Critiques et Commentaires

David Bremner Compte verrouillé

bremner@book.dansmonorage.blue

A rejoint ce serveur il y a 2 ans, 2 mois

computer scientist, mathematician, photographer, human. Debian Developer, Notmuch Maintainer, scuba diver

Much of my "reading" these days is actually audiobooks while walking.

FediMain: bremner@mathstodon.xyz

bremner@bookwyrm.social is also me. Trying a smaller instance to see if the delays are less maddening.

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a publié une critique de Ancestral Night par Elizabeth Bear

Elizabeth Bear: Ancestral Night (Hardcover, 2019, Gallery / Saga Press) 4 étoiles

Solid space opera

4 étoiles

It would be unfair to call it derivative but it seems clear the author is an Ian M Banks / Culture novels fan. What makes the book interesting for me is the exploration of the question of "what if effective and precise self-regulation of brain chemistry was possible". This has interesting ripple effects on politics and the definition of personal autonomy.

Catherynne M. Valente: Space Opera (2018, Gallery / Saga Press) 4 étoiles

"Mankind will not get to fight for its destiny. They must sing. A century ago, …

Good, but not that kind of Space Opera

4 étoiles

Fans of Alastair Reynolds, beware, this is not your stuff. Fans of Douglas Adams, you will probably like this, if you can admit that on some level, Valente is the better writer. Or perhaps it just seems so to me because the satire is more on point for current events.

The overall arc of the story is not too surprising, but there are many extremely quotable quips. Valente seems to have a gift for humorous (pop or otherwise) culture references.

Not to talk down the book, which has no pretensions of being more than what it is, but I look forward to reading Valente putting that raw wordpower to something a little more ambitious.