Comments on: Noumenon Is an Ambitious, Frustrating Space Opera

By: Katie @ Doing Dewey

Katie @ Doing Dewey — Sun, 10 Dec 2017 19:29:00 +0000

The idea for this book sounds much better than the execution! The character descriptions you quote are just so awkward.

By: A.M.B.

A.M.B. — Fri, 08 Dec 2017 01:58:00 +0000

Very interesting review. I don’t read much SFF, but I’m always looking for good options. I doubt I’ll try this one.

By: Jeane Nevarez

Jeane Nevarez — Wed, 06 Dec 2017 18:17:00 +0000

It sounds kind of interesting- but more of an experiment in writing about society as a whole, rather than a story….? and I have a hard time reading books that span generations (one of the few that ever kept my attention was Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang).

By: Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt

Alicia Butcher Ehrhardt — Wed, 06 Dec 2017 17:01:00 +0000

Many popular authors are clunky in one area or three, good in others. I’d be curious, if you were to set aside the things that bothered you (and I agree: from your description, there’s a mess of them), what do you think of the STORY? When you said they go and come back – a huge commitment of resources – I am curious why, when it is the most common trope that Earth is completely different, having advanced/declined on a completely different tack while the ships are gone, the survivors of such a mission would turn around an go back. Was THAT part convincing?

By: Michelle

Michelle — Wed, 06 Dec 2017 15:16:00 +0000

You almost had me here as you were describing the story. Then, you lost me with its pitfalls. To be fair, you have to wonder when she actually wrote the manuscript and whether she would change anything now that we have had a year of 45 under our belts. Would she tackle the sociological elements a little more? I guess we will never know.

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Wed, 06 Dec 2017 12:52:00 +0000

She sounds like the kind of SF writer who should get credit for thinking up some interesting ideas, even if she wasn’t able to bring them entirely to fruition. It’s hard to think differently, so I’ve noticed that sometimes the first few tries are clunky, and then some other SF writer takes the benefits of that experience and runs with it.