me of all you need is kill, combined with Andy Weir.

I probably blasted through this too fast, but enjoyed it. I’ll be reading the series. I appreciated the commentary on translation, the first person AI perspective, and the gender ambiguity, although the empire felt too close to the Chronicles of Riddick, and the Presger seemed a lot like the Consu from Old Man’s War.

I didn’t really enjoy this book. There’s so much going on, but nothing had depth, and even the plot didn’t make it far. The politics felt shallow, written mainly in the service of plot. The genderless bias was interesting, but half of the characters were breaking the rules, so maybe they weren’t really rules to begin with. The science fiction aspects felt tacked on and surface level. The narrator interjections started out interesting, but ended up tedious. The theological / existential questions may have been the most interesting parts of the book, but they never went anywhere.

I enjoyed it. Pulpy, to be sure. By this point the 30 pages of fun are familiar: action begets betrayal, begets melancholic pontification. Repeat the cycle once for each planet of the solar system, and you’ve got a fun page turner!

2.5 stars. The Amazon series is better. I didn’t like any of the characters, the mysticism seemed pointless, and didn’t like pkd’s style of writing. Still grateful he came up with the premise so that the show could exist!

The first half starts off well. Golden Son has a tactical writing style averaging one betrayal per chapter, which is impressive for a 51 chapter book. But the plot feels derivative. Now that Bean (err Darrow!) has graduated from the institute, it’s time to fight wars against classmates in the real political world. Katniss (ahem Darrow!) must band together with rivals from the game in order to lead a rebellion against the oppressive elite. Of course Tris (Darrow!) feels guilty about about a conflicted past, and Mr. Potter (mr. Darrow!) will work with his allies from Hogwarts, and realize that Snape is on his side, then a traitor, but then the betrayal was a ruse! At times it even felt like a literary version of Jupiter Ascending – not a compliment. ...

Tactics weren’t convincing, politics weren’t convincing. but I was already sucked into the universe. I felt like an AI given a command to finish out the series, unable to not obey the command, but not necessarily happy about it.

Meh. Pride and prejudice and programs and politics. Should be my thing, but not really my thing.