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I love being in the world that Becky Chambers creates. I found both storylines engaging and, unusually for a dual-storyline book, I didn't have any preference for one over the other. I think this was because I never was in great suspense. Although Jane's chapters ended with a couple cliffhangers, the next chapter would always start up with everything already resolved, as if to say "Well, you knew it would be all turn out fine." The whole book was kind of like that - you know it's all going to be
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Oh, what a delicious treat for my mind. It was intense, and well paced, the way Ilona Andrews is well paced.
I managed to put it down to go to bed twice -- but that was hard, hard, hard.
It had moments of shining clarity, (the way that Bujold's Paladin of Souls has) moments that reach out and grab you by the throat.
In short, it was an easy read, if you wanted to turn your brain off, you'd be swept right along. Narratively and plotwise, A.
But if you chose to keep your mind around anyway, this was ...more
I managed to put it down to go to bed twice -- but that was hard, hard, hard.
It had moments of shining clarity, (the way that Bujold's Paladin of Souls has) moments that reach out and grab you by the throat.
In short, it was an easy read, if you wanted to turn your brain off, you'd be swept right along. Narratively and plotwise, A.
But if you chose to keep your mind around anyway, this was ...more
Although it was frustrating not to get more time with the crew of the Wayfarer, I really enjoyed the character development of Jane/Pepper and Lovelace/Sidra as each tries to stake her claim to the personhood denied to her. The alternating perspectives and timelines heighten the narrative tension and make the book tough to put down. As before, I really enjoyed the sociological world-building. I can't wait for the next one!
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Sort of sequel to TLWtoSAP, focusing on two characters who were briefly in the first book. Two people each trying to adjust to a new society, in different circumstances/different ways. I liked seeing more of the society of the Aeluons. More on AIs as a discriminated caste. Looking for purpose in life. Interesting genderfluid character. Much more closed in than the first book, which had more interstellar travel and a lot more POV characters. I think it's better written than the first (my book clu
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Aug 17, 2025
Bill Doughty
added it
DNF. Realized I had just kinda stopped reading it like 2 or 3 weeks ago. It's beautifully written, it's just that it didn't grab me. I love Chambers's brand of hopepunk, but there just wasn't enough going on in this one to hold my interest.
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Pretty interesting, and drew some nice parallels between a girl learning about the universe for the first time and an AI learning about life for the first time. There were a lot of time-skips, however, and several places where I wish the book had explored the current situation a bit more before suddenly skipping ahead.
More of the same (thoughtful world building, space opera, character driven) but with a lot more to think about in terms of AI sentience. Good stuff.
I think I liked the first one more, but this was still very good with really great characters.
Oct 03, 2016
Katherine
marked it as to-read
Oct 02, 2017
Clarissa
marked it as to-read
May 17, 2023
Jackie "the Librarian"
rated it
really liked it
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review of another edition
Shelves:
adultfiction,
sciencefiction
May 22, 2023
April
marked it as to-read
