Reviews and Comments

Obviously this is not a deep book, but there are a lot of fun fights and character moments.

The beginning instantly hooked me in. Based on it and the back cover text, I expected a(n even) more gruesome variant of "Der Steppenwolf". However, the secrets in the basement turned out a bit too tame for my taste. There is an incredibly gripping sequence at around 2/3s of the book, but that, too, went too smoothly in the end. The ending is just a bit weird/edgy/cringe. Maybe I'm just not made for horror?

The first ~50% of this book are rather trite: A typical oppressive empire and a clever, ambitious colonial subject that wants to change it. The second half, the organization of a revolution in a feudal state and the political maneuvering involved, is a lot more fun, but would've only been a 3/5. The ending, however, changes how you view much of the preceding story and expressions and elevates the whole book. No 5/5 because the reading experience of much of this book is still only mediocre.

This might be the best SciFi I read this year. It does so many different things and does them all well. Big recommendation!

Most of the plot points in this one felt recycled/uninspired. Only the parts involving the Maritime Base were great and culminated in some fun horror!

This book combines two things I love: David Zindell (here, as an inspiration) and post-singularity SciFi. Incredibly beautiful prose as well!

This book does everything right: Cool setting, interesting plot, great pacing. What especially stood out to me was that it very nicely portrayed friendships between young, ambitious people. (Another book I read a while ago did a really bad job of that)

Usually, I'm a big fan of the author. However, this one just never really grabbed me (not even sure why myself).

I really enjoyed reading this and basically tore trough it. The ending is rather disappointing: When everything comes to a head, the book basically stops. Not sure how I feel about that. What was there was great though.

This series does not disappoint!

Some parts of this express disgusting, extremely racist sentiments (I'm still not sure to what extent this is considered bad 'in universe'). Other parts of this are extremely fun. It also, as all Hermann Hesse, gives you a lot to think about. In the end, I am happy to have read it.

I originally picked this up because it was supposed to be a horror novel. In the end, it was not scary but it did have fascinating world building and discussed some interesting ideas. Recommended!

This book seems to be wish fulfillment aimed at millennials who took the pandemic very seriously. That's not me. Also, the references and quips were often quite grating. The world building was cool, though.

Basically, half of this is the first Harry Potter book, the other half the seventh (of course better written). I probably would've enjoyed this even more when I was younger.