storyorc's reviews
644 reviews

Gorgeously, and at times unnervingly, illustrated overview of the Haudenosaunee origins for children and adults alike. I was particularly touched and inspired that it is a tale of banding together to help everyone instead of to kill the villain.

Great for anyone looking for drama, men displaying emotion very fetchingly, and a generous sprinkling of creepy stuff going on in the woods! Fans of Supernatural, Teen Wolf, and similar shows will get a kick out of this one.

Little long for what it was for my tastes and Nick was so hot and cold in the middle I lost some respect for him but the sweet parts are very sweet and the bickering is fun too. Most of all, I applaud the bold new take on the Mothman's true nature; I cackled when I realised where he'd really come from.

I was drawn to this book to see how a character bound to do no harm would negotiate an empire/rebellion situation and there are a lot of clever uses of tools, alongside some fun cheating. There is some discussion of whether pacifism is desirable but there are stronger themes in the book than that.

If you like to feel smart, picture cool action in your head, and enjoy MCU style quipping, this is the book for you. It has more meat on its bones thematically than most Hollywood productions too, and infinity times the budget, so it's a cinematic blast. The level of performance kept me from really connecting to most of the characters but there are times when Nomad's plumbing of his moral depths comes close. This plumbing was done a little too verbosely for my tastes as I prefer to see the changes in action and be trusted to understand what I'm seeing. Sanderson's clarity is a gift in battle sequences but strikes me as a little heavy-handed on the emotional side of his work. I'm also personally not a fan of the divine plan/fate paradigm so a few ruffled feathers on that account for me. Still, all the Is are dotted and Ts crossed to form a very coherent narrative with thrilling set pieces.

Perhaps not the audiobook for this one, however, as there were some distracting choices in voices for the villain and one prominent old man.

A veritable buffet of nonhuman intelligence.

At first, Pax's wilderness seems like any on Earth; full of dumb animals and plants for humans to dominate. These humans intend to work harmoniously with their wilderness but still expect to be on top of the pyramid. They also call everything by Earth names - eagles, lions, crabs, bamboo, coral, pineapples, and more. It's only in passing remarks that the reader can piece together the fact that these creatures are far more intelligent than their Earth counterparts. Pax eagles cook their food over fires, Pax crabs have a trade network, and Pax plants - one particular plant stands beside humanity as the main character of the entire book. Various characters remark that Pax is older than Earth so its life has had more time to evolve. This book is an exploration of different flavours of intelligence that may be out there (or even here, on Earth, if we don't choke them out before they too, have time to evolve) and what it might take for such intelligences to not only coexist but learn from each other. None of the big three intelligent species in this book are left untouched by the others, nor unharmed. The balance is terrifyingly fragile and the balancers resist characterisation as simply heroes or villains. 

This is a story of an imperfect quest at a societal level to create and maintain some 'mutualism', as they call it, under which all can thrive. There's a few strands of Asimov's first Foundation book in its DNA too - another scrappy people with a money-where-their-mouth-is dedication to the idea that "violence is the last refuge of the incompetent", though these settlers have more help and encounter more friction in executing their plans.