patlo's Reviews (1.32k)

Fantastic finish to a fantastic trilogy. The world building is top tier; creativity and imagination off the chart. This one lags a wee bit I. The first half while things are getting set up but it finishes very well. 

4.5 stars. Deep, profound, slow moving but a thought provoker. As usual, Le Guin's character work is deft and careful, and the world shines through. A good exposition of anarchism (and archism); idealism and realism; hope and practice. This novel may be a bit talk-y (or preach-y) for some, and it's slow in places with long speeches for exposition - but that content is fantastic. 

Probably would be better reading this in print than audiobook form, as I did, so that the reader could repeat some sections that were particularly deft or careful, and Le Guin writes many of these.

Find book, but not super engaging. Probably better in print than an audio. I just wanna move to the next thing in queue.

A lovely, straightforward workbook to help people think about, and transition to, fulfilling lives (and work lives). If you've seen Sir Ken Robinson's TED talks or read his previous books, you'll be familiar with his ideas. The strength of this book is the prompts, questions and challenges at the end of each chapter that do a wonderful job of leading the reader into a deep reflection.

Pairs well with Dan Cumberland's book The Calling Process.

Another amazing entry into this trilogy. I liked this more than the first book - the world is better known now; the pace is faster; the character voices develop and are more recognizable. The reader is still in a fog (perhaps I should have reread the first book immediately before this one, but wanted a fresh take). Like the first book, things become less confusing intentionally and at the right times. 

I’ll read the third book within a couple weeks and have high expectation for it. 

In the not-distant future, prison inmates are given the option to fight to the death, gladiator-style, for the slim chance of winning their freedom, while their lives and battles are broadcast to a bloodthirsty fan base.

This is a powerfully told story - dark, challenging, maddening - because it's so damn close to the reality of the American prison-for-profit system now, and the dehumanization of both convicts and of "action sports" athletes (blood sports, whether the NFL or MMA or UFC or even the legions of young men who think that Fight Club was an invitation into tests of manhood. 

The story is multiple-POV, multiple-voice, and you hear from athletes, their family members, "corrections" officers, abolitionists, pain researchers, board members of the sports broadcast company, etc.  And these stories interweave, in sometimes surprising ways.

The pace is fast, the characters are multidimensional.

The print and audio books are also littered with footnotes referencing the current American penal system, both prison and legal, and those footnotes support the narrative as well as the education of the reader.

I've been describing the book this way:  Powerful speculative fiction, incredibly well told story, and pairs well with [author:Michelle Alexander|3051490]'s masterpiece [book:The New Jim Crow: Mass Incarceration in the Age of Colorblindness|6792458], with a broader target audience because it's just a great story.. that will move and educate you. 

EVERYBODY should read this, whether fans of fiction, nonfiction, storytelling, excellent audio narration, everybody. 

I read it as an audiobook. It's very well voiced by multiple voice actors, with energy and character dripping throughout.