Thomas K. Carpenter

So, the good things first:

This novella is bursting with interesting ideas.

I was engaged by the concept of growing huge generation ships in Saturn's atmosphere (although horrified that the price was that the scientists carrying out the work would slowly die of radiation poisoning - image having to factor rate of project member physical decline and expected date of death in the resource plan of your project!)

I liked how technology for recording human memories was described and the discussion about whether we are more than and or different from the sum of our memories.

I enjoyed the way the story was constantly but subtly linked to Mary Shelley's Frankenstein, from the names given to the ships, to the use of lightning to power bringing the 'monster' ships to life, through to creating monstrous versions of the people we love by using fractured versions of their recorded memories to 'bring them back'.

This was a nicely down audiobook with first-rate narration and great sound quality.

Now on to why my reaction to this book went from 'This is entertaining' to 'That's a shame' to 'Seriously? This is your ending?'

This audio novella is three and a half hours long, making it the perfect length for my wife and me to listen to as we did a long boring drive on some of Britain's most crowded motorways.

It started well, pushing me straight into the action as our heroine, Cassie, woke from suspended animation. I didn't know who she was, where she was or why she was there. Those questions were quickly answered and I settled down to listen to a nice piece of Hard Science Fiction in a bizarre setting.

The science and technology pieces worked well. They were novel enough to be intriguing and familiar enough for me to be able to keep up. The physical aspects of being on a station in an inimical atmosphere where the storms never stop and every one of them is lethal were very well done. I could see everything clearly in my imagination.

Sadly, the people weren't as well realised. It wasn't that they were cardboard cut-outs. it was better done than that. It was more that I never really got inside the heads of any of the team that Cassie was working with. The initial descriptions worked but there wasn't the depth to make me care about what happened to any of them (even though the narrator gave them distinctive voices and did her best to fill them out).

The only person I got to know in any depth was Cassia Vici. At first, I didn't like her much, which was OK. I don't need to like the main character, I just need to make an emotional connection with them. After a while though, I stopped believing in her. On the one hand, she was someone who saw the people around her as vessels for the exercise of her will, extensions of her own capability, tools to be maintained with care and used with precision. On the other hand, she was constantly being distracted from her objective by emotional trauma. Yeah, that could be made to work but I didn't think it worked here. The result was that by the time the lives of various crew members, including Cassie, were at stake, I didn't care that much about what happened to them.

I was still engaged with how the technology problems might be solved and whether the crew would find a way of salvaging the mission. The answers were interesting and revealed at a pace that meant I could almost see them coming but was waiting to see if I was right.

Then we go to the ending and I lost all patience with the book. To me, the ending felt mushy. It was sentimental wish-fulfilment stuff that, while not quite giving a happy ending, diminished the sting and therefore the value of the sacrifices that had been made. But bear in mind that I'm an Atheist. I don't believe in happy endings. Just endings.… (más)

Really quite fun. I've enjoyed all the LitRPG I've come across as a weird mix of gaming culture and reading. This is no different. There are a couple of references to life outside the game, which for litrpg purists is probably not supposed to happen, but everything else is reads as if the hero is really aware of his own stats.

Just starting out and hanging with his friends Taren accidently crosses a high-level hag who curses him to a new continent where he suddenly has to fend for himself. Unexpectedly stumbling on some other adventurers he has to make some moral choices and ends up starting a settlement for the local elves. He's now responsible for their upkeep and at times is all a bit much when he just wanted to hang-out with his friends who are still stuck on another continent. I particularly enjoyed the interaction with the other adventurers, it really felt like a game script where you could chose which side you wanted to be on.

then ti's all about gathering resources and balancing effort, which I was surprised worked very well in book form.
Great fun will read the rest of the series.… (más)

What happens when you drop an older woman into a teenager's body and mix in a little magic? You get this book. I love that although she now inhabits a much younger body, Minerva doesn't just seamlessly slip into being a teen. Best part? The body she's now inhabiting belongs to Moriganne, who isn't exactly well liked, and wants control of her body back. I absolutely loved this storyline, and appreciated the glossary in the back. The contrast and struggle between Minerva and Moriganne within, and the world they jointly inhabit without, made for a captivating storyline with enough twists that it's hard to put it down once you start reading. A great way to kick off a new fantasy series!… (más)