The Outside (The Outside, #1) in Do Better: SFF without Sexual Violence

Aug 15, 2022 Jukaschar rated it liked it

Like Kea's Flight I really wanted to like this book, but the spark just didn't leap over.

I wasn't aware that this book has a Lovecraftian theme and I did like that quite a bit. However, in my opinion some of the mysteriousness and Lovecraftian flair that I so enjoy was in a way repressed by the very detailed descriptions. I do think that the book could have been quite a bit shorter and I would've probably enjoyed it a lot more. There was especially a lot of back and forth between Yasira and Dr T ...more

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Aug 24, 2021 Kristenelle rated it it was amazing

This story is so original and enjoyable! The world building is my favorite part. Humans have created AI's that have gained sentience and far surpassed human cognition. So now they are gods. There is an entire pantheon of AI gods that specialize in different things. Humans follow these gods and the gods in turn provide humans with advanced technology and protection. This world includes "angels" that are humans with cybernetic implants that serve the gods and several other alien races.

The main ch ...more

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Aug 19, 2020 Kristenelle rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

I really waffled on how to rate this. The world is really interesting and what ultimately hooked me. I wanted to understand it. It was truly intriguing and unique. And these are all things that for me have maybe the highest priority in a book.

Sometimes the story felt a little slow and it was told from a single perspective which felt narrow at times. A lot of the story took place in the main character’s thoughts.

So I can’t decide if I should rate this 4 or 5 stars. Let’s just say 4.5 because it ...more

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Jul 19, 2022 Beige rated it liked it

Shelves: zread-1-scifi

Review to come

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Aug 04, 2020 Leticia rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: audiobook_old, read_all_the_books, 2020-tbr-sff-clean-up, tried_but_not_for_me

This Audiobook has a very interesting premise and a very good narrator, but the pacing is really slow and getting to the answers requires an amount of patience that I just don't have right now.
I heard the Audiobook until chapter 15 when I stopped caring enough to go on listening. I might pick this up later in calmer times. ...more

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Jul 01, 2019 Jess rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-2022, read-2019

I re-read The Outside in preparation for the final instalment in the trilogy, which I requested an ARC of despite not having read the second book yet, and only hazily remembering disliking this book. I'm glad I re-read it, to be honest - I enjoyed it a lot more the second time around (apart from personal taste quibbles - the repetitive use of "good girl", Tiv's relatively shallow characterisation, and the torture scene were all very much not my bag). It drifted towards being a four-star read at ...more

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May 11, 2021 Sarah rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: read-by-daylight-2021

I really enjoyed this book. The characters live in a world of AI gods and their agents, cybernetically enhanced human "angels". The main character is a physicist who is thrown into a world of plots, counterplots and Lovecraftian horrors after an energy source she creates destroys a space station. Rather than being immediately executed as a heretic, she is pressed into service to locate her mentor, the source of the equations that led to the disaster.

I wouldn't call most of the characters "likabl ...more

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