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cahnSo, um, I was sick. Which meant I spent the entire day reading this book instead of, say, working.
Things that worked for me: Tiara Parakeet and her subplot. The fact that she did not end up as Lewis's girlfriend, which would have squicked me out. Because Lewis rocks (*ahem*, Mendoza). The raising-kids thing. The whole 3-in-one redemption arc. The whole 3-in-one religious satire/connotation thing. Victor's subplot, though, dude, it makes me want to write a fic where Victor wakes up and is redeemed-- I mean, he deserves it WAY more than Alec. Alec was much more charming as a 5-year-old than in World to Come, to me, but Alec has always been my least favorite of the Unholy Trinity. Edward, at least, is interesting, even though horribly sexist and irritating, and Nicholas is both interesting and somewhat sympathetic (more so in this book). The switching of scenes almost never works for me, but it did here, mostly I think because I was sick.
Characters I adore: Latif and Joseph, as ever. Victor, who touched my heart in Children and never let go. Lewis! Lewis needs a decent love interest. Oh, Mendoza, why couldn't you have picked him? Less angst all around! Nicholas, surprisingly. His "...I should've known!" realization in London and his smooshing of Dr. Zeus are both pretty awesome.
Things that did not work for me: Hearst. What was the point? Points for major trying to sell me on the 3-in-one romance (distinct from the redemption arc and the religious satire, where the sell completely happeend), but... eh.
Also, I feel like I don't understand the nature of time in these books anymore. I mean, how can Edward pop into the 19th century and get marble (or whatever) without changing history? And if he IS changing history, why not just get rid of all the wars and crap? And Dr. Zeus? But then you get paradoxes... I don't get it anymore, and I am somewhat dubious of it as a deus ex machina. Somewhat literally, I suppose. Also, it reminds me a little bit of Heinlein, in the "add miracle in step 2, and step back!"
Also, it is a risk you run in writing about immortal extremely-smart people that sometimes your reader will wonder why they are stupider than her. I mean, it took them hundreds of years to figure out that maybe they should check the sub for Kalugin?! A mortal team would've asked that question on the second day.
But anyway, I liked it. It reminded me of the last Harry Potter in that it tied up all the strands nicely, if sometimes a little too neatly, and I'm a sucker for that. This and Children are my favorites in the series, I think.
Things that worked for me: Tiara Parakeet and her subplot. The fact that she did not end up as Lewis's girlfriend, which would have squicked me out. Because Lewis rocks (*ahem*, Mendoza). The raising-kids thing. The whole 3-in-one redemption arc. The whole 3-in-one religious satire/connotation thing. Victor's subplot, though, dude, it makes me want to write a fic where Victor wakes up and is redeemed-- I mean, he deserves it WAY more than Alec. Alec was much more charming as a 5-year-old than in World to Come, to me, but Alec has always been my least favorite of the Unholy Trinity. Edward, at least, is interesting, even though horribly sexist and irritating, and Nicholas is both interesting and somewhat sympathetic (more so in this book). The switching of scenes almost never works for me, but it did here, mostly I think because I was sick.
Characters I adore: Latif and Joseph, as ever. Victor, who touched my heart in Children and never let go. Lewis! Lewis needs a decent love interest. Oh, Mendoza, why couldn't you have picked him? Less angst all around! Nicholas, surprisingly. His "...I should've known!" realization in London and his smooshing of Dr. Zeus are both pretty awesome.
Things that did not work for me: Hearst. What was the point? Points for major trying to sell me on the 3-in-one romance (distinct from the redemption arc and the religious satire, where the sell completely happeend), but... eh.
Also, I feel like I don't understand the nature of time in these books anymore. I mean, how can Edward pop into the 19th century and get marble (or whatever) without changing history? And if he IS changing history, why not just get rid of all the wars and crap? And Dr. Zeus? But then you get paradoxes... I don't get it anymore, and I am somewhat dubious of it as a deus ex machina. Somewhat literally, I suppose. Also, it reminds me a little bit of Heinlein, in the "add miracle in step 2, and step back!"
Also, it is a risk you run in writing about immortal extremely-smart people that sometimes your reader will wonder why they are stupider than her. I mean, it took them hundreds of years to figure out that maybe they should check the sub for Kalugin?! A mortal team would've asked that question on the second day.
But anyway, I liked it. It reminded me of the last Harry Potter in that it tied up all the strands nicely, if sometimes a little too neatly, and I'm a sucker for that. This and Children are my favorites in the series, I think.
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Date: 2008-01-05 02:50 am (UTC)I loved Victor and Latif and Joseph, and Suleyman, and have for a long time. I wish we'd seen more of the women - I was SO PLEASED to find out that I'd been right, and Sarah/Sarai was a cyborg (I'd suspected when they described her raising Alec). I love love love Nan - the bit about her and Latif, and his trying to raise her budget by smuggling chocolate (was that this book, or Children or Machine's? They run together, after awhile) was one of my favorite bits in all the books. I wish we'd seen a lot more of her.
I've given up trying to follow time in these books. I smile and nod, and if I can keep track of when in time we're supposed to be, I'm happy. But, much like Miles O'Brien, I've always hated temporal mechanics.
I'm glad you ended up liking the books, dear. I want to give them a good detailed reread sometime, because I know I missed stuff along the way, but it'll be awhile before I'm up for an epic reread.
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Date: 2008-01-07 08:16 pm (UTC)Oh, yeah, Suleyman! And I LOVE Van Drouten. The smuggling chocolate thing was in Children, which is part of why I love that book so (part being Victor, and part being just amazement at her chutzpah at basing a whole book on heretofore minor characters and her accomplishment in pulling it off).
Yes, thanks many many times for poking me to read these! I like them quite a lot! I do believe it's the best series I've read for a while :)