Reviews and Comments

Did not grab me. Did not finish.

I enjoyed this one overall. It was a fascinating dive into consciousness, magic, prejudice, rigidity, and also slices of life at times, all set in the simple framework of military scifi. You are dumped into the magic with no exposition. The author trusts that you'll follow along. And I loved that - being trusted that I could handle a foundational difference in the universe without needing my hand held was pretty cool. Unfortunately, there were some left turns in the narrative that could have used a little more hand-holding. I kept thinking I'd skipped a paragraph or so. I found this distracting enough that it detracted from the narrative. Still, it was quite a good effort by Lee, and I'd read more by him.

Old but excellent. I picked it up because I couldn't figure out why I am always sniping and short with my mother. I do have some insights now, and it also made me think of ways to handle other situations in my life. It's a very good foundational piece with the teaching handled largely through storytelling.

If only there were a book like this that talked about how to identify stressors in our lives...

I have mixed feelings about this one. Lee does not conform to the usual spoon-feeding of background info through long swathes of explanation or dialogue. In fact, he assumes you can figure it out and marches on with the story without explaining how the magic works. Kudos to him for skipping exposition. He also does a masterful job of presenting his factions as what they are. Additionally, there were lovely slice of life moments.

However, there are times when he jumos POV, and it's very difficult to keep up with what's going on during those jumps. I kept feeling like I had missed a paragraph or two.

Overall, the book is enjoyable, interesting, and has a solid universe. I could have wished for a tiny bit more hand-holding from Lee, as that's really where the book fell down, but it was definitely worth my time.

I spent most of this book confused, but in a good way! Hamilton wove a complex, interesting story through time and various perspectives. He handled the varied genres well, too... gritty crime novel, spy mission, action-packed rescue, and military YA. Definitely kept me thinking about the book between the times I could read it. John Lee does a phenomenal job narrating, as always.

I read this after reading To Sleep in a Sea of Stars. About halfway through, I looked Fractal Noise back up to be sure I was reading the book I thought I was. Indeed, I was. Imagine my surprise when I discovered it was a prequel. My library doesn't label things well.

Anyway! The two books could not have a more different feel and still be the same author in the same universe. Nevertheless, I truly enjoyed the story on both storylines. The inner turmoil of the main character was so well written, and his journey was engrossing to me. The physical journey of the away team was also excellently told with very realistic representations of the kinds of stress that would take place in a group that was under such pressures and not carefully selected with psych evals and all. Paolini is firmly on my "always read" list.

I loved this book! Not least because he doesn't give small deviations from the norm as his examples. He dives into acceptance of all forms of difference, not saying "difference is normal," but rather that difference is what makes us interesting and successful in what we do. Then he challenges us to consider that being useful and successful is not the goal of life. No, he didn't start there, but he brings us along his journey from finding that he wasn't "normal" through acceptance into celebration.

When he talks about his graduating with honors from Brown, he doesn't say he overcame his challenges with learning, but rather that he found a place that supported his style of learning. It's a beautiful book with a wonderful message. You should read it.

The internal inconsistencies were too great for me at about 25% done. She says that you can't remove the religion from a religious practice and maintain its benefits. She rails against Western, white co-opting of Eastern religious practices. Then she later talks about her use of ayahuasca. Which is totally a Western, white co-opting of a religious practice THAT IS NOT HER CULTURAL HERITAGE! OK for thee but not for me, merely because you're not white?

A wild look into the nature of consciousness and sapience. It's a slow-moving book, and the middle gets confusing. But don't worry, you didn't miss anything. It'll sort itself out.