Lewis
I described this to someone as “Canticle for Leibowitz in space, meets cosmic horror” and while that’s not inaccurate having gotten to the end, this book doesn't quite stick the landing. It does give me a good example to point to of the sort of thing that I am looking for in a space horror book, because “generation ship so old that it lost its own sense of history encounters inscrutable, dangerous alien ship and explores it” is a thing I want to read.
Some things we don’t get answers to that I am fine with: who are the aliens and why are they violent/dangerous in this particular way? Why was this human ship made with a giant cathedral in the center and externally visible Christian stained glass displays? What was its’ mission?
Some things we don’t get answers to that I do want answers to: Is it a mistake to recolonize Antioch? Do the church records have any location data or historical information that would have been useful for the ship prior to alien encounter or for Bartolomeo’s plan (I realize it is moot given that they abandon his plan, but we spend all that time on access to the records). What was the deal with the girl who looked like Father Veronica? What were the machines that the bishop was building before they encountered Antioch?
A lot of those are quibbles, but I do think the book could have used an edit to tidy up some of these weird threads or just generally streamline the narrative and then also, the ending sort of feels like there should be a sequel or like we need something more definitive.
I described this to someone as “Canticle for Leibowitz in space, meets cosmic horror” and while that’s not inaccurate having gotten to the end, this book doesn't quite stick the landing. It does give me a good example to point to of the sort of thing that I am looking for in a space horror book, because “generation ship so old that it lost its own sense of history encounters inscrutable, dangerous alien ship and explores it” is a thing I want to read.
Some things we don’t get answers to that I am fine with: who are the aliens and why are they violent/dangerous in this particular way? Why was this human ship made with a giant cathedral in the center and externally visible Christian stained glass displays? What was its’ mission?
Some things we don’t get answers to that I do want answers to: Is it a mistake to recolonize Antioch? Do the church records have any location data or historical information that would have been useful for the ship prior to alien encounter or for Bartolomeo’s plan (I realize it is moot given that they abandon his plan, but we spend all that time on access to the records). What was the deal with the girl who looked like Father Veronica? What were the machines that the bishop was building before they encountered Antioch?
A lot of those are quibbles, but I do think the book could have used an edit to tidy up some of these weird threads or just generally streamline the narrative and then also, the ending sort of feels like there should be a sequel or like we need something more definitive.
A small group of outsiders in a Pacific Northwest town try to survive and fight back against a sudden onslaught of rage-and-violence that appears to be related to some new biotech being tested in the area.
I don’t read a ton of horror but as with horror movies, this isn’t because I dislike the genre, it’s because I have very particular things I want from horror and most horror isn’t doing that.
This book is pretty action-heavy and high gore. Neither of those things is bad, per se, but I am always looking for things that would be described as “atmospheric” and “tense”, which is just orthogonal to that at best.
Pros: I enjoyed the characters, and the story kept moving along at a good pace. The threat escalated nicely and felt ever present.
Cons: I read another review that said the motive was underexplained and I don’t think that’s true, but I do think it is unsatisfying and demystified a bit too much. All of our questions get answered, which sounds good, but ultimately, it would be good for this story to leave us with some questions to ponder.
A small group of outsiders in a Pacific Northwest town try to survive and fight back against a sudden onslaught of rage-and-violence that appears to be related to some new biotech being tested in the area.
I don’t read a ton of horror but as with horror movies, this isn’t because I dislike the genre, it’s because I have very particular things I want from horror and most horror isn’t doing that.
This book is pretty action-heavy and high gore. Neither of those things is bad, per se, but I am always looking for things that would be described as “atmospheric” and “tense”, which is just orthogonal to that at best.
Pros: I enjoyed the characters, and the story kept moving along at a good pace. The threat escalated nicely and felt ever present.
Cons: I read another review that said the motive was underexplained and I don’t think that’s true, but I do think it is unsatisfying and demystified a bit too much. All of our questions get answered, which sounds good, but ultimately, it would be good for this story to leave us with some questions to ponder.
Piranesi is both an extremely similar book to Strange and Norrell and an extremely dissimilar book. The commonalities are that both books concern ambitious people seeking forbidden or hidden knowledge and power, people who are careless with others in their quest for knowledge and power, and intriguing liminal spaces where such power spills over from its true source into our world. It also features people who are more pure hearted who have an easier relationship to these places of magic/power/knowledge, but who were not seeking to explore them in the first place. Strange and Norrell is written like an academic tome with footnotes and digressions and the plot only incidentally strums along (the tv show is impressive for its ability to function as a narrative!). Piranesi is shorter and more traditionally narratively structured. It is a gripping tale and makes it easy to love the labyrinth and its beloved child. I love both books but I will find myself re-reading Piranesi more times over the years, I suspect.
Piranesi is both an extremely similar book to Strange and Norrell and an extremely dissimilar book. The commonalities are that both books concern ambitious people seeking forbidden or hidden knowledge and power, people who are careless with others in their quest for knowledge and power, and intriguing liminal spaces where such power spills over from its true source into our world. It also features people who are more pure hearted who have an easier relationship to these places of magic/power/knowledge, but who were not seeking to explore them in the first place. Strange and Norrell is written like an academic tome with footnotes and digressions and the plot only incidentally strums along (the tv show is impressive for its ability to function as a narrative!). Piranesi is shorter and more traditionally narratively structured. It is a gripping tale and makes it easy to love the labyrinth and its beloved child. I love both books but I will find myself re-reading Piranesi more times over the years, I suspect.