
The good
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Fascinating premise built around a single consciousness spread across many bodies, including both human consciousness and even AI consciousness (the latter spread across ships and AI-controlled human bodies called ancillaries).
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Some other interesting sci fi (e.g., weapons and armor) and world-building elements (e.g., the Radch empire subjugating many other planets/peoples to their rule).
The not so good
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I found the plot a bit convoluted and confusing and, at times, slow. I was ready to give up on the book about a third of the way through as I was honestly a bit lost and bored. It picked up a bit after that and ultimately (mostly) made sense, but it wasn’t a great reading experience.
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The characters seemed a bit flat and boring. No one acted like a human. I mean, I realize some of the characters were AIs, and that was somewhat intentional, but even the human characters didn’t seem to act like fully fleshed out humans.
Rating: 3.5 stars
Yevgeniy Brikman
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