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Half the Day is Night
War veteran David Dai has come to ocean-bottom Caribe to work as bodyguard to Mayla Ling, banker and scion to the undersea city's old-money set. But as Mayla negotiates the biggest deal of her life, she draws the attention of terrorists who threaten to plunge her, and David, back into the nightmare of his violent past.
Paperback, 375 pages
Published
January 30th 1996
by Tor
(first published 1994)
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I really wanted to finish this. Truly, I did. I had a big long car trip with which to do so, and everything. And after reading a recent post by Charlie Stross on reading more work by female writers, I decided to give this one a go. It was very engaging in its first half, but then the characters begin making decisions that make very little sense -- one protagonist decides to simply disappear from accusations that have yet to be made, while another succumbs to corporate pressure and loses her life...more
This is my least favorite by this author, though that's not saying much... I just loved the other books I've read by her (China Mountain Zhang, Mission Child, Nekropolis) a lot more. The first half has still really good: McHugh is wonderful at creating a believable setting and inhabiting it with interesting characters. But this setting seemed even less fantastic and the plot even more aimless than usual, and by the end, I was just finishing it to finish it.
While the writing was good I had a difficult time relating to the characters. I so wanted to like this book especially since my cousin gave it to me.
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Apr 29, 2008
Andreas
rated it
1 of 5 stars
Recommends it for:
nobody - skip this book!
Shelves:
science-fiction,
avoid
I didn't like the book. The setting itself is not bad but the plot is very boring. I also didn't understand the motivation of the characters and stopped caring after a while. A waste of time. Better read Nekropolis or China Mountain Zhang.
It's are real pitty because someone who starts with this book will never pick up a book from the author again.
It's are real pitty because someone who starts with this book will never pick up a book from the author again.
I love her, but this isn't her best...read Mothers and Other Monsters instead. I love it so much, I gave a copy to my grandmother. How she felt about it, I don't know, but it's the principle. Anyway, I did appreciate the world she created here, but the story felt choppy.
Set in a city on the floor of the Caribbean ocean in the fairly-near future. I liked the believable and not U.S.A.-based worldbuilding, but was a bit disappointed by the plot and what the characters ended up doing--there was potential that seemed to me to be squandered.
The author's style take a bit of getting used. It is lacking in emotion, kind of dry. Story is okay, characters are good. The ending is a bit contrived though.
It all started out good and about half way through it turned very strange indeed! I couldn't even finish the last 1/4 of the book!
This was pretty good. Some funny grammatical errors in the finished book. Where are the editors these days?
Jun 13, 2013
Karen
marked it as to-read
Apr 30, 2013
notyourmonkey
marked it as to-read
Mar 29, 2013
Peter Belkin
added it
Mar 01, 2013
George Benns
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Mar 01, 2013
Kristi
marked it as to-read
Feb 24, 2013
Sylvia
marked it as to-read
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Maureen F. McHugh (born 1959) is a science fiction and fantasy writer.
Her first published story appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine in 1989. Since then, she has written four novels and over twenty short stories. Her first novel, China Mountain Zhang (1992), was nominated for both the Hugo and the Nebula Award, and won the James Tiptree, Jr. Award. In 1996 she won a Hugo Award for h...more
More about Maureen F. McHugh...
Her first published story appeared in Isaac Asimov's Science Fiction Magazine in 1989. Since then, she has written four novels and over twenty short stories. Her first novel, China Mountain Zhang (1992), was nominated for both the Hugo and the Nebula Award, and won the James Tiptree, Jr. Award. In 1996 she won a Hugo Award for h...more
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