Reviews and Comments

I finished this book far too quickly: it was very engaging and fun. [a:Paolo Bacigalupi|1226977|Paolo Bacigalupi|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1278742221p2/1226977.jpg] has created a truly engaging story made ready accessible thanks to its simple language and plot. That's not to say that this is a shallow book: it's set in a very realistic postapocalyptic world and deals with the issues of global warming, famine, and our dependence on oil.

It feels a lot simpler and cleaner than [b:The Windup Girl|6597651|The Windup Girl|Paolo Bacigalupi|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1278940608s/6597651.jpg|6791425], but also touches on many of the similar themes. I think I enjoyed that book more than Ship Breaker, but I can still recommend either without reservations. One thing to note is that this is a young adult novel and it really shows in how it deals with characters and the plot, though it does have some very dark things (like murder, addiction, etc) thrown into the mix.

My full review is now up at my blog: strakul.blogspot.com/2012/04/book-review-ship-breaker-by-paolo.html

China Mieville does it again: an excellent book! This may be the best I've read from him yet (or best ever), though at the moment I can't decide if I like it more than [b:The City & The City|4703581|The City and the City|China Miéville|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320475957s/4703581.jpg|4767909].
The first ~third of the book is absolutely awesome. It's classic sci-fi like something you would expect from Asimov or Clarke.
The next ~third drags a bit, but only because the focus shifts a bit from being about the concepts to being about the plot/characters.
The final ~third is great and shines new light on that middle third that makes it quite exciting.
The ending is quite satisfying and the story overall doesn't feel as dark as some of his other works (I'm looking at you, [b:Perdido Street Station|68494|Perdido Street Station (New Crobuzon, #1)|China Miéville|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1327891688s/68494.jpg|3221410]).
I love the way he expresses the Hosts' Language. It looks easy to pronounce, but is, in fact, impossible to do so- a truly alien way of speaking.
My only regret is that we didn't see more of the immer. I would love to read other books set in this universe.

I would recommend this book to fans of aliens, space travel, language, and/or sociology/politics. I would not be surprised to see this book nominated for (and winning) awards this year.

Update (4/19/12): after the Hugo nomination I decided to re-read the book. Here are my thoughts: strakul.blogspot.com/2012/04/book-review-embassytown-by-china.html

This is the second book in the Malazan Book of the Fallen series and it is just as good as the first one. The plot, setting, and characters are flawlessly executed and, in my opinion, this series is shaping up as one of the best epic fantasies I have ever read. Good guys and bad guys are blurred, as they are in [a:George R.R. Martin|346732|George R.R. Martin|http://photo.goodreads.com/authors/1195658637p2/346732.jpg]'s A Song of Ice and Fire. The story is also similarly violent (if perhaps a bit less) and I was surprised when some good guys died; it's like no one is truly safe here. However, unlike A Song of Ice and Fire magic plays an important role in the story and worldbuilding. There are plenty of gods or Ascendants that mess up mortal's lives and serve to increase the scope of the story.
Overall, I would highly recommend this series for any fan of epic fantasy.

For a longer review, see my blog: here

This is the 7th and final volume of the Saga of Seven Suns. I've you read the series up to book 6, you might as well finish it. This is a fast paced, epic conclusion to the series and in my opinion is one of the better books in the Saga.

The pros: fast action almost from the start, you get right to the meat of the conflict. The conclusion is suitably epic and satisfying. The series as a whole presents an interesting variety of social groups- Humans: the Hansa, the Roamers, the Therons, Ildirans, Klikiss (and their robots), and the Elementals: faeros, hydrogues, verdani and wentals. While the elementals are probably among the more interesting ones, the relationship between the human factions is more clearly fleshed out, considering most of the characters are humans.

The cons: the characters don't change too much in this book, in fact, throughout the entire series you have a very clear picture of who are the good guys and bad guys, you rarely see moral ambiguity or 3D characters. It seems, almost, that there are only 2-3 bad guys in the entire universe (with tons of lackeys to do their dirty work) and no one can stand up to them. All the other characters have perfect morality and in their naive simplicity will never once deviate from their beliefs even if doing so would solve so many problems. Only the 'bad' guys ever change sides. I would say the characters in the book (and the series as a whole) are probably the weakest part of the story.

Another minor issue is that the author makes an effort to describe where everyone is after the conflict. So after the climax, we still have 30-40 pages to read of so-and-so got married, so-and-so are now here, so-and-so are happy (no one is unhappy in the end). I think all of that cut have been cut and just go straight to the end, as the last chapter seemed to pack just a little bit more emotion than the prior ones.
This slow ending is coincidentally similar to the slow start of the series. [b:Hidden Empire|898232|Hidden Empire (The Saga of Seven Suns, #1)|Kevin J. Anderson|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1179283380s/898232.jpg|883419] takes ~100 pages to actually get to the action. So I guess if you can deal with the slow start and end, and with the occasional up and downs in the series (a few books weren't as good as the others), and if you don't want overly complex characters, then you may want to give this series a try.

Superb epic fantasy.
I bought this since it was on sale, but had intended to read it for some time. I'm glad I did. I can't believe I've waited this long to read this.

While some books start with all the characters in one place and slowly build up to the full cast and the action, this is not one of those books. You start of right in the middle of the action and quickly start shifting view points. It can be a bit hard to follow what is going on or if events are relevant, but if you persevere you are rewarded. The various viewpoints and plots start tying up together and by the end everything is neatly in place. There are a few plots that get introduced and are not resolved, but it's clear that these will be address in the future books.
The magic seems well structured and defined, though the reader is not privy to the details. Unlike some books, there is no 'apprentice mage' character that learns (along with the reader) how magic works and such. Hence, I am not to sure of the limits, but can attest to the power of some of the characters.
The characters themselves are excellent. You want all of them to succeed, which is a problem since they each have their own goals that in many cases conflicts with those of others.

Overall, this is a great start to an epic fantasy series. I look forward to reading the following books and I am glad the 10-book series is officially complete.