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I was a bit disappointed with this book, although that may have been because my first encounter with McIntyre was in her Hugo and Nebula winning novel, Dreamsnake, which does kinda skew one's perspective.
This story is grounded solidly in the court of the Sun King, almost too solidly, as I do feel that the narrative sometimes wanders off into the "look how much research I did" category. Still, the setting is lovely and the characters are, overall, quite sympathetically drawn. She doesn't make the mistake of giving anyone overly modern opinions (well, except around bloodletting. But everyone does that). If anything, the settings and surroundings threaten to overshadow what is, essentially, a story of first (re)encounters. The people, mythical beings included, are less compelling than their hair.
That was my biggest problem with what is, overall, a well told and meticulously researched story of what it means to be sentient and human - a staple of science fiction as seen through a fantastic and historical lens. It's just a pity that the lens so powerfully overshadows the story, relegating it almost to unimportance in the face of what the court of the Sun King was imagined to be like.
This story is grounded solidly in the court of the Sun King, almost too solidly, as I do feel that the narrative sometimes wanders off into the "look how much research I did" category. Still, the setting is lovely and the characters are, overall, quite sympathetically drawn. She doesn't make the mistake of giving anyone overly modern opinions (well, except around bloodletting. But everyone does that). If anything, the settings and surroundings threaten to overshadow what is, essentially, a story of first (re)encounters. The people, mythical beings included, are less compelling than their hair.
That was my biggest problem with what is, overall, a well told and meticulously researched story of what it means to be sentient and human - a staple of science fiction as seen through a fantastic and historical lens. It's just a pity that the lens so powerfully overshadows the story, relegating it almost to unimportance in the face of what the court of the Sun King was imagined to be like.
And every time I revisit this book, I love it more and more. Austen's prose still makes me laugh out loud and her characters, while as familiar to me as my own face, still captivate.
Despite this book showing its age in a manner I did not strictly anticipate (though obviously should have), I really enjoyed Gleick's examination of the role of time in our lives. And, I admit, there was something strangely fun about imagining the world before the turn of the millenium and 9/11 and the rebirth of Apple and the smartphone and...you get the idea. It made extrapolating his points all the more exciting, because you could see how his thoughts relate to the future as it is now.
Also, Gleick is an exceptional writer and has the sort of style often reserved for novelist. I enjoyed reading him and the way he framed his information through encounters,
In the end, though I enjoyed the obsoleteness, the book did suffer for being 13 years out of date--my fault, not its--but it's still a provocative read about the role of time in our lives.
Also, Gleick is an exceptional writer and has the sort of style often reserved for novelist. I enjoyed reading him and the way he framed his information through encounters,
In the end, though I enjoyed the obsoleteness, the book did suffer for being 13 years out of date--my fault, not its--but it's still a provocative read about the role of time in our lives.
