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Revenger (Revenger #1)

Alastair Reynolds

Start date: September 1, 2023

Finish date: September 30, 2023

Why we're reading this: Featured Buddy Read - September 2023
[close] Featured Buddy Read - September 2023

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May 09, 2017 Philip rated it did not like it · review of another edition

Shelves: dnf-or-skimmed, space-opera, sci-fi, ya, 2017-releases, children

1ish stars.

This book is one giant identity crisis. It's totally marketed as an adult sci-fi thriller. The blurb teases space pirates. Look at that cool black cover with the bold lettering and the title... Revenger. Sounds sick. Start reading and oh wait... this reads like a kid's book... with lots of mutilation... that's 400 pages long. It took me a while to get my bearings and decide whether I was actually enjoying it or not. As it turns out, nope.

I almost get the impression that Reynolds decid ...more

103 likes · Like · see review

Mar 09, 2017 Bradley rated it liked it

Shelves: 2017-shelf, sci-fi, space-opera

Aside from some very amusing and possibly very *accurate* rants about this book, namely that the dialogue is sometimes *crappy*, the sciencey-bits are rather *weak*, and the fact that the made up words are pretty damn *generic*, most of the tale is *still* better than sooooooo much of the adventure space-opera out there.

Is it YA? Good question. Probably. But it's middle teens at the very worst. Expect pretty cool violence throughout, a single-minded protagonist girl, and a basic premise where th Aside from some very amusing and possibly very *accurate* rants about this book, namely that the dialogue is sometimes *crappy*, the sciencey-bits are rather *weak*, and the fact that the made up words are pretty damn *generic*, most of the tale is *still* better than sooooooo much of the adventure space-opera out there.

Is it YA? Good question. Probably. But it's middle teens at the very worst. Expect pretty cool violence throughout, a single-minded protagonist girl, and a basic premise where this same girl vows revenge against space pirate and goes to amazing lengths and harsh changes to get her revenge...

It's still a straight adventure tale. There's cool things to figure out, such as different kinds of strange alien worlds that hold loot to the right captain with the right Bone-callers at the right time, making fortunes or breaking your neck in the process, and of course, PIRATES.

It's not a light tale. We're given a lot of build-up for Fura before everything goes to hell, so don't expect anything more than straight light adventure until then... and then go ahead and expect darkness the rest of the time.

I personally liked the basic story and the twists and turns. I can ignore the other complaints as perhaps the author attempting to keep the tale relatable to a younger crowd, but I also think it was a miscalculation, too.

Depth of feeling and being likable trumps easy terms. :) Fura was kinda lacking on that, plus I'm not quite sure I liked the explanations why this girl keeps switching between erudite and low-class in her speech. It wasn't quite natural. *shrug*

Other than that, the rest of the novel felt like part of the Revelation Space universe to a degree, including weird time-like portals, aliens that infest our bodies and change the way we see and think, robots, and some really, really cool tech which *IS* the purpose of these Treasure Island bits, after all.

It's a grab bag of goodies. Either you can get through all the things that bug you or you can't. There *IS* a solid story in here, however, and its conclusion was quite cool.

Just ignore the apparent intelligence of everyone other than the MC and you'll do fine. :)

...more

96 likes · Like · see review

Mar 09, 2017 Justine rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2017-read

People seem to be very divided on this book. I will say at the outset that this is the first thing I have read by Reynolds, and I'm also a fan of YA Sci-Fi, which means I was pretty well placed to enjoy the story.

This is a typical coming of age story, with a main character, Fura, whose experiences remake her into a very different person than she imagined herself to be. It very much follows the idea of what doesn't kill you makes you stronger. The core of the story is really one of transformation ...more

35 likes · Like · see review

Sep 07, 2023 Cathy rated it it was ok · review of another edition

Shelves: did-not-finish

Based on the description and the YA classification, I figured that this would be a speedy and easy read. Instead I started skimming in chapter 2 already. A very dry writing style, stuffy and maybe trying to imitate Jules Verne?

We start off with two sisters. The father has invested unwisely and the family is short of cash. The sisters have some unusual skills that will get them berths on some pirate (?) ship, with the chance of pretty good earnings. Plus getting away from home and the dodgy and d ...more

5 likes · Like · see review

Mar 31, 2019 Cindy rated it really liked it

Shelves: audiobooks, sci-fi

I enjoyed this inventive sci-fi novel. Is it YA? Possibly. There’s no rape when there clearly could have been (integral to the story), and yet there’s no boy drama for this female teenaged protagonist. It’s about adventuring sisters and finding one’s own path.

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