Reviews and Comments

Look, this sort of book leans into wild speculation, but the writing is very good. It’s old enough that the author didn’t have as easy access to some internet resources as we do today. (For instance, note I can Google a line or two from an obscure poem and find its source. Two decades ago that was unreliable. Google Search was less than two years old when the book was published and not yet a household name!)

So some of the mystery is now easily dispelled that once felt compelling.

Still, the tales are fun, and even spooky if you let yourself read uncritically.

Mostly reading this for the chapter on Charles Mudgett, since I’ve visited the gravesite described in the book many times and developed a theory about it. I may never truly “finish” reading the book, despite its charms.

I will say that the Mudgett chapter, at least, is a fun read—both desire and to some degree because of the absurd sensationalism.

The inequality metaphor and commentary isn't exactly subtle or supremely deep, but it does illustrate the ways people comply with oppressive systems ... all while involving us in a rollicking magic adventure.

I have never been the biggest Kim Stanley Robinson fan, because my personal taste tends toward strongly character-driven stories. I've seen people say that, in KSR's stories, the setting is one of the characters. OK, fair enough ... but not exactly what I'm usually looking for.

But this book is gripping even for someone like me, and I think only Robinson could've written it. In some ways, it's more of his hard/near sf, and the setting (and what happens to it) is, indeed, the main focus. The character-driven stories are good, but alone wouldn't do it for me.

But it's also timely, relevant for all human beings. And it's both starkly terrifying and one of the most genuinely hopeful takes on our current situation that I've ever seen. It doesn't deny anything ... and yet it offers a clear case for hope.

Read it.

Much darker and more adult that the original trilogy in terms of certain content portrayed, the books fit very well thematically, developing further some philosophical themes while exploring new ones. The world building is a little lighter (because so much was done in the originals), but the story is still very compelling, and it's great to learn more about it, about Lyra, and about the new characters we're getting to know.