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Awix (3310 KP) rated When the Tripods Came (The Tripods #4) in Books

Sep 18, 2019  
When the Tripods Came (The Tripods #4)
When the Tripods Came (The Tripods #4)
John Christopher | 1988 | Dystopia, Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
7
7.0 (1 Ratings)
Book Rating
Fourth books in trilogies are inherently inelegant and awkward beasts; Christopher's final Tripods novel is unsurprisingly no exception. 1980s Earth is visited by alien invaders, who (initially at least) are easily repelled. But it turns out that your mum was right when she said that too much TV was bad for your health...

A bit dated, but that's the least of the book's issues. A prequel to the main series was really not required, and the main catalyst for writing it seems to have been the Tripods TV show which was broadcast three or four years earlier. (The TV show the Masters use to take over the world bears a suspicious resemblance to the TV adaptation of the first two books.) It's not really meta, more sort of peeved: peeved at critics of the show's shortcomings, but also peeved at the makers of the show for not doing a better job. As well as being dated, the relationship subplots of the book feel a bit proforma, but the depiction of the world slowly sliding out of human control and the end of modern civilisation is vividly presented in the usual compelling fashion. Whether it should all feel a bit more downbeat and bleak is probably a question of personal taste; Christopher's prose retains its good manners as well as its readability.
  
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40x40

Sean Farrell (9 KP) rated Station Eleven in Books

Mar 15, 2018  
Station Eleven
Station Eleven
Emily St. John Mandel | 2015 | Fiction & Poetry, Science Fiction/Fantasy
10
7.9 (29 Ratings)
Book Rating
There's a good reason this book has been appearing on so many of this year's best lists. It tells the tale of our world in the not too distant future, after a major flu outbreak has all but wiped out humanity, something which is all too possible and portrayed here with frightening realism. A few survivors are followed throughout the story, as they struggle to survive, both before and after the catastrophe. The prose is beautiful and the characters wonderful, the plot may seem to meander at times, but it all comes together in the end, to show how the actions of one can have an effect on so many, and even the most seemingly inconsequential events can have such great meaning over the course of time. A literary masterpiece, and easily one of the year's best books.
  
40x40

Jennifer Daniell (108 KP) rated Dread Nation in Books

Apr 25, 2018  
Dread Nation
Dread Nation
Justina Ireland | 2018 | Science Fiction/Fantasy, Young Adult (YA)
6
7.6 (8 Ratings)
Book Rating
Stong Women of Color (0 more)
Rushed, Not enough backstory/world building. (0 more)
Disappointing
I was excited for this one,it had SO MUCH POTENTIAL, but it let me down.

I really enjoyed the world building and character development in as far as it was taken, but I would have liked more depth and backstory on both Jane and Kate as well as Jane and Red Jacks relationship BEFORE as well as more history on the zombies themselves. There is a brief mention of them rising up at Gettysburg and buy few details as to the why and how. Lily seemed centrifugal to the story initially but felt like an after thought overall. Also the story was very slow to start but was totally rushed at the end. As soon as it began to get interesting it ended.