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Liked It “Steampunky Space Opera with a Carribean flavor. Thoroughly enjoyable. I'm looking forward to reading Buckell's other novels soon.” see full review » see other reviews » |
Didn’t Like It “Got this as an e-book as part of the Tor free ebooks promotion. I was rather disappointed by the slow start - the premise (colony cut off from the universe, humans as pawns in a larger battle between two more advanced alien races) was clear in the first few pages, but the author then belaboured...” see full review » see other reviews » |
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“Steampunky Space Opera with a Carribean flavor. Thoroughly enjoyable. I'm looking forward to reading Buckell's other novels soon.”
DK Thompson wrote this review Tuesday, June 16 2009. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No“Got this as an e-book as part of the Tor free ebooks promotion. I was rather disappointed by the slow start - the premise (colony cut off from the universe, humans as pawns in a larger battle between two more advanced alien races) was clear in the first few pages, but the author then belaboured the point for another 1/3 of the book. I put it down at that point, and haven't felt any urge to come back to it.”
Mrraow wrote this review Tuesday, May 20 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“An amazing first novel. I have both the hard cover and the digital editions.”
Kate Savage wrote this review Sunday, April 20 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
“"Crystal Rain" is Tobias Buckell's surprisingly strong debut novel. The novel's protagonist, John DeBrun, lives on Nanagada, a colony planet that has been cut off from the rest of human civilization and has more or less reverted to steam age times. Interestingly, most of the people living on the planet are of Caribbean lineage, the first time I've encountered that in SF (Buckell is Caribbean-born but now lives in Ohio). John DeBrun is missing two things: his left hand, and a good chunk of his memories. At the start of the novel, another group of native humans, the Azteca, who are ruled by an alien race called the Teotl, invade the peaceful lands of DeBrun's people, a very intriguing and complex story is set in motion.
sraets wrote this review Friday, April 18 2008. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
I was very impressed by the way Buckell built up the story, gradually revealing more of John DeBrun's past and the history of the colony planet. If the novel has any weakness, it's Buckell's workman-like style --- very plain prose, very direct story-telling, no frills. On the other hand, the simplicity of the style allows the plot to shine. The scale of the novel's setting grows and grows, from village to city to planet and beyond, but it doesn't feel forced and actually, if anything, made me curious to read more. Apparently one other novel has already been published in the same universe, and a third is on the way.”
“This book is full of awesome: fantasy, steam punk, science fiction, aliens, post-apocolyptic, and great characters. What more could I ask for? Well, perhaps a better start. I loved the preface. Then the first 30 pages didn't draw me in.... but then the book got kicking into awesome-cannot-put-it-down fun. ”
Michele M wrote this review Sunday, October 28 2007. ( reply | permalink ) Was this review helpful? Yes | No
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