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geenyas's review against another edition
2.0
I'm a fan of Mr. Pears and I was eager to read this one. Maybe too eager. It's a bit of a departure for him heading into sci-fi fantasy land with time travel. It's passably written and full of highly entertaining bits, and has his usual tight complex plotting, but it might just be the whole time travel aspect that puts me off. He spends a lot of time dealing with the dueling factions of scientists and the resulting conundrums... and that's where I got sleepy. Sorry, Iain.
fionacat's review against another edition
4.0
Time travel with a twist. It reminded me a lot of the works of Connie Willis.
mlregal's review against another edition
adventurous
informative
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
3.75
trin's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.0
Dystopian science fiction meets portal fantasy meets British Cold War spy thriller. Sort of. Very complicated, very long, characters not quite compelling enough to carry it (there are, for one thing, far too many of them). Weirdly -- or not weirdly, perhaps -- I ended up finding myself most engaged by the portal fantasy plot: it pops off with the most vivid and humane characters. The whole thing technically comes together, but to me not terribly satisfyingly. However, I did sort of enjoy the long, meandering journey.
I initially picked this up because part of it is set on the Isle of Mull in Scotland. Unfortunately, this turns out to be the dystopian part so you actually get very little Mull content. A D in Mull content, alas.
I initially picked this up because part of it is set on the Isle of Mull in Scotland. Unfortunately, this turns out to be the dystopian part so you actually get very little Mull content. A D in Mull content, alas.
penchant's review against another edition
3.0
I found the short, choppy chapters jarring but stuck with the story as someone I respect loved it. I just do not see what she saw in this novel. It seemed complex and yet at the same time simplistic. For much of the time that I was reading, I wished I was reading Guy Gavriel Kay's work. He could had written something great with this premise.
pia_de_e's review against another edition
5.0
One of the most interesting and beautiful books I've read lately.
It's part sci-fi, and part dystopian, and it also reads like a fairy tale.
Three parallel worlds: Oxford in the 60's, right in the middle of the cold war, Anterworld an idyllic almost primitive civilization, and a post apocalyptic Island of Mull sometime around the 23d. century.
There's love, murder, mystery, spies, a cat and time travel. Characters overlap from one universe to the other, but it's not as complicated as it seems. Once you get the hang of it, it's easy to find out who is in which world (although there a few surprises here also)
But can parallel worlds/universes exist at the same time? What if you go from one to the other and how can the actions of a character in one world affect others? And what if you'd rather be in a world that wasn't your original one?
Iain Pears makes the more than 500 pages of this book fly by.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review
It's part sci-fi, and part dystopian, and it also reads like a fairy tale.
Three parallel worlds: Oxford in the 60's, right in the middle of the cold war, Anterworld an idyllic almost primitive civilization, and a post apocalyptic Island of Mull sometime around the 23d. century.
There's love, murder, mystery, spies, a cat and time travel. Characters overlap from one universe to the other, but it's not as complicated as it seems. Once you get the hang of it, it's easy to find out who is in which world (although there a few surprises here also)
But can parallel worlds/universes exist at the same time? What if you go from one to the other and how can the actions of a character in one world affect others? And what if you'd rather be in a world that wasn't your original one?
Iain Pears makes the more than 500 pages of this book fly by.
I received an ARC of this book in exchange for an honest review
trina_reads's review against another edition
4.0
Three and a half stars for this one. The rating downgraded once I started contemplating a few of the unresolved questions and plot holes. Overall enjoyable, but could have been resolved better in parts.
adlang's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75