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• de la science-fiction originale

  N'étant pas un passionné de SF, je n'en lis que de temps en temps et peu de romans récents. Ici il y a tout un aspect de lutte sourde pour le pouvoir dans un microcosme à côté d'une aventure dans l'espace un peu plus classique mais quand même assez originale. J'ai juste trouvé la fin un peu moins accrocheuse que le reste (mais sans qu'elle soit "téléphonée"). Ce livre se lit sans problème en VO.

• the real good stuff

  Man sollte HBO darauf aufmerksam machen, dass hier der Stoff für eine möglicherweise atemberaubende Serie brachliegt. Das Buch ist völlig unterschätzt, kaum verkauft worden, aber liest sich wie von selbst, ist voller tiefgehender Szenen, alle vorstellbaren menschlichen Dilemmata werden berührt, Gänsehaut und Grusel ist eingebaut, jeder wahre Fan klassischer Science Fiction sollte hier seine Opalmine finden. Bedrückend gut, hochspannend und philosophisch. (Nur als Tipp: ich könnte mir vorstellen, daß Fans der eingestellten HBO-Serie 'Carnivale' hiervon fasziniert sein dürften: auch hier geht es um Macht & Machtmißbrauch, was ist gut, was ist böse, Sektiererei und wahre Religion, Liebe, Verblendung, Hass und tödliche Neugier. Eine ungeheuer ambitionierte, fabelhafte und kostspielige Serie, zwar ohne Aliens, dafür voller Kraft, Bessenheit und mysteriöser Swamp-Freaks. Prachtvoll und süchtigmachend.)

• Really good book. One of those that you can't put ...

  Really good book. One of those that you can't put down. Found myself spending hours reading it and unable to stop.

• An intriguing story of human survival, religion, and our future

  Ship of Fools (also known as Unto Leviathan) is a horror sci-fi novel published in 2001. It’s not stated, to my memory, what year it’s set, but the essentials are that earth is a floating toxic wasteland and humanity’s taken to the stars, notably on the starship Argonos. The Argonos is a massive, sprawling ship, divided into sections of wealth and poverty. Religion is a major presence aboard the ship, and the Bishop of the Church is in a major power struggle with the actual captain of the ship, Nikos. For generations, the Argonos has been without a settlement and a revolt is on the rise. The narrator, a deformed man by the name of Bartolomew, is Nikos’ trusted advisor and quickly finds himself swept into this revolution. But things begin to change when a new planet is found, a possible future for the ship Argonos. But when a group of settlers move down to investigate the new land, and find only devastation. This is all within the first 100 pages of the novel, and it moves at an incredibly brisk pace. Bartolomeo is an incredibly well-developed character. Being in a first person perspective, we get Bartolomeo’s thoughts and emotions in an intimate level and Russo writes it with such clarity and relatability it’s almost impossible not become entranced in the world. Bartolomeo’s character undergoes quite a lot of development in the novel, and often finds himself in question of his beliefs in religion and his fellow crew mates. One member of the church, Father Veronica, becomes one of Bartolomeo’s closest allies and I found his conversations with her to be some of the best in the book. While it is tied to the horror genre, it’s not a majorly scary novel - its horror comes more in the implied and the unseen. But when Bartolomeo sees some of these things, you find yourself almost wishing it had remained unseen. The book is incredibly quick moving, I finished it in less than a day (the quarantine certainly helped with that), and it was incredibly engaging. From Chapter 2 onward I was invested, staying up almost till 2AM reading before having to go to sleep. If the book has any flaws, it would be the ending scene suddenly has a burst of action missing from the rest of the novel. It’s understandable in the story, but just felt weird to suddenly read a fight scene in a more dialogue heavy novel. Also the ending is open and vague, nothing is concretely tied up with a major conclusion. I personally liked it, but some may see it as an anti-climax. If you enjoy the discussion of religion, religious corruption, science fiction, and slow-burn horror novels, go ahead and pick this up. Not at all a bad read.

• Amazing

  This was a truly wonderful reading, although creepy at times. Loved the concept and its execution, and of course the characters. Definitely one of the best things I read this year.

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