Andrew ([email protected]) reviewed Shards of Earth by Adrian Tchaikovsky (The Final Architecture, #1)
A lot to like about this book
The author rather throws the reader in at the deep end, with a whole load of concepts and characters, right from the beginning. That meant that I struggled to get into the book, although the glossary helped. However, once I'd read the first couple of characters and begun to understand its world, I found there was a lot to like. There was quite a lot of fighting, but the author takes care not to glorify it. There are some interesting feminist perspectives. There is a nice reference to H.G. Wells (the Thunderchild battleship features in War of the Worlds). There is an amusing use of 'pronouns' in which 'they' refers not to a different gender but a species made of multiple individuals. I liked that the aliens are properly completely different and alien, which is a refreshing change from much sci fi. All in all, a lot to like, and …
The author rather throws the reader in at the deep end, with a whole load of concepts and characters, right from the beginning. That meant that I struggled to get into the book, although the glossary helped. However, once I'd read the first couple of characters and begun to understand its world, I found there was a lot to like. There was quite a lot of fighting, but the author takes care not to glorify it. There are some interesting feminist perspectives. There is a nice reference to H.G. Wells (the Thunderchild battleship features in War of the Worlds). There is an amusing use of 'pronouns' in which 'they' refers not to a different gender but a species made of multiple individuals. I liked that the aliens are properly completely different and alien, which is a refreshing change from much sci fi. All in all, a lot to like, and I'm definitely adding the sequel to my 'to be read' list.