Deep Ocean Blues
I found the concept of this whole world a really intriguing one, but I felt that Parul was the only character with any real depth to her. At least the only human one. The AI and the octopus were quite intriguing characters in their own right and it was good to see something of the society Parul was in.
I did think there was too much in the way of information dumping and summarising, especially when she reached out to contact the others. I would have liked to see the interactions between her and the other human characters, rather than a couple of throwaway lines.
Reading about the way Parul was adapting to her extra arms was really interesting and it was nice to see there were some difficulties in regards to adapting to that. I wasn’t really sure what her job was truly supposed to entail, though. Since she seemed to spend a lot of time drinking and then trying to help the octopus that wasn’t part of her job, it looked like she had a lot of free time on her hands.
While there was a lot of action towards the end of this novella, I wasn’t really sure what was going on, as the story became a bit more choppy. I did find the ending to be quite intriguing, but there wasn’t a lot of foreshadowing to build up to it.
I felt that the world was an interesting one and I would have liked to see more of it and more of the wider area, rather than just the short scene right at the end. I was left with more questions than answers by the end, but it did make me want to read other books by this author in the future.
The Memory Hacker
(This review may contain spoilers).
I really liked the blurb of this novella. It was an interesting idea, but by the time I got to the end, it felt like it had veered sharply off into the fantastical.
While I did find Talia an engaging character, with some very obvious goals, it was hard to see her as Yorke described her – smart and resourceful. I had so many questions, such as where she’d even got a gun. And while there were some small parts of foreshadowing, I felt there wasn’t nearly enough for what was ultimately revealed at the end.
I did think that Talia’s greatest depth came when her memories were unscrambled, which was quite a unique way of handling the memory loss. And seeing her struggling to remember when she’d lost something was heartbreaking to read about, even though I would have thought there’d be contingency plans in place for what had actually happened.
This novella would have been more satisfactory if it’d been spread out over longer. I liked seeing the hints of society and technology throughout the book, but there was very little either added to the story. And by the end, it just seemed like there were no answers.
I’d love to read more stories set in this world at some point in the future and potentially get a better buildup of the world as a whole.
Melting Shlemiel
(This review may contain spoilers).
This world was a really interesting one to read about. While it’s not something I could necessarily see occurring in reality (there were all sorts of questions raised for me about things like procreation, for instance), I liked the whole concept and it was easy to picture, in my mind, people choosing to surround themselves with a hard shell to cover the vulnerable flesh beneath.
Shlemiel was a likable character, though I didn’t really understand why he was able to break his own bones and also break objects, as it had been made clear he wasn’t covered in the shell in the past. I did find myself intrigued along with him about the way the shell felt when it left his body. I have to say, though, despite them feeding on energy…there seemed to be something inherently disturbing about them pointing guns at each other.
One thing I was confused about was the violence in how some of the people communicated with each other. It was implied that it had been going on for a while, but I didn’t really understand why hitting the shells could communicate. It just seemed like a society that had raised itself on more violence.
I did find the religious aspects quite interesting and it was nice to see there were some conflicts, even if those weren’t explored too thoroughly.
In the future, I’d be interested in seeing more of this world; and, in particular, of Shlemiel. I feel like there’s a whole lot more to be explored.
The Camille
(This review may contain spoilers).
I liked the way all of the stories fit together and this one was no exception. It was interesting to note the way Andrea made use of her AI (Dan), while hating the AI her husband had left her for. I would have liked it if there had been more layers to that first plot, but it was quite good to see the plot change so drastically. And I really liked the usage of the technology.
There were some parts of this novella that were really creepy, especially when it came to what lay at the bottom of the tank. It was really easy to empathise with Andrea when it came to that; and although the voices she heard were a bit disorientating at first, it was good to begin to see them as characters in their own right.
While there was a lot of different technology shown in this novella, it was nice to see that it was more of a character-driven story and I enjoyed seeing something of the different Camilles; which was quite an interesting idea, even though I wasn’t very clear on their history or how they even came about.
This was also a world I would really like to read more of and to get some more answers about what was going on. There was a lot that was left hanging. A lot of questions were left that I wanted the answers to.
Ink of Blood 