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Paul

Paul@books.theunseen.city

Joined 1 year, 10 months ago

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The Doors of Eden (2020) No rating

From the Arthur C. Clarke Award-winning Adrian Tchaikovsky, The Doors of Eden is an extraordinary …

Review of 'The Doors of Eden' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

Normally I am a big fan of Adrian Tchaikovsky, but this novel proved to be surprisingly hard going.

There are a lot of interesting ideas in here, and the ending works really well. But it did take long time to get there.

Dogs of War (2017, Head of Zeus) 5 stars

Review of 'Dogs of War' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

As an exploration of what it means to be a person, from the point of view of a 7ft bioengineered dog, this novel is absolutely brilliant. The main character, Rex, is a good dog, and in this novel Adrian Tchaikovsky really does manage to effectively portray this dogs-eye view of the world.

Dogs of War is a very readable novel and one with much to say about sentience, slavery, artificial intelligence, and what happens when all these threads come together.

It really is superb.

Sideshow (Paperback, 2002, Gollancz) 3 stars

Review of 'Sideshow' on 'Goodreads'

3 stars

This third entry in Tepper's Arbai sort-of-trilogy is the weakest of the three, but this is possibly a reflection of the incredibly high bar she set for herself with Grass.

Sideshow returns to may of the themes of the previous two books, but it all feels a bit more didactic, with less engaging characters and a weaker, more plodding, story.

If you have read Grass and Raising the Stones, then Sideshow wraps things up reasonably well. Otherwise... Tepper has written better books than this.

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish (2020, Pan Macmillan) 4 stars

Preceded by: [Life, the Universe and Everything][1]

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish …

Review of 'So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

I did feel, with Life, the Universe and Everything, that the series was starting to lose it's way somewhat. With this book, though, Adams gets solidly back on track.

It's very different to what has gone before, and this is very much to the book's advantage. Arthur is more of a character this time around and there's visible plot.

So Long, and Thanks for All the Fish is still very much a Hitchhiker's book, but it also demonstrates the value in a series taking the occasional left turn.

Restaurant at the End of the Universe (Paperback) 4 stars

The Restaurant at the End of the Universe is the second book in the Hitchhiker's …

Review of 'Restaurant at the End of the Universe' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

This is a lot funnier than I remembered and, if anything, even better that The Hitchhiker's Guide To The Galaxy.

It feels that Adams really hit his stride with this book and the absurdities that make his writing such a joy to read feel a lot more pointed and, consequently, a great deal more effective.

Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy : Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Book 1 (2020, Pan Macmillan) 4 stars

'People of Earth, your attention please. This is Prostetnic Vogon Jeltz of the Galactic Hyperspace …

Review of "Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy : Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy Book 1" on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

42 years later and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy is still as absurdly funny, insanely perceptive and shockingly relevant as ever.

I still love the babel fish!