Anathem
Okay so I finally finished the mighty beast of a book and damn what a book. I may have to spend some time getting my thoughts in order on it. Short answer: Probably the most interesting sci-fi I've read in a good while.
Yeah so pretty damn hardcore and impressive. I really liked the slow world building and all the background material that occurs early on, that you feel is just flavour and kind of is, but in a way almost everything features in some way. For a massive beast of a book (900+ pages) its remarkably tight in a way, theres little that in reflection feels loose and plotless.
The whole thing with the avout is also epic, I can see all kinds of influences on them, from various religious orders to various scientific forms and methods, as well as the philosophical input of the dialogues/planing rake/razor. Also the Ringing Vale guys were just awesome ninjas and the Thousanders... just wow. Developing a practice where they seem to be able to kind of pick or influence which narrative/world-track/multi-verse they're inhabiting, hence seeming to rewrite things, developed over time because they basically cured aging/cell degeneration while caring for nuclear weapon stockpiles... awesome stuff.
Also the overall Erasmas/Ala romance actually seemed kind of believable as they slowly grew up over time as the book while in chronological time is quite short (less than a year I think) in personal development time takes them all from feeling almost like kids to being fully grown.
Remarkable effort, well realised world, interesting plot, actually had an ending.
Yeah so pretty damn hardcore and impressive. I really liked the slow world building and all the background material that occurs early on, that you feel is just flavour and kind of is, but in a way almost everything features in some way. For a massive beast of a book (900+ pages) its remarkably tight in a way, theres little that in reflection feels loose and plotless.
The whole thing with the avout is also epic, I can see all kinds of influences on them, from various religious orders to various scientific forms and methods, as well as the philosophical input of the dialogues/planing rake/razor. Also the Ringing Vale guys were just awesome ninjas and the Thousanders... just wow. Developing a practice where they seem to be able to kind of pick or influence which narrative/world-track/multi-verse they're inhabiting, hence seeming to rewrite things, developed over time because they basically cured aging/cell degeneration while caring for nuclear weapon stockpiles... awesome stuff.
Also the overall Erasmas/Ala romance actually seemed kind of believable as they slowly grew up over time as the book while in chronological time is quite short (less than a year I think) in personal development time takes them all from feeling almost like kids to being fully grown.
Remarkable effort, well realised world, interesting plot, actually had an ending.