imaginary_space's reviews
227 reviews

This is an interesting thought experiment, as is to be expected from PKD, but I'd rather read a modernized version of it.

This is the longest, most drawn-out book (and series) I have ever read. Even speeding it up more than I usually do did nothing to make it less boring.

It starts with 20 minutes of Barrons being extremely edgy and cringe, then goes into 30 minutes of Mac wallowing in self-pity and realising how the guy who abused her emotionally, physically and sexually, basically kept all important information from her and used her as his personal tool, was right in everything he did and was the good guy all along and she feels so bad for her bad behaviour towards him.
So yeah, that's fun. 
It doesn't get any better from there.

Seriously, what about all the 4 and 5 star reviews? What's with all the love for this woman's repetitive, long-winded, boring ass writing? I really don't want to rain on anyone's parade and I want everyone to like what they like, more power to you, but I am genuinely interested in what your frame of reference is. Like ... what do you compare this to? What is a 2 star book to you?

Okay, so in this instalment we get

I will definitely NOT be reading Dani's book(s). I cannot take any of this badly written, rapey, forced sexualisation of EVERYTHING involving a 13 year old. No.

What if your dreams could change reality?

It will probably make you and everyone around you miserable.

From the protagonist

who is so afraid of his uncontrollable ability that he retreats into passivity,

to the doctor

who first tries to help him, then tries to do good, and then of course is corrupted,

to the woman who just wants to do her job

but gets blinked in and out of existence because of the protagonist's dreams,

no one comes out on top in this book.

Le Guin has created a deeply moving and layered story about helplessness, the corruption of power, roads to hell paved with good intentions, the consequences of our actions, and the connection between our personal lives and the state of the world.
Her writing is masterful and to the point, not a sentence wasted. 

We see the story unfold through the eyes of the protagonist, and discover the feeling of utter helplessness as he wakes up to a whole new life and a new set of memories competing with his existing ones. Because each new reality is the new normal, Le Guin does not point out all of the changes. Instead, she often treats them as if they have always been there, and we, like the protagonist George, have to do the work ourselves. 
Every time he wakes up after a dream, the feeling of dread becomes more pressing. Each new iteration presents us with more moral questions. Who gets to define the "greater good"? Is one person's utopia always another's dystopia? Will people always find new ways to fight? Do we need suffering?

I would like to impress upon the majority of people who currently express their political opinions publicly, whether they are politicians or civilians, the importance of thinking through the consequences of their seemingly simple solutions. The world would be better off for it. 

Also, Le Guin wrote about climate change in the 70s. So there are really no excuses left. Stop pretending, humanity!

Yes, it is dystopian. Yes, it is depressing. Because the world is depressing.
But it also tells us that each of us can change the world. That we should be very careful what we do with that power. And that we should choose wisely who we trust with our power.

Still one of my favourite SciFi short stories of all time. 
Exactly the kind of thought-provoking uncertainty I want from that genre.

Interesting urban fantasy. I like Kate as a character so far. Unfortunately, the other characters are not as fleshed out, and there are basically no non-men other than Kate who are not victims/friends to further the plot.
On the plus side: At least there is a plot! And it was quite well done, good action scenes and mostly clever character behaviour. Just a bit too many info dumps.

I will read the 2nd book to see where the series goes.

I listened to the audio book, which got confusing at times with the amount of characters and names. I think if I had read the book with my eyes it wouldn't have been a problem for me.

The anecdotes were interesting and covered a wide range of cults or cultish groups, but I wanted to learn more about the actual language of these groups. It rarely went deeper than pointing out the language they used. I wanted more context, more about the connections and recurring patterns. More science. I learned very little that was new to me.

As an introduction to the subject of modern cults, and as pop culture non-fiction work, it is fine and entertaining. But it doesn't quite deliver what the title promises.

