I enjoyed the writing and the world-building is beyond phenomenal. I love the mystery in the story, hidden secrets slowly unveiled but still so much tI enjoyed the writing and the world-building is beyond phenomenal. I love the mystery in the story, hidden secrets slowly unveiled but still so much to learn and understand (which is why I will continue the series). But, the plot was slow (for me), and while the world-building and emotionally complex characters offsets this problem to a degree, it made it hard for me to build momentum in reading the book.
Things do start coming together at the end, a twist I did not see coming and superbly executed. I will def continue because I love this world Jemisin has created, and am curious to see where the story goes. And obelisks… damn curious about those things. I’ve always had an odd curiosity about obelisks ever since I played Command and Conquer as a kid and they were just awesome for blowing #@$ up. That’s my main understanding of obelisks, fit for fire-beaming one’s enemies to kingdom come. I did see an obelisk in real life once but it didn’t blow stuff up so suffice to say disappointing as hell. Nice to see them regain some magical qualities in this book, help me forget the mundanity of their real-world counterparts....more
Awesome read. Interesting narrative structure constantly alternating between a set of 23 different characters. Unique quest plot with different characAwesome read. Interesting narrative structure constantly alternating between a set of 23 different characters. Unique quest plot with different characters as metaphors for how we go thru life, find purpose, etc. Strong philosophical elements, existential questions.
I don't understand how this has yet to be translated into English. Pretty sure it would find a good amount of interest....more
This is a great ideas book using the vehicle of science fiction to offer examinations of human systems (political, philosophical, work, family, relatiThis is a great ideas book using the vehicle of science fiction to offer examinations of human systems (political, philosophical, work, family, relationships, etc etc). The two main political systems that are compared is a communal anarchist society and a materialistic, capitalistic system. I thought Le Guin was wonderfully balanced in her presentation, offering critiques and insights on both with a lot of nuance. And her thought-experiment and world-building of this communal anarchist society was really awesome and beautifully done, providing fertile grounds to think about the way things work and how we live our lives.
There is a running thread throughout the book of disgust at the all-consuming materialism that plagues the capitalistic system along with its atomistic individualism that easily shreds us of compassion and solidarity. We become little atoms whose algorithm is namely driven by two dominant factors, money and power (often intertwined, and obviously not exclusive to this system!). In the communal anarchist society other problems crop up, including a dearth of material necessities, and the use of social opprobrium as a method of controlling the individual. That's actually a great strength of her critique to me, the individual becomes subjugated, in some differing ways, but they do become subjugated in all the various systems. I mean, that is often the price that is paid to live in an organized society. The individual must be subsumed to some degree (degree depends on the system and social contract/norms). So I like that Le Guin never romanticizes either system, she tries to ground them in reality and pick over their flaws (in the communal anarchist system much has to be imagined, but to me she creates a believable world which grounds the critique with a bit more realism in a way).
In the communal anarchist society, even though there aren't deeply formed centralized control structures a type of ghost bureaucracy manifests and exerts power. I think that's a pretty good rule of thumb, for any system if there is a certain threshold of population there will be a centralization and a bureaucracy that crops up, even in one founded upon the principles of anarchism and individual liberty. The general question to me is how much balance can be found between the individual (and maintaining a level of individual agency) and community and community power. Different societies will have different answers and balances they strike.
So many utopian/dystopian novels hit only one note with the same constant ideological hammer. This book was much more nuanced and clever than that, it never grated my nerves as can often happen with some of the politically-themed novels of this type. And quite often with many of these novels I actually agree with the overarching critiques but they keep bashing you over the head with the same message over and over that you can't help feeling like the author thinks you're utterly mindless. That's all to say I really appreciate the nuance and care Le Guin takes to share her ideas. She respects the reader.
This is a book to reread, a lot of dense ideas to think about and unravel. I wouldn't mind tracking down some essays and reviews of this one and reading through other readers' thoughts. Especially curious to see how different people across the political spectrum view and interpret this book....more
Wow! just awesome. Beautifully written and filled with a fantastic sense of mystery. It started off kind of slow but there was such a great slow buildWow! just awesome. Beautifully written and filled with a fantastic sense of mystery. It started off kind of slow but there was such a great slow build. The characters are so fully fleshed, the bad guys are so bad and that is just the best. I adore despicable characters and Robin Hobb knows so perfectly well how to create the most aggravating baddies. Sure, maybe they are a bit too outlandishly bad and despicable, but that’s how I like my bad guys. And so much courtly intrigue, which is kept interesting because the bad guys (Galen and Regal, gawd I hate them so!) are such sneaky evil little dorks. They remind me a lot of Joffrey from Game of Thrones. I'll take an interesting bad guy over a solid hero any day. A good bad guy can carry a book and keep me engaged more than anything else.
It’s not often I connect with characters and get so sucked into a story, but this book does it. It took a while for the story to suck me in, but the characters were so solid that if you stick with it, once things start happening you actually feel things because you’ve got some real emotional connections to these characters. So while the seeming lack of narrative drive in the first half of the book seems like a weakness, it’s not, in my opinion, because Hobb uses that first half to paint the backdrop and flesh out her very rich characters.
Within the story, there are so many illusions, shifting alliances, hard to figure out each character's motivations, we are kept in the dark and snippets are revealed here and there. That's what keeps the tension in the book going, great character dynamics and shifting intrigues.
Fitz is our underdog hero, a bastard son of noble heritage. But he is trodden upon and disrespected from the very beginning. But fear not, he’s got some cool powers, like he can magically link to animals so that will fix everything and he will save the world. Or at least he will be able to link to a dog and sniff poop and realize how great it is? can’t remember, the point is it’s a cool power. Just don’t get tricked into thinking like a dog and think sniffing and eating dog poop is the best. Because it’s not and dogs are idiots. (can you tell I have a lot of residual frustration about my own dog's poop eating habits?)
Fitz trains to become an assassin and big surprise everything goes to hell. I couldn’t believe it. I would’ve never imagined that training a 6 year old to become an assassin could in any way lead to a crazy whacked out people trying to murder you life. But it does. So that’s a lesson for all the kids and parents out there.
Looking forward to reading the following books in the series, got the audiobooks on hold from the library. ...more
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