Old white cishet suburban male. Software engineer.
Mostly interested in sci-fi (fiction) and anti-racism (non-fiction), but, wow, is that stuff Hard To Read. (Mostly because it's all my fault.)
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Ten thousand city-state habitats orbit the planet Yellowstone, forming a near-perfect democratic human paradise.
But …
Having a harder time getting in to this one. The (apparent) technolibertarian world building is a little harder to swallow.
Tom Dreyfus is a Prefect, a law enforcement officer with the Panoply. His beat is …
I enjoyed the world-building, the plot progression, and the reveals about the characters.
It felt incredible to me that this book was written in 2007 but, in a way, feels like it could have been inspired by today's current events. The concept that people in positions of power could destroy the government and that the voting public might actually be ok with that just kind of rocked my head. Another aspect that made this book a little difficult to read, frankly.
Tom Dreyfus is a Prefect, a law enforcement officer with the Panoply. His beat is …
Content warning spoiler
«“I see where you’re going. You think we should leave the coma cases to die.”
“It’s not as if they’ll know what hit them.”
“All those citizens went into voluntary coma on the understanding that the PVS would be looking after them, and that Panoply would be standing by if the PVS failed in its care. That was a promise we made to those people.”
Clearmountain looked exasperated. “You’re worried about breaking a promise to a citizen with the brain functions of a cabbage?”
“I’m just wondering where this ends. So the coma cases are inconvenient to us. Fine, we lose them. Who’s next? Citizens who can’t move as fast as the rest? Citizens we just don’t like the look of? Citizens who maybe didn’t vote the right way the last time there was a poll on Panoply’s right to arms?”
“I think you’re being needlessly melodramatic,” Clearmountain said.»
This book was written in 2007. 2007
Tom Dreyfus is a Prefect, a law enforcement officer with the Panoply. His beat is …
«Dreyfus examined his thoughts. It startled him to realise that he was less shocked by Aumonier’s planned use of nuclear weapons than he was by the idea of blacking out the entire Glitter Band. But the fact of the matter was that for most of the ten thousand habitats, life was continuing more or less as normally. Some of the citizens would be aware of the crisis, but many would be completely insulated from it, snug in the hermetic cocoons of their private fantasy universes.»
Shut off my smart phone??? NOOOOOO!
Moar "accidental" political commentary.
Tom Dreyfus is a Prefect, a law enforcement officer with the Panoply. His beat is …
42% in. I have decided, at this point, that I am super enjoying this.
Tom Dreyfus is a Prefect, a law enforcement officer with the Panoply. His beat is …
«
Tom Dreyfus is a Prefect, a law enforcement officer with the Panoply. His beat is …
«The passwall sealed itself into non-existence behind Senior Prefect Gaffney. He had just returned from Hospice Idlewild, and his sinuses were still blocked after exposure to the furnace-dry air aboard the corvette. He picked at a nostril, then smeared the offending nasal matter against the wall, where it melted away into the absorbing matrix of quickmatter.»
Am I supposed to like this character? I can't tell yet.
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the …
Like a fairy tale, and not in a good way. Unbelievable plot, unbelievable characters, just bad fairy tale bad.
I stopped reading around the 56% mark. I don't usually abandon books but, oof, this one. I don't care how it turns out, the first 56% was bad enough.
I'd give it no stars, but I'm afraid that wouldn't affect the average.
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the population. From space, a ruthless …
Humans and androids crowd the raucous streets of New Beijing. A deadly plague ravages the …
Gotta say, I'm having a hard time with this. No mention (so far) of WHY her stepmom is so mean. Seems like a pretty traditionally-gendered society (from what I can tell), so how about a gesture toward the threat an older unmarried woman must be feeling? I mean, if we're doing a cast back to Cinderella, that seems like a good explanation, but... nothing (so far).
How does she magically go from 2nd-class citizen drafted as a test subject to volunteer, just based on a conversation? Like... evil Dr. Menendez (or whatever) just changes his mind?
A new novel about a seductive and cunning American woman who infiltrates an anarchist collective …
I loved this. It was like Moby Dick but every other chapter was "Cetology". I took my time reading it and that was slow time well spent.
She's a hardboiled, cynical woman, but not a flat character at all, nor is she such a complete pro that if anything goes wrong, it's not her fault because she's such a complete pro. She turns out to be human, but not quite like you and I, dear fellow armchair reader.
I loved the descriptive, evocative meanders of the writing and the plot... "twists", I guess you'd call them.
A new novel about a seductive and cunning American woman who infiltrates an anarchist collective in France—a propulsive page-turner of …
A new novel about a seductive and cunning American woman who infiltrates an anarchist collective …
Hmm.
«Charisma does not originate inside the person called “charismatic.” It comes from the need of others to believe that special people exist.»
Cynic much? (I think I like it.)
SOOOOO..... You can "finish" a book, "rate" a book, and "review" a book, and they all generate entries (read: noise) on your timeline, if you're not careful.
Slowly figuring this BookWyrm thing out.
Two time-traveling agents from warring futures, working their way through the past, begin to exchange …
I had to read this book 2.5 times. Once at my normal pulp-reading speed, once again at a pause-after-the-letter speed (like: a 1-day pause), and then a whole bunch of go-back-and-re-read-a-piece-because-I-clearly-missed-something.
It's great. I do recommend taking your time on your first read. The plot is macramé, and it's really nicely done.
I think I did have a little trouble with the transition from being competitors to being in love. Seemed a little abrupt. I guess I still missed something important. Maybe there was implied stuff I'm too dumb to comprehend.
Anyway. Good book. Have a crack at it. Maybe you'll do better than I.
