New Market Scott

Could Have Been a PowerPoint

Revisado: 08-10-24

This was a short book that still seemed to go on for a bit too long. The content could have been adequately covered in a concise set of PowerPoint slides, as the focus wasn't really on storytelling. Many of the ideas felt familiar, but perhaps that isn't too surprising given the topic. I did appreciate the insight about distinguishing between THE meaning of life and finding meaning IN life, which is one of those things that seems obvious only after someone actually says it.

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Good story, off-putting narration.

Revisado: 04-09-23

Epic and engaging story, but very poor choice of narrator for a world built on the mythology of India.

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Not my style of SF

Revisado: 12-17-21

The story is something of a dark comedy, perhaps absurdist. If that's what you're looking for, this book will be great. Lots of memorable one-liners. And I always appreciate an author who does a good job reading their own book (which he does).

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Pleasantly Meditative

Revisado: 12-12-21

The main character's simple joys, innocence, and experience of the world were entrancing. In a sense, he had discovered the "secret" knowledge that the antagonist was looking for. However, the unfolding of the plot was a bit too straightforward. Some kind of a twist or surprise would have served the book well.

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Fun read, but fell short of expectations.

Revisado: 06-28-17

I didn't really fall in love with this story, although it's a genre I typically like. Some of the plot elements weren't fully developed, and I never really grew to care much for the characters. That said, it was high quality prose delivered by a narrator with a good storytelling voice.

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Emotionally Rich and Mind-Stretching Story

Revisado: 06-02-17

I was initially confused by the description of South Carolina, but then had an "ah hah" moment when I realized that a literal Underground Railroad was not going to be the only alternative take on history in the story. It occured to me that there will be a lot of memorable quotations coming out of this book. I was struck with how the psychological scarring of slavery kept revealing itself in the characters even during their most hopeful moments. Finally, the narrator did a wonderful job in bringing Cora's journey to life.

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Grand Theme, But Without Characters

Revisado: 05-11-17

This is not a novel in the sense that a character gets introduced, developed, and along the way a story gets told through their eyes. While the book does indeed start with an Englishman who for unknown reasons is granted a grand visionary tour of the history of the cosmos, the reader never gets much of a sense of who this person is; he is mostly an anonymous observer. And without a real character to care about and help tie things together, the narrative does get a bit dull and tedious at times.

In the end, the book cleverly deconstructs the notion that there must be some grand goal or end to psychological and/or spiritual development. Certainly the Star Maker is unsatisfying in this regard. My sense of the moral of the story is that all we have is our current condition and choice, and it is no less significant than any other moment along our path.

Finally, I enjoy high prose, and would say the writing here was almost poetic in its descriptions. As such, the narrator was an excellent choice.

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Educational as well as Poignant

Revisado: 08-12-16

I'm not big on auto/biographies, as I tend to find them tedious and would prefer a clever story. But this is a good one. I want to pull back a bit and say it was long-ish, but can't really point to any particular part that could easily be cut without losing something important. Sacks seems to look back on his life with a sense of curious amazement. There is a bit of tentativeness when describing emotional moments, but this somehow makes it more endearing. It probably helps that I'm more of a logically-based person with a strong interest in the topic of consciousness. But if you want a life retrospective of a genuinely interesting person, with a good helping of what made his educational works popular, this is definitely worth the read. I will point out that the narrative is not strictly linear. This threw me off at first, but it was ultimately a strength; specifically, the routine rewinding to add context kept the timeline fluid and made for a bigger impact in the end.

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Interesting Protagonist, but Story a Bit Strained

Revisado: 07-16-16

Binti is a fascinating character who would have had a lot of room to grow in a longer novel. I loved the concept of her tribal origins and quasi-mystical talents with mathematics and energy flow. That said, the story itself fell a bit flat for me. The lonely standoff sequence on the transport ship seemed to consume most of the book, and I didn't quite buy how peaceably things ended after such a murderous start. Regarding the narrator, her accented voice was fantastic, and a perfect fit for the character; it pulled me right in.

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Classic de Lint Story, But Not His Best Effort

Revisado: 06-18-16

Reading de Lint for me is like putting on my favorite comfortable sweatshirt; I enjoy the world he's built and care about its characters. However, I must say that this effort fell a bit flat.

More time was devoted to the internal dialogue of the magical characters than I recall from prior Newford novels, which seemed intriguing at first, but was ultimately not executed well. For example, one would expect the "Queen of the Faerie Courts" to be someone of significant wisdom and gravitas, but she came across as a particularly inept, one-dimensional bureaucrat. Her threats of "one word from me, and..." seemed almost comical after a while. The "Cousins" fared a bit better, but some of these are established characters from prior novels, and even then they seemed to lose something of their air of mystery. Finally, I just couldn't wrap my head around the "shadow" Christiana, who is inexplicably endowed with the wit and power to take on ancient faeries despite her relatively recent origins.

With all this said, if you're a de Lint fan, you'll enjoy both the story and the chance to catch up with old favorites Jilly and Geordie again. It's worth the read, and certainly long enough to get fully re-immersed in Newford.

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