Thanks for a fascinating review. I bought the book, but I've been feeling really run down lately and in the end I didn't manage to read it. I decided not to worry about spoilers and shall read the comments with interest. I honestly don't know if I'll get to reading it or not. I'll just have to see how things turn out.
I'd highly encourage you to read some of the other book clubbers' reviews. Two of them absolutely loved it, so it'd be good to balance out my "meh" with other more positive reviews, that way you get a more well-rounded perspective. :)
I am a fan of this book. I do think, though, that the first bit is the strongest part. You can tell it was the original novella before she expanded it to a novel. I had less interest in the characters who were the children and grandchildren of the initial characters.
I do love science fiction books that are used as a thoughtful way to explore present-day issues. One of the strengths of science fiction as a genre is that it can approach problems that are chronic and give us a new way of looking at them. Lilith's Brood did this too, in how it dealt with gender roles and sexuality. I don't know that Nancy Kress came up with any new answers to the problems of discrimination or poverty, but I enjoyed the journey through the thought experiment.
Lilith's Brood was utterly engaging for me, and I worry that maybe I wouldn't feel the same way if I'd waited to read it? Then again, Butler has a wonderful way of really making her story visceral for the reader, and I just didn't get that sense from Kress. I just wish I'd enjoyed this more.
So - I ended up only reading the first part of this book - the original novella. Thinking that this seemed to be too short, I got what was described as "part two" of the series - Beggars and Choosers - which jumped several hundred years into the future.
I should have actually googled it - since now that I'm looking, I missed out on parts 2-4 of the actual book for book club.
However, looking at the description of what books 2-4 were, I'm not sure I'm sorry to have missed them :)
Overall - I really need to be willing to stop reading before I finish a book, when I'm just not into it. I have too many in my TBR pile to waste on something that I'm "meh" about!
Huh. So how did you get your hands on the novella? And I feel bad, because I should've probably made things a little more clear in terms of the structure of the trilogy, but then again, I didn't know the actual book was divided into parts. Then again, part of me wondered if this was one of those omnibus editions....
Did you read Beggars and Choosers? If so, what'd you think?
If nothing else, it's in one of the Gardner Dozios Years Best Science Fiction collections from the 90s. It looks like it's in the ninth annual one, from a cursory google.
And sometimes I felt like a section was being particularly preachy but I wasn't exactly sure what the message was suppose to be.
Yeah, I got that feeling a lot...
And you bring up a great point: usually those discriminated against are not economically and politically powerful, so this was a nice twist! Thanks for pointing that out!
I agree with many things in your review, but I think I landed on the more positive side of everything. I didn't buy the Sleepless are more happy thing either.
I should have put this in my review, but I really liked all the law and politics in the book. I liked hearing characters debate, whether it was about philosophy or law or science. I think this is what I liked most and what kept me moving.
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I do love science fiction books that are used as a thoughtful way to explore present-day issues. One of the strengths of science fiction as a genre is that it can approach problems that are chronic and give us a new way of looking at them. Lilith's Brood did this too, in how it dealt with gender roles and sexuality. I don't know that Nancy Kress came up with any new answers to the problems of discrimination or poverty, but I enjoyed the journey through the thought experiment.
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So - I ended up only reading the first part of this book - the original novella. Thinking that this seemed to be too short, I got what was described as "part two" of the series - Beggars and Choosers - which jumped several hundred years into the future.
I should have actually googled it - since now that I'm looking, I missed out on parts 2-4 of the actual book for book club.
However, looking at the description of what books 2-4 were, I'm not sure I'm sorry to have missed them :)
Overall - I really need to be willing to stop reading before I finish a book, when I'm just not into it. I have too many in my TBR pile to waste on something that I'm "meh" about!
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Did you read Beggars and Choosers? If so, what'd you think?
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I did find the Novella much stronger, overall.
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Yeah, I got that feeling a lot...
And you bring up a great point: usually those discriminated against are not economically and politically powerful, so this was a nice twist! Thanks for pointing that out!
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I should have put this in my review, but I really liked all the law and politics in the book. I liked hearing characters debate, whether it was about philosophy or law or science. I think this is what I liked most and what kept me moving.
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Hey, I'm having a brain fart, but did you read the Dare for September, ONE FOR SORROW?
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