Anthony’s Comments (group member since Jul 31, 2018)

Anthony’s comments from the Beyond Reality group.

I read this a few years ago and was very impressed by it.

I just finished this and really loved it. There was something liberated about KSR’s approach here, almost experimental, and with lots of moments of levity, all of which just carried me along. I’ve been a great admirer of KSR’s intellect and his ambitious approach to taking on huge themes, but I’m not sure I’ve also had as much fun reading his work as I did here. And that fun didn’t come at the expense of a depth of feeling or a paucity of big ideas. Really really impressive and inspiring.

I’m late to the party but about 1/3 of the way through and I’m very engaged, as I pretty much always am when reading KSR’s work. In this novel, his approach feels a bit more experimental and even playful, in ways that are fun and interesting. I always admire his ability to create work that explores both the big picture of a future world, and the intimate details of the people who live in that world.

I’m looking forward to reading this soon.

What a lovely and thoughtful response, Kathi!

I read this a couple of months ago and enjoyed it very much, moreso than I would have anticipated. Curious to see others’ responses here and in the spoiler thread.

For SF I nominate The Power by Naomi Alderman.

For fantasy I nominate The Way of Thorn and Thunder by Daniel Heath Justice.

Like you, Kathi, after devouring and being blown away by Downbelow Station, I’ve been dedicating myself to reading the rest of Cherryh’s intimidatingly large oeuvre. There’s no one quite like her, in terms of both the scope and depth of her approach to the conceptions of her world building, and in terms of her approach to creating fully-realized, complex, compelling characters. This was a thoroughly enjoyable adventure, and I especially loved the turnabout method she used in exploring a first contact story from the point of view of the aliens rather than the humans. I look forward to continuing to read about the adventures of Pyanfar and her Pride of the Chanur crew.

I enjoyed the approach Moreno-Garcia took in creating a consistent allegorical voice, but ultimately I thought it wound up a bit thin. There was so much promise in the setting, the use of a mythology that felt so fresh, and in a plucky, gutsy heroine. I kept wanting more depth, more stakes, and more bones on the meat of the story, which turned into a this-happened-and-then-this-happened video game, rather than an organic plot. So all in all I was a bit disappointed.

That cover, though!

I read it last year and have to say I was a bit disappointed, although I did like some aspects of it very much. I’ll discuss in more detail in the spoiler thread. Curious to see others’ responses.

For SF I nominate the genre-bending, multi-award-nominated Cloud Atlas by David Mitchell.

For fantasy, I nominate the Native American author Daniel Heath Justice’s The Way of Thorn and Thunder. It’s come highly recommended by a couple of bookworm friends.

Yes, which is how Cherryh wanted it to be published in the first place.

Re the personality reprogramming of clones, I’m reading Cyteen, which deals with a similar idea, but in this case by combining subliminal suggestions/brainwashing techniques with genetic coding. It’s much more convincing and probable than the vague, handwavy hacking that occurs in Six Wakes.

I just finished it this morning. I was mostly entertained, and wound up thinking of it as a fun popcorn read. I think it does have some very interesting ideas about the ethics of cloning that infuse its narrative, and I appreciate the exploration of those ideas, but the shallow dialogue and mostly two-dimensional characters lowered the overall experience for me. Also, the notions of reprogramming personality traits struck me as particularly handwavy.

All in all, I’m a little surprised it was nominated for both a Hugo and Nebula.

I’m going to keep trying to get more C.J. Cherryh on the shelf, so I’d like to again nominate The Pride of Chanur for SF.

@Lindsey I have only read Cherryh’s Hugo-winning Downbelow Station, and I thought it was fantastic. I imagine it wouldn’t be to everyone’s taste, though, since her style is a bit oblique at times. But I was totally mesmerized and ultimately quite moved and impressed by it. I believe Kathi has read a fair amount more of her work, though, so I’d be curious to hear if she has other recommendations.

I’ll nominate the LA Times Book Prize-winning Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James for fantasy.

For fantasy, I nominate Black Leopard, Red Wolf by Marlon James. It has been shortlisted for some major literary prizes, an unusual occurrence for SFF works.

For SF, I nominate The Pride of Chanur by C.J. Cherryh, an author more of whose work I’m eager to read.

I just wish the climactic scene of confrontation was more clearly delineated as to what was happening, and less filled with melodramatic dialogue. So much of the novel was written in a lovely, lyrical, hallucinatory style, but that climax really fell flat for me.

I’ve read the first three chapters, and I find her writing to be quite lovely. Evocative and poetic without being too precious. And her narrator has a wonderfully unusual and intriguingly impish way of being.