Jul 242013
A strange accident leaves a tiny, inbred colony on an alien world. The book is about the struggle between awaiting salvation and making your own way in the world. One of the most complete and inventive worldbuilding recently. Fabulous use of language. A number of interesting plot set-ups fizzle. Ultimately this book can’t quite decide what it is. The end of innocence? Exploration and adventure? The triumph of invention? I don’t know, still, after finishing, and the finish itself feels rushed, as though the book didn’t know where to begin or end. Well-crafted, & interesting, but neither gripping nor sublime.