Alan

Great standalone sci-fi story

Revisado: 05-31-24

As usual, Wells is a master craftsman of fantasy world-building. Great characters, great pace of the plot, and an intriguing fantasy setting. Definitely a fun listen.

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Top-Tier Fantasy World-building

Revisado: 01-12-24

Before "Witch King" the only thing I'd read by Wells was the Murderbot series, and I thought I knew what to expect. Witch King, however, was a pleasant surprise and an impressive exercise in fantasy world-building. Wells doesn't pull any punches, throwing you in the deep end with witches, demons, sorcerers, a unique world and an intriguing magic system. She lets the narrative unfold while keeping you engaged, incrementally exploring the characters and mechanics of the universe. The plot pacing was impressive, and I thought that the blending of past and present timelines was really well done.

My only complaint is that, to do justice to fantasy of this caliber, I wish the reader had been coached a bit better. There is a big cast of characters, many of whom have confusingly similar names, yet the reader does little to distinguish their voices. This made the audiobook difficult to follow at times. The reader also has an exasperating habit of placing emphasis on the wrong words. I can't count the number of times Wells crafted a witty bit of dialogue, and then the reader mangled the delivery.

Overall, a great story and listening experience. I'm looking forward to future installments in this universe, and in the meantime I'm going to start exploring Wells's other fantasy work. Cheers!

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Fantastic Fantasy and World-Building

Revisado: 07-03-23

Abercrombie is a pro. His writing style is sophisticated but accessible, his characters are complex and memorable, the world-building impressive. The story is grim and the violence graphic, though I appreciate the dark humor he uses to lighten the mood. I’m so excited to see where this series goes.

P.S. Oh, and holy crap, THE READER. Possibly the best I’ve ever heard. He brings so many little details, down to the slight lisp of a character with missing teeth. He even, when called for, performs the incoherent grunts of pain etc with incredible realism. A true master of his craft.

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Satisfying Conclusion to an Epic Space Saga

Revisado: 06-28-23

Fast paced and action packed, Tchaikovsky effectively uses the characters and worlds he built over the previous two novels for a very fun read and satisfying conclusion to the trilogy. Nicely done!

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Not Enough Plot to Sustain the Story

Revisado: 04-08-23

I love Tchaikovsky's work. Children of Time and Children of Ruin are among my favorite SF stories of all time, so I started Children of Memory with high hopes. And I was engaged and intrigued for the first 1/3 of the story as the mystery unfolded--so far, so good.

Then Tchaikovsky started repeating himself. Not just repeating the same looped plot structure (sorry, SPOILERS), but repeating the same kinds of phrases, ideas, and sentiments. Over, and over, and over. I understand that repetition was an intrinsic element of the story Tchaikovsky was trying to tell, but that didn't make it fun to read--instead, it felt like a chore. Essentially nothing new was revealed, with minimal character development and no plot advancements, for a massive section of this book. I found myself gradually losing interesting and just wishing that the story would end--the exact opposite of Children of Time/Ruin, where the story was so captivating I wished it WOULDN'T end.

I think this would have made a fine novella. But there wasn't enough plot to stretch into a full-length novel, and I was severely disappointed.

Sorry, Adrian, but this is my honest appraisal. 2/5 stars. = (

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Fantastic Sci-Fi, Surpasses FotD

Revisado: 03-25-23

Props to Vinge for crafting a meticulously detailed “hard sci-fi” world AND memorable characters AND an engaging plot. Surpasses “Fire Upon the Deep” in my opinion, which had scope and characters that were harder to connect with. “A Deepness in the Sky” hits a sweet spot, showing us a strange far future experience that is still compellingly human—even (especially?) the aliens.

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Starts strong, weaker finish

Revisado: 02-17-22

The first half of the book is excellent, and I was highly engaged. However, during the second half Rin's character became inexplicably weak, lacking the drive and grit that had defined her throughout the earlier chapters. Also, particularly during the second half, the book relied a bit too much on shock value and melodrama.

Great premise and world-building, just seems like it could have used a bit of refinement.

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Why is this rated so highly??

Revisado: 07-27-21

The setting was intriguing, but the plot was annoyingly focused on an implausible romantic entanglement. I wanted to learn more about the world and see the plot progress, but the narrative kept looping back to the protagonists drooling over one another.

It would have been tolerable, but the reader was one of the worst I have experienced. She placed strange emphasis on syllables, giving the narration a stilted quality, and honestly half the time she seemed bored—which I guess I can relate to. My wife and I got five or six hours in, and we WANTED to like it, but it was never quite worth our time.

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Beautiful but Mundane

Revisado: 10-09-19

Very well-written, and Le Guin (as always) has a knack for making rounded and believable characters. However, unlike the previous books, Tehanu is light on plot. As the author admits in the postscript, Tehanu’s focus is on the ordinary lives of ordinary people, on finding grace in the mundane.

Unfortunately, experiencing the mundane lives of ordinary people is not why most people (myself included) read fantasy novels. The stakes weren’t high enough, the fantasy element wasn’t strong enough, and the plot plodded. I gave 3/5 stars out of respect for Le Guin’s writing, but (compared to its predecessors) Tehanu was a bit of a disappointment.

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