Reviews and Comments

What an intriguing premise - a whole planetary society working to make carpets ou of human hair, for an emperor's seemingly endless palace! Lost of questions, lost of things to understand, and lots of short stories coming together to form the overarching narrative of this strange planet in this strange empire.

There's a lot to take in, and a lot to unravel. I listened to the German-language audiobook, whose narrator did a good job at portraying the (many) characters that pop up in the history of this mysterious world. The story soon turns interplanetary, and very political, which I enjoyed.

However, there were also a lot of cringeworthy moments, and characters and plot points that were just too bizarre to believe, even in a world like this.
What disappointed me particularly was the ending. The whole book it remains a big mystery what on Earth happens to all those elaborate carpets made of hair. There is a solution to this mystery, towards the end of the book - and it didn't convince me. It was far-fetched and had little to do with what had happened in the plot up until that point. And the final chapter, that was supposed to bring it all together, I found to be extremely conventionally written, with an entirely unsurprising last paragraph.

Overall, a nice story with a lot of interesting things going on, made somewhat less interesting by an underwhelming ending. I'm glad I bought the audiobook at a discount.

A soap opera whose plot slowly becomes incoherent, yet an enjoyable reading journey alongside Lyra Belaqua and her increasingly confusing entourage of supporting characters. The first book starts out strong and leads us on an adventure in a world with daemons and truth-telling devices and the infamous armored bears (and witches etc.). A fun trip with lots of drama, a gripping read for teenaged and older readers alike.

After the first book, however, I started losing interest. The plot becomes increasingly convoluted with more and more layers of supposed epicness, threats and side plots, characters with unheard-of abilities, and ever stranger worlds.
Characters and plot points that seem highly relevant disappear for hundreds of pages at a time, only to re-appear at exactly the right moment to save the day. Conversely, seemingly irrelevant bits of information turn out to be crucial -- with the unfortunate effect that I found myself furiously browsing back to earlier chapters to remind myself what is going on.

It was particularly this last point start bugged me while reading this trilogy: Characters or their relationship to Lyra are introduced in a few paragraphs -- and suddenly, hundreds of pages later, they seem to be the focal point of our protagonist's attention (even though they were not mentioned in between). I did not feel "taken along for the ride".
The most disappointing part was the ending - underwhelming, almost boring. If you want to save yourself the trouble, do not read the last five chapters.

Unfortunately not my favorite. Nevertheless a recommended read for those who want to join the discussions of this popular series.

The Golden Compass: 4 stars
The Subtle Knife: 3 stars
The Amber Spyglass: 2 stars

To me, above all, the books in this series are about social class - about one's origin and purpose, about language and expressions, and mostly about the transformative power of education and the promise it holds.
The life story of a first-generation academic felt eerily close to some of my experiences.

These are big books, the German edition of this second volume is over 600 pages long. Ferrante's style and Karin Krieger's translation make the pages fly by as if it was nothing, an absolute pleasure to read. Like in the first novel of the series, I learned a lot about Naples and Italy, Neapolitan and Italian, and life in the 1960s. Everything is conveyed through an unforgettable narrator, teenaged Elena Greco.

Yes, there are many characters in this novel (and the others) and some of them go by a nickname or two, and I was very grateful for the comprehensive list in the beginning of the book. I should not have been surprised by the violence, both physical and psychological, in "The Story of a New Name".

Some big words and concepts in this review, but I know you can handle them, my fellow Elenas.

Tranquil it is, this highly praised book. The first half flows gently and introduces the main characters and their lives. In the second half, some low-level action casually picks up to create a sort of mild excitement. I did care what would happen, and how the layers of this novel are connected - but everything was so mellow that I ended up not caring all that much.

I've seen "Sea of Tranquility" classified as "quiet sci-fi", and I think this captures the mood well. Everything does finally flow together, but not even the pandemic theme or the "big reveal" at the end really moved me.

Regardless of my opinion of the content, this book is exceptionally well written - the characters feel real, their motivations are clear, their development is plausible. For what it's worth, this book did have me turn the pages, it was very quick read - everything was just toned down too much for my taste.

Three short novels in a single volume because they are “the same story” - that sounds intriguing! The three mysteries are unconventional, twisty and challenging to follow. Great.

Unfortunately, I got lost trying to decipher the meaning, the hidden backstory of it all. Behind all the shifting identities, hidden agendas, and secrets over secrets, I seem to have lost the thread of why it all matters.
The constant allusions to literary history unfortunately left me rather confused - maybe I am not educated enough to understand and/or enjoy them.

What bothered me was the role of women in these stories. They appeared to me as side characters at best, with limited personalities. Their only roles in these stories is to prompt the male protagonists to do something, and of course to create and release sexual tension. A disappointing approach which should already have been shocking when the book was published in the 1980s.

I listened to the German audiobook, and Stefan Kaminski does a great job. The only times when I did not enjoy his performance was when he acted out the voices of women, children, or non-native speakers of English. Hands off if this is something that bothers you.

Overall moderately interesting mysteries that did not grab me as much as other readers. Cannot recommend, cannot not recommend.

"Mrs Dalloway" rightfully holds its place in literary history - form and structure, "stream of consciousness", female voice, depiction of mental illness. While I was reading, I had the impression of witnessing something vast and new (for the time) - maybe I had just read too much about it before. This portrayal of a day in 1923 London is remarkable, and after a bit the "stream of consciousness" becomes easier to follow.

I did struggle, though, as the fact that it took me nearly a week to finish this short book illustrates. Often I found myself re-reading paragraphs or pages because I felt I had missed something. The mix of peculiar form (of the quickly shifting perspective) and unusual vocabulary (everyday life & the most personal thoughts of the 1920s British upper-middle class) had my head spinning more than once.

What struck me most while I was reading was the gripping, painful portrayal of mental illness in one of the protagonists. Those parts will stay with me for a long time.

While the sheer reading pleasure was not exactly overwhelming, I am nevertheless glad I did read "Mrs Dalloway": It is a unique journey into the mind of several (many!) 1920s Londoners, and contained so much "food for thought" that I will not be looking at more of Virginia Woolf's texts for now - I am still quite full. I am curious to discover other parts of her work in the future.

Cozy, heart-warming sci-fi with a twist, or two.

Far, far, FAR away from Earth, our protagonist's team explores unknown planets (and life on them) and sends the data back to Earth. Their mission will take so long, they won't see their loved ones ever again: The astronauts are kept in suspension during transit, while decades pass on Earth.

This not entirely new, but nevertheless intriguing premise kept me interested and fascinated from the first page to the last. I loved that the work of the scientists plays such an important role - it is a great impression for readers less familiar with how research works, and an even better depiction for those who have had more exposure to science and technology. It is obvious that the author is very familiar with astrobiology and engineering; and reading such a well-informed story was a pleasure.
I loved following the characters, that are introduced passingly without the infamous "info dumps" of many other novels.

I don't want to say too much about the plot, or the form of the novel(la) itself - it would take away too much of the many pleasant surprises. I recommend this piece of optimistic sci-fi to everyone who sometimes wants to escape from Earth, or wants to take a look at our planet from very far away: both in space and time.