I enjoyed the worldbuilding Vinge did to create Tiamat and her cast of characters surprised me with their complexity. Gender and ecology hold large places in this novel and it is well served by their inclusion. Sometimes the pacing could be snappier, but I enjoyed the experience.
Somewhere between 3 and 4 really. Though closer to 4.
A well written space opera. It's got your usual intrigue, AIs, and aliens. Sides kinda on the fantasy side of things than the sci-fi, but not overly so.
Strengths:
Diverse cast
Multiple interesting plot lines
Interesting setting
Weaknesses:
Some characters felt a bit thin - caricature even, particularly the ones that weren't main characters
Plot lacked a motor for me. The incoming switch over between winter and summer wasn't played up enough to realise that's what it was supposed to be
A few plot holes regarding the AI made it feel a bit deus ex (always a risk with AIs)
Somewhere between 3 and 4 really. Though closer to 4.
A well written space opera. It's got your usual intrigue, AIs, and aliens. Sides kinda on the fantasy side of things than the sci-fi, but not overly so.
Strengths:
Diverse cast
Multiple interesting plot lines
Interesting setting
Weaknesses:
Some characters felt a bit thin - caricature even, particularly the ones that weren't main characters
Plot lacked a motor for me. The incoming switch over between winter and summer wasn't played up enough to realise that's what it was supposed to be
A few plot holes regarding the AI made it feel a bit deus ex (always a risk with AIs)
I barely remember reading The Snow Queen in my very early teens.
It had an impression on me and I wanted to reread it.
Funnily enough I thought it was written by Ursula k. Leguin, not too surprising, as The Snow Queen deals with colonialism and feminism on a planet with mix of high and low tech.
Familiar Leguin ground.
It was funny to see what parts I remembered from so long ago,
The Hall of Winds, the shame from slashed wrists, the switch at the end of the Summer Festival, the importance of the Mures.
My only complaint is how thickly Veinge lays down the anti colonial and feminist ideas. Nothing is left to the readers, all is explained in emphasized. Come to think of it all the plotting is also explained in detail. No motive remains hidden.
I didn't know about more books in the series and I'm …
I barely remember reading The Snow Queen in my very early teens.
It had an impression on me and I wanted to reread it.
Funnily enough I thought it was written by Ursula k. Leguin, not too surprising, as The Snow Queen deals with colonialism and feminism on a planet with mix of high and low tech.
Familiar Leguin ground.
It was funny to see what parts I remembered from so long ago,
The Hall of Winds, the shame from slashed wrists, the switch at the end of the Summer Festival, the importance of the Mures.
My only complaint is how thickly Veinge lays down the anti colonial and feminist ideas. Nothing is left to the readers, all is explained in emphasized. Come to think of it all the plotting is also explained in detail. No motive remains hidden.
I didn't know about more books in the series and I'm looking forward to trying them out.
A classic, or nearly so, story essentially fantasy in a SF setting. Any sufficiently advanced technology ... this was one of the books I found in the Station Bookshop at Alnwick, a huge cavern of a place built into the now disused railway station, and which is gradually extending itself into the vault of the building itself (at which point I refrain from Lovecraftian references to ‘grotesque fulgurances of unhallowed rites’, etcetera).
A classic, or nearly so, story essentially fantasy in a SF setting. Any sufficiently advanced technology ... this was one of the books I found in the Station Bookshop at Alnwick, a huge cavern of a place built into the now disused railway station, and which is gradually extending itself into the vault of the building itself (at which point I refrain from Lovecraftian references to ‘grotesque fulgurances of unhallowed rites’, etcetera).