Well, you definitely need some suspension of disbelief, and the kid is far too competent. But I was still entertained by the story and the romance was as mature as the characters' behaviour. It was nice to see two characters who know who they are and where they stand in life come together and appreciate each other. It was also nice to see a character come into a world different from her own, but already knowing a lot about it, and using that to her advantage, carving out a place for herself and demanding it, and not just being content to be the appendage of her love interest.

Okay, so...

Mac has been raped by the evil Fae, making her a Fae sex addict, and Barrons takes one (or more) for the team and fucks her back to sanity, several times a day, for several months. So he rapes her. For her own good.

And that is a decision the author made.
And of course, through her

magical rape

, she unlocks new special magical girl abilities.
She also gets wet every time Barrons is around.
Barrons keeps reminding her of both things and keeps being lecherous, but he's hot, so it's okay and she stays with him, for ... whatever reason. I mean, it's not like she didn't have other options.

Also, this is the fourth book and Barrons still doesn't tell Mac anything about his plans, the context of what's going on, what she is, what he is, his goals when they go out and do things, but he expects her to do exactly what he tells her all the time - oh, and be grateful, too.
But he's hot, so I guess that's okay.
At this point, he's even more of an annoying brat than she is. And that's saying something.

At some point she actually starts to make coherent plans and do things, and it actually started to work. That piqued my interest and I thought, maybe this is where it gets better. Maybe we had to wade through the absolute shithole that is her

magical rape

to come out the other side, for whatever reason the author can come up with to explain that decision.
Unfortunately, it doesn't last long and we are thrown straight into an annoyingly long chain of random encounters, only to end up on a cliffhanger that not only makes Mac wallow even more in self-pity, but which she sees as the most devastating thing that has ever happened to her and - girl, didn't you read the first chapters of this part of your own story?

Her inner monologue continues to annoy the everlasting fuck out of me. She still explains every possible meaning of every event, preferably by asking herself endless questions, because apparently we readers are too stupid to come to any conclusions for ourselves.

I am now 4 books in and, despite what I was promised, I have given up hope that this series will get better (which means I am open to being pleasantly surprised), but I have also wasted so much of my time and suffered so much that I cannot just stop and admit to myself that this time has really, truly been wasted. 
Just like Mac, I draw the silliest conclusion possible and refuse to think critically or accept any sensible advice.

I mean, at this point the author herself feels the need to add an author's note promising that things will get better. I'm not sure what she thinks that says about her book, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't say what she thinks it says.

Nothing much happened in book 2, and in book 3, nothing much continues to happen. Even though a lot happens in this book. It's weird. And I was looking forward to shit actually happening, but it happened in the most uninteresting ways possible. 
Mac only acts when someone else forces her to, which is pretty lame for someone who's supposed to be super special and find the McGuffin that saves the world. Barrons and the Sex Fae push her around and abuse her, and she lets them, complains about it in her endless inner monologue, then decides not to ally with one of the other factions and stays with the two assholes instead. Because that's what women who constantly (and annoyingly) think about how mature, strong, etc. they've become do. At this point, she's just gaslighting herself to make it easier for the guys. But they're both hot, so it's okay.

Her inner monologue is the most annoying thing. She thinks through every situation from every angle and explains in detail every possible meaning of events, actions and words of the other characters, only to come to the stupidest conclusions and not act on anything. Because she goes through every possible option, she occasionally has a coherent and actually smart thought (for example, that the two powerful, abusive guys are probably not trustworthy), but then decides not to act on it. She tries to keep everything she knows a secret from them (they ignore her efforts, of course), while still expecting them to work with her or help her, and without a plan B for how to save the world.

I have no idea why I continue with this series. 
Maybe it's because I've been promised it's going to get better, no, really good, and at this point I've invested so much time that I want that payoff, or at least the right to complain about how I've been misled.
Maybe it's because I've got a lot of work to do around the flat at the moment and I need something in the background that I can ignore for 30 minutes while I concentrate on something else without missing anything important.
What I'm trying to say is that I wouldn't actively sit down and read this book. Or listen to it while running/cycling.