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The Orphaned Worlds (Humanity's Fire #2)
A multi-layered, 21st century take on the classic tropes of space opera by a bold new voice in British science fiction.
Published
(first published October 7th 2010)
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"The Orphaned Worlds" is the sequel to "The Seeds of the Earth" of the "Humanity's Fire" series. As such you can expect that it is an in-between book of a trilogy, meaning the story continues where the first one lefts of and orders the story in preparation of the third and final book. For those who've read the first book a while ago, the second book takes it easy on you by giving subtle reintroductions to the characters.
However being a book in the middle doesn't mean it needs to be bad. For inst...more
However being a book in the middle doesn't mean it needs to be bad. For inst...more
The language in this book is so appalling I found the thing impossible to read.
Most people, when they buy a cliché dictionary, use it to find annoying phrases to avoid. Mr. Cobley seems to have used one as a resource. Let me give you an idea of just how awful the thing is ... here are clichés from the preface:
- In the title, "has gone before"
- "ruthless ... enemy"
- "far away star system"
- "fertile ... world"
- "swathed in ... forest"
- "ancient secrets"
And that's just the first paragraph. Seriousl...more
Most people, when they buy a cliché dictionary, use it to find annoying phrases to avoid. Mr. Cobley seems to have used one as a resource. Let me give you an idea of just how awful the thing is ... here are clichés from the preface:
- In the title, "has gone before"
- "ruthless ... enemy"
- "far away star system"
- "fertile ... world"
- "swathed in ... forest"
- "ancient secrets"
And that's just the first paragraph. Seriousl...more
While I had very high expectations for the series debut, only to be partially fulfilled after an intriguing beginning followed by an almost fatal descent in costume-aliens pulp, my expectations were tempered for this one; still the novel managed to under-perform them with occasional snippets of brilliance with Banksian overtones and a lively engaging style, but with a very 50's like content which is far from the modern space opera standards
The many threads of the novel are uninspiring and with t...more
The many threads of the novel are uninspiring and with t...more
Extremely good read, I would recommend anyone of a harder sci-fi bent to read this series
This was an excellent middle book, it advanced the story nicely and never felt bogged down or reserved, there were some well executed reveals and there's enough foreshadowing for me to want to jump straight into the next one.
The characters are all well rounded and even minor characters generally have enough detail to relate to and none of them feel throw-away, even if they do catch it in short order.
The gala...more
This was an excellent middle book, it advanced the story nicely and never felt bogged down or reserved, there were some well executed reveals and there's enough foreshadowing for me to want to jump straight into the next one.
The characters are all well rounded and even minor characters generally have enough detail to relate to and none of them feel throw-away, even if they do catch it in short order.
The gala...more
After reading Seeds of Earth I stated that the first third was too slow, and the last third too rushed. But that as I had started the series now, that I would persevere with the second and third book, as I want to know how the story ends.
The Orphaned Worlds pace was more even, the cast of characters developed more depth, but I continued to find them annoyingly stereotypical.
The continued development of the story, by telling it from a different persons view point in each chapter, although better...more
The Orphaned Worlds pace was more even, the cast of characters developed more depth, but I continued to find them annoyingly stereotypical.
The continued development of the story, by telling it from a different persons view point in each chapter, although better...more
I read Mike Cobley's first epic space opera book, Seeds fo Earth, prior to its release last year and thoroughly enjoyed it. The Orphaned Worlds, the sequel and part two of the trilogy, was a highly anticipated release for this year and upon getting a copy through the post I made sure it was high on the list of to-read books. While not quite on the same level as Seeds of Earth, The Orphaned Worlds delivers a whole lot of action, adventure and politics on a canvas even bigger than the first novel!...more
Another enjoyable 18 hours spent with the wonderful David Thorpe narrating; his voice work is a pure joy. The story continues along well in this second installment and gets progressively darker, and although it was slightly plodding in places, there were enough twists and turns to keep me going. As with the first book in the series the writing feels a bit dated but it's still worth the effort - I reckon - as this is one big old multilayered universe Michael Cobley's crafted and there are creatur...more
Not worth the effort. Wish i had stopped during the mind numbing. "What has gone before". Also please authors note tell me its part 2 of a trilogy. Then i will wait and read it with the final part. Ok story but no real end point. Will not read any more.
Couldn't finish this one. Found myself finding reasons not to spend time reading. I didn't care about the characters and the plot pacing was achingly slow. Sorry, I really wanted to like this series, but I found the first book to be only average and this one went downhill from there. I was just never excited about it.
An acceptable second. The first book enaged me not because it was novel (pun), but because it did tick all the 'right boxes'. Apocalyptic, galaxy spanning, mythical, organic vs. high tech, a 'cyber space', multiple dimensions, interwoven character narratives.
This carried on all these themes, but it feels a little flat. At this point, I probably will read the conclusion, and vaugley enjoy doing so in order to conclude the threads. That said, this is a suitable, casual, read. It's not a genre defy...more
This carried on all these themes, but it feels a little flat. At this point, I probably will read the conclusion, and vaugley enjoy doing so in order to conclude the threads. That said, this is a suitable, casual, read. It's not a genre defy...more
Aug 17, 2011
James
rated it
3 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Shelves:
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i-own-a-copy,
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humanitys-fire
The troubled sequel to a better book. Not as good as the previous, but hopefully providing lots of 'set up' for the third and final part.
Derivative and patchy in the writting. No improvement on the first. I must be a glutton for punishment
Unreadable
http://opionator.wordpress.com/2013/0...
http://opionator.wordpress.com/2013/0...
This epic story just keeps getting better!!!!
Oct 21, 2010
Cara Murphy
marked it as to-read
Won as part of a giveaway competition
Hard slog to finish this one.
May 04, 2013
Jilly
added it
I'm surprised I finished it, I got lost twice, too many words!
An excellent continuation of this trilogy... now I'll give myself a break by changing genres before getting to the final book of the series.
Took a while to get going - the last 2/3 were great
Usually the middle of a trilogy sags and stumbles, but I found the 2nd book to be fast paced and exciting, giving us still more glimpsing of a chaotic and impressive future. Looking forward to the final chapter in this adventure!
An average sci-fi read. Middle on the funometer.
null
May 22, 2013
Paul
marked it as to-read
May 18, 2013
Max
marked it as to-read
May 18, 2013
Nina
marked it as to-read
May 15, 2013
Christopher
marked it as to-read
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May 03, 2011 09:12am