Many of the things you said were either not true or you just weren't paying enough attention (maybe read the book, instead of listening to it - helps to memorize better). The Entropists never said "Oh my God" or "Jesus''. In fact, neither did Kira - she says "Thule", whereas Hwa-jung says "Aish". The other ones could be Christians, their religion was never explicitly stated. So no, the author did not "forget" he invented new religions. The reason we never heard from the Numenists was because the crew of the Wallfish needed the more advanced technology of the Entropists to go after the Jelly ships, not because of their religion per se. It seems weird to me that Kira not knowing basic math, can put you off that much considering the book tackles so many grand subjects and themes (granted - it was a bit of a face-palm for me when I first read the card game chapter :D). I don't remember the book mentioning her being a math prodigy - she likes greenhouses and playing her concertina. And the Great Beacon was discovered when Kira was a child, not a few months prior to the start of the book as you mentioned. Speaking about Kira having an existential crisis over the Jellies being so different - not true. She was finding it frustrating that the English language does not have words to properly translate the meaning of the nearscent the Jellies use (that is - language barrier). The thing she was "shocked" more about was the fact that the Jellies and the humans didn't appear to be able to co-exist peacefully seeing as the former wanted their civilization to thrive and humans seemed to be a hindrance. Regarding Gregorovich - they called him Greg because they were referring to him in an informal way in a conversation when he was turned off. All the other times they called him by his full name because he was "on duty" operating the ship. Also, I find it hard to believe you cold not figure out that Greg is short for Gregorovich :D It seems pretty obvious, why the rant over something you could not piece together? Most of the time it felt like you were just nitpicking, rather than pointing out true plot holes. Seeing as you are a physicist, why didn't you touch upon the FTL and the idea of superluminal space (explained in more detail in the Appendix) ? Fascinating concepts, but you just focus on the negative (or rather - what you perceive to be negative)...
I'm not sure what to say but that I'm getting the feeling we read two different books 🤪 This book has already wasted way too much of my time and I'm definitely not going to relisten to it just to give you timestamps of when certain things were mentioned. Apart from that, I can tell you that in the meantime I have realized that where some of the problems originate for me. I'm the type of reader who likes things that are given much space in the novel to mean something. In the sense of it has to have an influence on the plot. If the book would be basically the same by cutting it out - I want it cut out. The new religion in this book bothers me, not because I didn't understand they went away, but because the book would be the same without that whole chapter. Better even, in my opinion, as it would have been shorter. But yeah, I'm done with this book. If you ever decide to reread it, feel free to count the number of times the main character is reffered to as a math prodigy and then tell me the exact number 😉
@@ClaireKinmil LOL, I am not asking you to give me timestamps, neither am I forcing you to like the book 😄I was simply pointing out basic plot points that you missed, which you were blaming on poor book writing. If you are going to do a review, at least make sure you are getting your facts straight beforehand. After that, you are free to have whatever opinion you like 😉😉
I'm going to start off by saying that I've never read any of Christopher's books and I have read plenty of other stories. I still loved it. Everyone has a right to their own opinion but there is a significant problem when you downgrade other people for their tastes. Ok, you didn't like it. Great. So stop reading and move on. Just don't put down others to make yourself look better.
The intention of this video wasn't to bash the people who loved it (you are certainly allowed to love stuff I don't!), but to warn people with similar tastes to mine that this book is not for them. This is the review I wish I watched before getting the book.
Misinterpreting, twisting plot and details for the sake of being able to tell offensive and hateful arguments, indirectly judging ppl who enjoyed this book,... Terrible review. Also maybe next time try to read the actual book (audio is really another thing) and learn what to focus on in this genre. What is meaningless and shouldn't be in the book according to your opinion, could be for example important aspect for worldbuilding and helps some ppl with getting into the book's world. Take off some gas and don't embarass yourself like this.
I have a few questions that would help me understand what you're saying. 1. Could you give me an example of what I have misinterpreted or twisted? 2. What would you say is the genre of this book? 3. Do you think audiobooks are somehow inferior? Why? Other than the questions, I will note that I have in the meantime figured out that what I understand a story to be isn't what everyone understands a story to be. Therefore, were I to phrase it now, I would say "This book goes on a lot of tangents that lead nowhere, so it's obiously not a book for me."
