Seth Dickinson

For about the first quarter of this book I felt like I was reading what might be the best hard SF novel of the year. At about the half-way mark though, Dickinson really goes off the rails, as what started as a domestic first-contact story has become a military thriller meets cosmic horror, and I'm not sure that the whole exercise doesn't start collapsing from its own weight; though I know that I found the whole train wreck fascinating to watch. I can't help thinking that this novel made me respect Neil Asher even more, as this sort of thing is his bread and butter, but with a lot less angst. The biggest issue though is that this novel winds up on a somewhat dispirited cliff-hanger, and Dickinson has made it clear that there is no guarantee that he'll get to write a follow-on book (which he has the raw material for), and I really want to read that book!… (plus d'informations)

I think I liked it, but it left me feeling a bit cold. I think it could have used a bit heavier hand with editing, because probably a quarter could have been cut out without losing the story. One really good thing about reading this on Kindle was I could easily go back when a character who was introduced near the beginning finally became significant 3/4 of the way in, and I could refresh myself on who the hell this person is. I don't altogether mind the meaning of certain details not becoming apparent until later on, but it was a LOT to keep track of. I did like the aspect of the main character being an accountant, so she figures out how to control the country via the financial system; that's a premise I don't think I'd really seen before and it gave the story a different flavor.… (plus d'informations)

this was great, full of ideas fed by ideas from earlier books in the series. it's about colonialism, imperialism, empire, with the story in many ways building its bones on the notion of portraying espionage and naval strategy in the Great Game of another version 0f the British Empire, in a fantasy version of The East at a moment of reckoning. the Masquerade series (this is the third book) should be required reading for anyone staying abreast of contemporary fantasy sf, and reminded me a little of the kind of stuff that Gay Gavriel Kay writes in this subgenre, although Seth Dickinson's imagination is a lot darker.… (plus d'informations)