Added this series to my list a few months back. Read book 1 about a month ago and I’m about 70% through book 2.
I’m struggling to understand why this book is so recommended here and on Amazon. Perhaps the English translation version is just bad?
The pacing is terrible and the plot is meandering (to put it nicely). And overall the character arcs and storyline is confusing. It has a ton of filler content that doesn’t add much and feels like it needs an editor to chop it down / tighten it up.
Every once in a while there are some novelties, like droplets (book 2). But last night while reading I was just skipping pages hoping to get it over with.
Was hoping for Alastair Reynolds but this is more Ayn Rand.
I hate quitting a book but I’m just about there. Throwing out a lifeline in case I’m missing something…
I loved the series, but to say it’s uneven is to put it mildly. The pacing is off, the characters are often the worst kind of stock paper-cut outs, etc. BUT I found myself over and over again stopping to think through the implications of various passages or ideas, not least the very bleak image of reality given in dark forest theory. For me, it worked as an wellspring of ideas more than it did as a story.
That said, I think the bones of an amazing story are there, so I’m looking forward to the adaptation… which is opposite of my usual reaction. Hoping that a different medium with different editorial eyes makes it shine.