Revenant Gun
(Machineries of Empire #3)
by Yoon Ha Lee
science fiction
copyright 2018
read in January 2019
rated 8/10: really quite good
Hard -- complex -- unbelievable -- science fiction. Getting better, too: third book in the series and I believe I almost understand most of what is going on :-)
It's a complex world and technology runs rampant. Yet there is a very human feel to the story. Even the non-humans have sympathetic characters.
The end is absolutely satisfactory... with room for further stories. There are no ridiculous cliff-hangers. There are several situations which are... sort of... resolved. Settled for the short-term. With plenty of opportunity for further exploration. The main story is wrapped up but the universe is wide and full of possibilities. I'm looking forward to more of these complex, high tech yet very human stories.
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09oct19:
I started to read this book... quickly realised that I have read it before... stopped reading. Not because it is not a good book! (Sorry about the double negatives.)
Having read only a few pages... having been reminded of the book... I am still happy to rate it as eight out of ten. It's just, right now, I want a lighter book. One where goodies will clearly win, where they do win, where the baddies just don't stand a chance. I want simple, unchallenging "space opera". Which I then found, in The Collapsing Empire :-)
Oh, yes, I would change just one thing from my initial review of this book: Make it "space opera" rather than "science fiction".
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09oct19:
I started to read this book... quickly realised that I have read it before... stopped reading. Not because it is not a good book! (Sorry about the double negatives.)
Having read only a few pages... having been reminded of the book... I am still happy to rate it as eight out of ten. It's just, right now, I want a lighter book. One where goodies will clearly win, where they do win, where the baddies just don't stand a chance. I want simple, unchallenging "space opera". Which I then found, in The Collapsing Empire :-)
Oh, yes, I would change just one thing from my initial review of this book: Make it "space opera" rather than "science fiction".
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06jan21: Yep, I've read it again. All the way through. Enjoyed it again.
I'll add another thought: this is "hard" science fiction (as well as space opera :-) The story uses science -- and maths -- as a central fact of life. Yet there is plenty of story (and character) around the science.
I see from my previous comment that the book was too heavy for what I wanted. Strangely enough... This time I read Revenant as a break from an even heavier book... Oh well, a lot of enjoyment depends on how I feel at the time.
Dr Nick Lethbridge / Consulting Dexitroboper
... Agamedes Consulting / Problems ? Solved
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"All the world's a stage, but the script needs new writers" … Ginger Meggs
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