thomas
genuinely compelling world, grimy, unique. first half of the book briefly filled a disco elysium shaped hole in my heart.
my main complaint with the book is that it turned into a more generic actiony-adventurey type beat in the second half when the protags need to overcome The Obstacle.
spoilers below
while the slake moths are really interesting, this part of the story kind of lost the magic of what was set up imo. rather than exploring the setting it felt more like a slideshow of it: wow here’s this big robo consciousness! there’s these other guys they can do magic!!
maybe it’s just a matter of expectations, but take Motley for instance. his dynamic with Lin was setup to be something kinda interesting, this fucked up guy with an obsession with transitions. really compelling, but in the end he just turns into a generic mob boss. i wish we could have a version of this book with lower stakes and which explored the relationships between the characters and the city more.
big fan of the city btw. and of isaac being a scientist as a framing device, love it when you learn about a world together with a character in a natural way.
audiobook wise the narrator was passable. a tad dry, and wasn’t a big fan tbh, but after hearing the narrator for the sequel i kinda want him back
genuinely compelling world, grimy, unique. first half of the book briefly filled a disco elysium shaped hole in my heart.
my main complaint with the book is that it turned into a more generic actiony-adventurey type beat in the second half when the protags need to overcome The Obstacle.
spoilers below
while the slake moths are really interesting, this part of the story kind of lost the magic of what was set up imo. rather than exploring the setting it felt more like a slideshow of it: wow here’s this big robo consciousness! there’s these other guys they can do magic!!
maybe it’s just a matter of expectations, but take Motley for instance. his dynamic with Lin was setup to be something kinda interesting, this fucked up guy with an obsession with transitions. really compelling, but in the end he just turns into a generic mob boss. i wish we could have a version of this book with lower stakes and which explored the relationships between the characters and the city more.
big fan of the city btw. and of isaac being a scientist as a framing device, love it when you learn about a world together with a character in a natural way.
audiobook wise the narrator was passable. a tad dry, and wasn’t a big fan tbh, but after hearing the narrator for the sequel i kinda want him back