176 pages
Published July 17, 2018 by Tor.com.
A quick read, and an imaginative word. I'm excited to see what's next. I'm always astonished by the worlds Adrian Tchaikovsky creates.
I read this over a couple of days while on holiday while chipping away at a denser non-fiction book. Good concept, readable and well executed, doesn't outstay its welcome.
Felt reminiscent of "Code of the Lifemaker" from waaaaay back when. Could be read as a fable warning of us of relying too much on Google
The ending felt a bit rushed, but mostly because I'm used to longer books. Otherwise it feels like a wonderful introduction to a strange new world.
Novellas: awful format for sci-fi. Tchaikovsky does not have a bad idea here, nor has he written it poorly. That being said, its crammed into half the size it needed to be. There's no capacity for suspense, since every little dropped hint about what could happen in the future hits you like a truck. The plot is rushed, events occur with little time to sink in - because of this, everything is transparent. There are no twists and turns because you know what will happen before it eventually goes down two pages later.
Wonderful tight novella very in line with LeGuin themes, cultural memory and adaptation and pain of trust.
Good ignorant-narrator SF
Decent writing and characterization, interesting ideas. Saying very much would spoil it, but short and worth the time. I was left wanting to have seen more details of the world and its history along the way.
