May 01, 2011
Matter
Okay I just finished "Matter". It was much better than Consider Phebas, not as good as Surface Detail. Your review, sir:
+ Neat settings and worlds--- more focused on races and settings than on tech or gadgets
+ Engrossingly complicated interweaving of alien civilizations and galactic politics
+ Several characters that I cared about, with a book-long suspenseful will-she-reach-him-in-time plot element that kept me turning the pages
+ Better (and briefer) battle scenes. Not a significant part of the book, for the better
+ Generally well written/crafted--- believable characters and motivations, less erratic POV problems, basically clear descriptions of people, tech, settings, worlds
- The most important devices and settings aren't introduced until the last third of the book, and are irrelevant to the suspense built in the first two thirds. So the final conflict a bit of a tacked-on feel
- so many characters and races and planets with weird names that it's easy to lose track of who is who. You basically get it by the second half of the book, but there are times when I was confused. There's a useful glossary of characters and races in the back of the book that I wish I had noticed before I had finished the whole thing :P
Now that I've read 3 books, I can see flaws and tendencies in all works that make him a slightly lesser author than some of my other favorites. I'm reluctant to try another book without a strong personal recommendation--- I would be unhappy if I encountered another Consider Phebas.
So on balance I only strongly recommend "Surface Detail". (Robey is also most of the way through it and is also really enjoying it.)