4 posts tagged “science fiction”
More importantly, the characters have depth, seem plausible, and captivated my interest. And they're not all white! Actually, most are shades of brown (being either Aztec or Afro-Caribbean).
The preface to this book intrigued me, but then the first thirty pages seemed to drag. I started wondering if this was really a fantasy novel, and a bad mish-mash of cultures. I kept reading, however, for the promise of the preface, and was rewarded in spades, as the steam punk kicked in, adventure kicked into gear, and explanations that made sense were provided.
I'm looking forward to reading his second book, Ragamuffin.
I read about Crystal Rain on Pat's Fantasy Hotlist. I couldn't resist the idea of Caribbean pirate steampunk. I read about The Lies of Locke Lamora on many blogs, including Pat's. I don't know if I needed to read another fantasy about a thief, but how could I resist reading about the leader of the Gentlemen Bastards?
Blindsight was one of those books that I almost stopped reading. I didn't like the protagonist, and the characters I could identify with appeared far too little. Not to mention the confusion of three men whose names all start with "S" (and weren't names I was accustomed to) and one character with multiple personalities (sometimes I thought some of the multiples were other crew members).
But I ploughed on, because there were interesting bits, a cool idea, and a number of recommendations (including being nominated for a Hugo).
As I approached the half-way point in the book, I grew to like the characters - including the narrator Sri. And it became more than just a cool book, more than just super-alien aliens, interesting philosophy, and a vampire. Eventually I couldn't put the book down, I had to know what was really going on, and was surprised by the twists.
If you've ever wondered about what is consciousness, what is self, and what is language, then I recommend this book - which is all that in a cool hard SF setting with weird aliens. And if you want a scientific explanation for vampires, check it out - or at least read the author notes at the end.
Unfortunately, the first chapter didn't grab my interest. The angel on the cover makes two appearances in that chapter, but I just didn't believe it. The second half of the first chapter had too much info dump of a back story that didn't seem necessary to know at this point. And then the chapter ended by confusing me.
Maybe other chapters would appeal to me more, but I'm just not motivated to continue.
