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Half Share
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Feb 2021 READER: Half Share by Lowell
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I’m looking forward to the discussion.
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I have read this series several times and love it.
I am trying to figure out the heights of some of these characters. In Quarter Share, Ishmael was described as a meter and a half (just under 5 feet). Brill is two and a quarter meters (about 7 foot 5 inches). I just passed a description of Sarah coming up to Ish's nose, which would put her at about maybe 4 foot 5 inches or so (unless Ish grew a LOT in the past few months, which is possible for an 18 year old man).
Mod
I just got past the scene where Ish goes clothes shopping. He was really having fun. What a ham!
Having read To Fire Called last month and now going back to Half Share this month, I think I like Ishmael better as a mature adult than as a teenager.
Mod
He's definitely got more depth as an adult, but I thought he was also a pretty appealing, and amusing, teenager.
Betsy wrote: "Audrey wrote: "Having read To Fire Called last month and now going back to Half Share this month, I think I like Ishmael better as a mature adult than as a teenager."..."I agree he was amusing as a teen. I like how the author allowed his characters to grow and their personalities to develop as the years passed.
Mod
I do like several things about him in this book. He works so hard to learn the skills he needs for rank advancement, and in multiple fields too. He was so gentle with the new quarter share that replaced him in the galley. He was surprisingly observant as well. Most people wouldn’t have noticed even half of what he spotted about her. He tends to act like a catalyst, doing small things that trigger large changes and not even thinking he made any large contribution to the outcome.
The way he says “Trust Lois”. The way he takes a practical joke that would have made most people angry.
Full Share is even better. Double Share is more grim and uncomfortable so I tend to reread 1-3 two or three times as often as 4-6, and when I do reread Owner’s Share there’s one scene I usually just skip past. Ish definitely changes over the years and so does Pip although it’s a bit harder to tell with Pip, particularly since he doesn’t even appear in books 4-6 and so much of what he says is misdirection.
I just started the book.I too did a double-take at Brill's height. It's hard to say, but that height may in fact have never been reached by a normal woman (i.e. one with no pituitary problems). I was looking at https://www.thelistplanet.com/tallest...
Her height may indicate that she has a pituitary gland problem or that there's some genetic engineering involved.
I enjoyed Quarter Share, but not this one, which I thought was a shade worse than mediocre. My review:Though similar to the first book, Quarter Share, Half Share was generally less interesting: the protagonist’s environmental position sounds more interesting, but he never really did anything. The conflicts were minor and resolved too easily, and there was no overarching plot, so it was sometimes boring. It could have ended at any point and been as good a place for a conclusion as any. The sexualization of the protagonist was awkward too. It was generally well-written, but not enough to make up for my other complaints. Perhaps I am tiring of Lowell’s style.
Is Full Share significantly different/better? I'm not sure whether I will continue with the series.
Mod
Allright, I'll give Full Share a try. I don't mind not having action but I'm realizing I need some kind of actual plot with stakes, like in nearly every other book. Slice of life may not cut it for me.
Space Opera Fans
Books mentioned in this topic
To Fire Called (other topics)Half Share (other topics)
To Fire Called (other topics)
Half Share (other topics)
To Fire Called (other topics)
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Official description:
Six months in the Deep Dark.
Four different women.
One man discovers what it means to be a spacer.
It's a time of change on the Lois McKendrick. Sarah Krugg joins the crew and Ishmael Wang moves to Environmental. After getting accustomed to life aboard a solar clipper, Ishmael must learn a whole new set of skills, face his own fears and doubts, and try to balance love and loss in the depths of space.
Both Ishmael and Sarah must learn to live by the mantra, "Trust Lois." For Sarah, there is the hope of escaping a horrifying past. For Ishmael, he must discover what type of man he wants to become and learn his choices have consequences.
Return with the crew of the SC Lois McKendrick, and set sail in the next installment of the Trader's Tales from the Golden Age of the Solar Clipper. All your favorites return: Ish, Pip, Cookie, Brill, Diane, and Big Bad Bev. You might even discover some new friends as you travel among the stars.