Character driven, tech minimum space opera

Unusual book about chosen families and memory (and colonialism, too) in a space opera setting. Some beautiful writing. Will look forward to author’s next book. Narrator conveys story well.

6 people found this helpful

Human story

I love this novel. I wish I were better at writing down why.

It's perfect for listening, intricate but with an overall clarity which makes all the rich detail a dark foliage. (I want to start listening again.)

It's about transport, in a way, and it does that, describing places and times and following a few strong, imperfect characters. These are the kind of characters who unknowingly and secretly shape the world beneath the notice of large powers, or knowingly and secretly despite the notice of large powers. But only in fine strands between the giant impersonal idiot waves of those large powers. (You know the ones.)

The performance is excellent mostly. There are a very few false shifts and accents in the thirteen hours.

5 people found this helpful

Incredible Deeply moving

I love science fiction for its exploration of big themes like what does it mean to be human and what is our place in the universe. This story delivers one that is much more personal and specific. It destroyed me. Reduced to tears so that I had to pull over to the side of the road more than once. Deeply moving on many levels. Also delivers the space tech and world building if that is your thing. This is an immediate favorite , an incredible debut novel, and I can’t wait to see what Jimenez comes up with next.

5 people found this helpful

Unique and lovely

Poetic and probing. I loved that there were same sex partnerships and strong women characters. Eventually stopped what I was doing and just listened to the last few hours.

4 people found this helpful

Didn't live up to potential

The concepts, character development, and description of the ways in which the characters experience time was phenomenal. However, the overall story felt lacking. After the climax (at least, I think it was the climax because it took almost the entire book to get there), the story faded away a bit and I was close to losing interest. By the ending, I wasn't really invested anymore. Interesting, but I feel like it had so much more potential.

3 people found this helpful

The Plot is Amazing, but…

This book pulls a Game of Thrones (TV show). The plot and writing are so good for most of the story, but then there comes a point when you realized there isn’t enough time left to resolve the story. The resolution is rushed and all of the satisfying details are skipped. The author basically wrote half a book and tacked on the outline at the end. I’m genuinely disappointed.

2 people found this helpful

Good but I wanted better explanations at the end.

I wasn’t quite sure how to write the review for this book. I absolutely loved the beginning, but the last third left me wanting something. It was a realistic ending, and well written, but also felt like much of the most fascinating aspects of the world-building were left as loose ends.

1 person found this helpful

Great book. Wow.

I loved this novel. Would have loved for it to last a bit longer, but wow, ended it misty eyed.

I will say the narrator did a pretty great job, despite her portrayal of male characters being hard to distinguish at times. Other than that she was great.

Great book if you love space opera. Highly recommend.

1 person found this helpful

Only the first chapter is good

The first chapter was a beautiful short story. If the whole book had captured my imagination like the first chapter did, the book would have been among my favorites. As it was, the rest of the book was a slog until the last chapter, which was interesting but not amazing.

The narration is not very good, with a notable lack of distinctive voicing. It's possible I would have enjoyed the series more if the narrator was any good. I will avoid any future books with this narrator.