5 thoughts on “Not your father’s space opera, but a compelling character-driven book about what it means to become a person.”
Very well written and on point, Mike! I’ve also enjoyed both books and Bruce and I use them as shorthand now for “books about character development instead of books that are all action.”
I was “meh” about book 1. It was an enjoyable enough story, but I’d be hard pressed to remember anything about it 6 months later. The characters felt perfunctory. Is this better than the 1st book?
I would say yes, particularly if you go in not expecting a space adventure. It’s more focused than the first book, definitely, and sinks into two characters deeply rather than a larger number more shallowly.
Mike’s review is pretty accurate. It’s really all about the characters, with a lot less “getting from here to there in space” activity. I found it slower than the first book, but I enjoyed the characters and the exploration of what it means to be human/sentient.
Mike Reeves-McMillan I think that was my major complaint with book 1 – it didn’t do the characters justice. Glad to see this book goes into more depth.
Very well written and on point, Mike! I’ve also enjoyed both books and Bruce and I use them as shorthand now for “books about character development instead of books that are all action.”
I was “meh” about book 1. It was an enjoyable enough story, but I’d be hard pressed to remember anything about it 6 months later. The characters felt perfunctory. Is this better than the 1st book?
I would say yes, particularly if you go in not expecting a space adventure. It’s more focused than the first book, definitely, and sinks into two characters deeply rather than a larger number more shallowly.
Mike’s review is pretty accurate. It’s really all about the characters, with a lot less “getting from here to there in space” activity. I found it slower than the first book, but I enjoyed the characters and the exploration of what it means to be human/sentient.
Mike Reeves-McMillan I think that was my major complaint with book 1 – it didn’t do the characters justice. Glad to see this book goes into more depth.