I first read this book a few months ago, in 2019 and this was actually a comfort re-read, because I'm down with a cold. II. Love. This. Book. Love!
I first read this book a few months ago, in 2019 and this was actually a comfort re-read, because I'm down with a cold. I fell in love with the story all over again, and I jammed thru the whole book in two days. Laughed and Cried again, the whole bit.
I really like how the book is divided up into different characters, across different generations. It does feel like a bunch of novellas that make the story go forward... it's easier to skip over the more pedantic stuff: (view spoiler)["Okay, we've got the idea! We're going to learn how to talk with the Rainbow Bamboo, now. But the next exciting thing happens in 40 years. (hide spoiler)] Then again, having just finished Ursula K. Le Guin's The Found and the Lost: The Collected Novellas of Ursula K. Le Guin with it's slightly intertwined Hainish stories, maybe I'm just used to the technique!
And of course, I love the aliens... everyone is so very different and the process of meeting everyone is exciting as we get to know new people. (view spoiler)[And to witness Nye's utter and complete disappointment, and then the moment of change there in the greenhouse. oh my goodness, it brings tears to my eyes just thinking about it! What a brilliant scene. (hide spoiler)] But the whole book is filled with brilliant scenes, and I just can't get enough of the characters. I only wish this book were longer....more
Wow! I was expecting a standard short story collection: some good some bad. But this book was almost entirely Great!
I read this during my DecemberWow! I was expecting a standard short story collection: some good some bad. But this book was almost entirely Great!
I read this during my December travels to visit family. And there was more than one night that I stayed up late to finish a story. :)
Many of the stories are loosely intertwined Hainish tales. I loved this set of stories! The main character of one story would play a bit character in the next, and the individual stories were excellent. There were also a couple EarthSea stories at the end... it's been a while since I read the EarthSea books, so some of the names and places sounded familiar but that's all. I very much enjoyed these, even without remembering all the back story.
And a couple of random, unrelated stories. I did not like "Hernes" at all, the only story in the book that I didn't like. But "Buffalo Gals..." was amazing. A sweet story of a little girl, lost in the desert and Coyote and the animals take care of her until she's ready to go. I did wish she could stay with the animals forever. :)
Overall, a great book to start off the New Year! ...more
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