very long and could probably be edited a bit more. ( )

Tried reading this for the 2015 Hugo voting. Didn't really enjoy it and gave up about 25% of the way in having struggled that far.
Doesn't have very much of a 'human element' which I seem to need in books nowadays. It's very much the kind of book I would have given 4/5 stars to 10 years ago. Excellent if you're into the whole hard scifi space adventuring thing.
Not saying it's a bad book, I just didn't like it. ( )

Hugo due diligence ...
,.. and no. Sorry, I have far too many other books to read to be wasting my time on this. ( )

I *loved* the Saga of the Seven Suns.

The story was ok, but the actual writing was far under par compared to other Anderson books. I would still be willing to try the sequel - I really did love the original saga - but expected better writing than this. ( )

I've finally got around to reading the last official entry to the 2015 Hugo Nominees and I'm caught in a conundrum.

I wanted to give this novel a thorough dissection, but only because it didn't leave me feeling like I'd just passed through something wonderful and grand. No beautiful metamorphosis of my soul or imagination, nor even a romp through a digestive track.

Instead, I find myself wanting to say that this tale was paid in homage to the old space-opera tales, notably Lensman. The other homages are a little more murky for me, strangely enough, because I'm reminded of Hyperion of twenty-six years ago which was, itself, a homage to other authors' imaginations.

There's nothing wrong with this, of course. Ideas are always stolen. As a novel of BFI's, this novel ought to sit up there with Ringworld or Rama or any number of comics like the ones I've enjoyed by Dan Abnet. Big Ideas are fun, and executed well, they overflow with a sense of wonder.

But there's still a catch.

The writing must be superlative.

I just don't think the writing was as good as it ought to be if it is going to be nominated for a Hugo. The writing is fine for pulp fiction. It's fine to get from point A to point B, but it just didn't grab me as so many novels have. It took me a full 2/3 of the novel before I felt like I was flowing with either the characters or the action, and that's because the grand space battle was finally beginning.

As for the cast of characters, I only started feeling kinship with them as they either died or got into supreme danger. Those who missed that ride were either an ex machina to resolve conflict or amp up the melodrama. I didn't feel like I was cheated, per se, because I already know that I'm going to have to read the books that follow in order to reap the real benefits, but as a standalone novel, it rests very heavily on events that have already passed or on those that will be. The action of the big NOW was sort of... well... Alderaan didn't explode.

Maybe I'm too harsh. I didn't dislike the novel. It was industrious and accomplished a lot.

Unfortunately, the writing didn't sparkle. The characters weren't awesome. The tension didn't aggravate. I actually wondered at various points if the big battles could have benefitted more from a horror perspective, full of hints and drama but no perfect reveals. Maybe so, but that wasn't the novel I read.

I've read a pretty decent amount of Mr. Anderson's novels, and this one is pretty much on par with them. It is a bit better than most, and a lot better than a few. It hearkens people back to some of the old grand space-opera days, and successfully so.

Unfortunately, This isn't my primary choice for the Hugo Award, and, worse, I'm not certain it really belongs as a nominee.

Brad K Horner's Blog ( )