Path: ...!eternal-september.org!feeder2.eternal-september.org!news.eternal-september.org!.POSTED!not-for-mail
From: Tony Nance <tnusenet17@gmail.com>
Newsgroups: rec.arts.sf.written
Subject: Re: Poseidon's Wake. Alastair Reynolds.
Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2024 15:55:47 -0500
Organization: A noiseless patient Spider
Lines: 67
Message-ID: <vhqr4j$1b31u$3@dont-email.me>
References: <vb8sps$3nglg$1@dont-email.me> <vb9mfp$3rkr5$1@dont-email.me>
 <vbduaa$mgqt$5@dont-email.me> <vbfrld$v196$1@dont-email.me>
 <vbgh4c$15dv9$2@dont-email.me> <vbll9t$28jfu$1@dont-email.me>
 <ve2d83$22buh$1@dont-email.me> <ve6ve9$2qegj$1@dont-email.me>
 <vhh7hp$1mqmv$1@dont-email.me>
MIME-Version: 1.0
Content-Type: text/plain; charset=UTF-8; format=flowed
Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit
Injection-Date: Fri, 22 Nov 2024 21:55:48 +0100 (CET)
Injection-Info: dont-email.me; posting-host="6d5729a8b3fbdc54777e65bf5948589f";
	logging-data="1412158"; mail-complaints-to="abuse@eternal-september.org";	posting-account="U2FsdGVkX18eCPVr6oxEQtBEsAEP5FShJn7/VKV2/Ik="
User-Agent: Mozilla Thunderbird
Cancel-Lock: sha1:rDuUM/qHhkcIQ4zOUidjWla2huA=
Content-Language: en-US
In-Reply-To: <vhh7hp$1mqmv$1@dont-email.me>
Bytes: 4736

On 11/19/24 12:26 AM, Titus G wrote:
> On 10/10/24 11:17, Tony Nance wrote:
>> On 10/8/24 12:42 AM, Titus G wrote:
>>> On 9/09/24 14:07, Tony Nance wrote:
>>> snip
>>>>>>>> On 9/4/24 1:56 AM, Titus G wrote:
>>>>>>>>> Blue Remembered Earth. Alastair Reynolds. 2012
>>>>>>> snip
>>>>>>>>
>>>>>>>> I read this back in May, and didn't enjoy
>>>>>>>> it as much as you did. The setting and science were great. My main
>>>>>>>> problems were with the characters, but since the next one seems to
>>>>>>>> share
>>>>>>>> very few characters (if any) with this one, I plan to give it a try.
>>>>>>>
>>>
>>> I am over halfway through the next one, On the Steel Breeze. Events and
>>> science still outweigh characterisation. Whoops! They are mainly still
>>> around but not Geoffrey, nor the cousins and some play minimal roles.
>>> One is over three hundred and another is two hundred and forty but
>>> Geoffrey did not take prolongation treatment. Even grandma Eunice is
>>> sort of there but in a robotic format with simulated mind. Following
>>> your criticism regarding the richness of the characters, I have paid
>>> more attention to this aspect and really couldn't tell anyone anything
>>> much about them but this is not detracting from my enjoyment of the book
>>> for the same reasons as Blue Remembered Earth even without the novelty.
>>> I could probably describe characters from Garry Disher's pot boilers
>>> better :-)
>>
>> That's all good to know - thanks. Unless there are some rather drastic
>> differences, I believe I'll be better prepared to read the second one.
>> More specifically, I believe the characters won't bug me as much, even
>> if they turn out to be similar.
>>
>> Tony
> 
> It would be an injustice to attempt to summarise this trilogy and I am
> sure that a synopsis could easily be found elsewhere so I won't attempt
> to do so.
> I was pleasantly surprised by the final novel, Poseidon's Wake, which
> introduced new conflicts between science and 'religion' as well as
> exacerbating the continuing conflict between humans, intelligent
> machines and the two alien technologies. I enjoyed it perhaps more than
> the first two but was always worried about how it would all be tied up.
> The last 50 or 60 pages were somewhat dull and banal but the journey to
> get there, 700 plus pages, was brilliant. I love his writing and his
> extensive scientific or pseudo scientific, (eg; infovore, a combination
> of information and carnivore), vocabulary. The scope is just massive
> covering huge distances across galaxies and more hundreds of years. The
> Akinya family is still prominent with grandchildren from those in "On
> the Steel Breeze" major characters but again events are more important
> than character development. My main criticism of the characters was that
> they were all too noble, too ethical as were the machine intelligences
> as well as the elephants, (the dedication reads, "For my wife, who once
> fell in love with an elephant.").
> Another solid four stars.
> 

Thanks for all of that. On the Steel Breeze is in the short stack, for 
near future consumption, but I've been in quite a reading drought 
recently[1], and I can't guess when I'll get to it.

Tony
[1] I do typically have a slow-down in my reading from Sep - Nov/Dec, 
but this year seems worse than previous years. <shrug> Whether it is or 
it isn't, I'll probably come out of it over the next month or so.