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What I knew about this book going into it is that it was considered Difficult. I thought it was because the author had a degree in mathematics, like he was just way smarter than me and so I would have to really think in order to get his writing.
I was wrong. That is not why this book was difficult.
It was difficult because it consists almost entirely of nonsense words.
Here's an example sentence:
I was wrong. That is not why this book was difficult.
It was difficult because it consists almost entirely of nonsense words.
Here's an example sentence:
Gogol pirates with their upload tendrils out, attacking anything that moves. Young and old Martians lock...more
Notorious thief Jean de Flambeur is broken out of prison by someone who wants to hire him. It is the future and everything is desperately cool with awesomely cool monikers.
I didn't get very far in this one. It is hopelessly mired in cool-sounding invented words and concepts, to the point of being almost impenetrable. Mr. Rajaniemi is undoubtedly a gifted writer and there might have been a good story somewhere in this novel, but unfortunately the "cool prose" made me want to hurl my ereader into ...more
I didn't get very far in this one. It is hopelessly mired in cool-sounding invented words and concepts, to the point of being almost impenetrable. Mr. Rajaniemi is undoubtedly a gifted writer and there might have been a good story somewhere in this novel, but unfortunately the "cool prose" made me want to hurl my ereader into ...more
A tough but rewarding read. Tough in the sense of both parseing the meaning of invented words and of the plot that it depicts. In the end, I confess that there were a few things that I didn't completely understand about the world the characters inhabit. Did this irritate me? No; but then I have tolerance for the unknown in fiction. YMMV.
Pace, plot, character development, style: all were enjoyable and signal an author that I plan to read again. ...more
Pace, plot, character development, style: all were enjoyable and signal an author that I plan to read again. ...more
I tend to like my stories single serving, always trying to avoid the strap of a series. That's hard to do these days when most science fiction and fantasy stories come with at least a trilogy in tow. I would have dismissed this if I saw it on a shelf at a store, even more so if I read that it was the first in a trilogy. I won a copy through Goodreads First Reads and eventually came out pleased to have read it.
This initially was not easy to get in to. A lot of jargon is thrown around seemingly un ...more
This initially was not easy to get in to. A lot of jargon is thrown around seemingly un ...more
Wow. One of the most creative and most "out there" science fiction stories I've read. I really enjoyed the ride though. I have to admit, I didn't always understand everything that was going on, but I understood enough to like it. The plot is tricky and imaginative. The action scenes are super cool. There are even a few funny parts. I listened to the audiobook from audible.com. The narrator had an interesting voice (think HAL from 2001), but he did a wonderful job. I think that added to the crazi
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Sep 30, 2011
Marius
marked it as to-read