@@ClaireKinmil 1: My other comment here. 25 minutes earlier than this one. 2: Science Fiction 3: I think they just mean it's more difficult to remember everything in audiobook because listening is rather passive compared to reading. Also when reading, you can take a break more easily or read more slowly in general. While listening, the input is at a constant rate that might be too much for some to handle. I have read the german version and listened to the english one twice - reading first helped a ton.
Seems like you didn’t actually read the book with how much you misread, misunderstood and twisted the the scenes you talk about lol. No wonder why you think you wasted your time…
The problem with some of the people here is that they don’t appreciate the science element in it. Most people don’t understand what some of those things mean, so they just continue reading without thinking much of it. No wonder they don’t like it if they read it only for the story and plot.
Hello! Sorry for replying so late. Could you please explain this to me in more detail? What specific parts do you feel I misread, misunderstood and twisted?
I liked it as well. Kinmil has a very limited appreciation of hard sci-fi. She can't quite make the imaginative jump that advanced tech might, _just might_ , be tough to figure out intially 02:17 Sort of like Denisovan man finding a loaded AR-15 and his discovery it can be deadly to himself and his tribe ... OR .. can be a devastaing tool to help the tribe. Claire has a VERY hard time making that connection/conclusion. Her ignorance IS entertaining however. :)
so yeah i done both. the book is alright to read....but i kinda enjoyed it when Jennifer hale read it. her 'greg' voice was the best..... i was hearing 'hal' myself
Thank you... Thank you for reading it so I don't have to; thank you for saving me a few hundred dollars because I was toying with the idea of buying a signed copy and thank you for providing me with 26min of entertainment rather than 28 hours hoping the book will get better.
I loved Eragon as a kid and I read it many many times and I really loved it and enjoyed it A LOT. The inheritance cycle was a good enough series. When I heard Paolini was wrotita sci-fi book I was SO excited! I waited years and years for it and I only got to read it last year. I was SO disappointed. I found the book so bland, bland characters, bland relationships, bland dialogues... It has a few interesting ideas here and there but I just never connected with ANY of the characters and didn't really care about anything that happened. I REALLY wanted to give it a try but I just gave up less than 200 pages in. Don't know if I'll ever try to finish it.
I forgot to say that some of the books have sequels. Also I have more books to suggest. 1.the wind of the willows by Kenneth Grahame 2.mr majeika by Humphrey carpenter 3.five children and it by E.Nesbit 4.the giraffe, the Pelly and me by Ronald Dahl And 5.the merman by Dick king-smith
Randomly picked up this book a couple of weeks back and just finished it. I thought it was OK mainly cus I was feinding for something new after having finished my third re-reading of A Song of Ice and Fire. At first, I was about to defend the book. But slowly, I realized "Ohhhhhhhh sheeeeeit. She's totally right." I shrugged off so many of the inconsistencies cus I wanted to like it but damn. Totally 100% right.
0:05 That emphasis on the word "science" to make it sound ironic like there isn't any at all is just inappropriate. Very much so since Paolini spent a year researching his FTL tech. It surprises me you didn't pick up on it, especially because you're a physiscs teacher. 1:38 Adrasteia is a moon orbiting around the gas giant Zeus in the Sigma Draconis system. Not a planet. 2:01 The Seed. Idealis. Whatever you wanna call it, not a space suit. Although it acts as one to some extent. 2:04 The Seed covers her whole body except the face, but it may cover it as well when she urges it to. Also, yoi are not basically her since the soft blade replaces her hair with its protective cover and the texture is one of fractal patterns. 2:17 I'd rather refer to it as a consciousness than a mind, "but whatever" (as you would say) 2:19 No... Just once on Adrasteia. 2:34 Kira tries shooting at a Jelly/Wranaui, hits an oxygen pipe or tank instead (sorry, can't remember exactly), at least it causes some sort of explosion that rips a piece of the seed off Kira. It tries to heal Dr. Carr and Qwon, somehow merges their conaciousnesses and finally, they form the Maw. But none of the characters know yet. Kira only finds out when a type of Nightmare touches her on a Jelly ship and tries to overtake her mind. 2:45 No. Kira, just as every other new "refugee" Falconi and his crew pick up, stays in the cargo hold for the time being until she decides to tell him about the seed and its significance for the war. 3:01 No... They're trying to get to board a jelly ship so Kira (and the Entropists) can learn about Jelly tech. 3:22 Nightmares are kinda like cancerous tumors somehow stuffed together to form something that can help the Maw fulfill its desires. 3:27 As I said, Kira and nobody else really know anything about the nightmares and she only gets to know on a Jelly ship when that nightmare tries taking over her mind. 3:37 "It's really not important to the plot" Okay, that's it. I'm giving up. Were you even listening to the audiobook or doing something else? Actually, I'm not giving in just yet. Even if this statement was meant to be ironic, Christopher did describe everything around Tschetter and the knot of minds well enough. About the UMC, as well. Remember Orsted Station? 3:56 Maybe you know more about the "main alien badass"? Ooh right, it's really not important to the plot. I'm gonna assume you meant the Maw, but then you skipped like a quarter of the book. You could at least mention the trip to Nidus to find the Staff of Blue... 4:23 Nightmares produced by the original Maw were a serious threat to all life. And can we talk about the seven copies of the Maw roaming god-knows-where and attempting to overwrite all life in the galaxy? No? Fine. 4:33 Oh, you did. Nevermind. A little more detail would be nice. I have seriously no idea how you can possibly screw up the plot this bad, turning and twisting to your liking, turning it into a scrambled mess resembling the cancerous abomination that refers to itself as the Maw. How could you forget about the voyage to Nidus? Right, you probably forgot how you could just igbore like a quarter of the book. Looking at the plot section in the wikipedia article about To Sleep in a Sea of Stars makes it clear that you have absolutely no idea what you are talking about. Can the review get any worse? I shall see, but that's it from me for now.
@@ClaireKinmil Pushing Ice from same author was also good, along with much of the Revelation Space series. I have heard that his stand alone Anathem was his best but haven't read it yet. Thanks for your vids, I am always looking for good sci fi instead of those reviewers that think that everything they read is the absolute best.
New subscriber here, and just because of this review! :D You explain and mention SO many things that I thought as well and that bothered me as well! And you do it SO WELL! I enjoyed this video much more than the book itself, and I would have watched a whole hour of your rant, if you had kept it. xD You interpreted my thoughts so well! A few specific comments: 1. My break point with Paolini's writing (besides the fact that his style felt kind of pompous and needlessly bloated and wordy and convoluted) and Kira's math ability (or lack thereof, which, at first, I thought was an interesting comment on how dependant people were on their implants, much like people are dependant on their cellphones nowadays) was the first time she was alone in a spaceship and she was trying to figure out how many food rations she had to survive the trip until a civilized world. It was something like "The ship has 107 rations. The trip will take 81 days overall. Even if I eat half a ration per day, I'm gonna STARVE for 25 days!!"... And I was like "WTF?!" I even had to check with my mom in case I was not getting something (because I AM really bad at math), because I stared at the sentence as was like... "There are *107* rations, but the trip lasts only *81* days. WHY WILL SHE STARVE FOR *25* DAYS, HUH?! @_@" The only possible explanation is that she *NEEDS* to eat more than one ration per day... But if your options are eating only 1 ration (even if it's small) per day so they last for the whole trip (cause you have more rations that days to travel), or eating more than one every day and starving for 25 days, wouldn't it be logical to EAT LESS SO THE FOOD LASTS LONGER AND YOU DON'T HAVE TO STARVE?! And if the author only had bothered to explain why she would STARVE for 25 days when there were more rations than trip days, or simply made it so there were 50 rations instead of 107...!! I don't know. That blew me away and made me angry at Paolini. LOL. 2. Regarding the smell-based communication system... Not only they don't explain how it works or anything, but also they never explain how the hell Tschetter can LEARN the Wranaui's language when she's just a normal human being, supposedly without any particular enhancements that would allow her to feel or distinguish these particular smells that they made to communicate. They never explain if everyone felt the smells the Jellies sent out as communication, or if they were felt only by those who knew the language, and since Kira learns it automatically because of the suit (which solves every problem ever in the blink of an eye), we need see her struggle with it, but... How does a normal human learn that language, to understand it, but also to PRODUCE smells to communicate back to the aliens?! @_@ Anyways. I loved this rant. The book disappointed me badly. I subscribed to your channel. :D Nice to meet you!
Sorry you got attacked by so many Paolini fans. They are mostly emotionally immature so they’re pretty volatile about people not having glowing opinions of their guy. I haven’t read the book yet, but I probably will eventually since I have a thing for reading terrible books that annoy me. Thanks for the review.
