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Avg. Rating: 3.5
Glory Season -- more like glory months
The first 2/3rds of this novel are as good as any current sf out there -- definitely up to Brin's standard, and full of wonderful universe building. But the last third is more than a disappointment, it's a cheat. When a novel is written like a mystery (a socialogical one in this case, not a murder), and then at the end, nothing what-so-effing-ever is done with all of the many hints and plot threads of the rest of the book -- it's worse than being left hanging; it makes one regret all of the collaboration one does as part of the reading process.
I keep laughing when they call this "radically feminist"
now, maybe this society is supposed to be feminist, but please consider: it looks like the women are in charge, it's supposed to... but ultimately the women are doing all the work while the men are off on their boats, and the men only come around when they are ready for the women to beg them for sex. sorry no, not fem at all.
David Brin, and Kim Stanley Robinson, and Robert A. Heinlein, all write from the woman's supposed point of view, and they all write very well and I like their stories. but no woman, now or in the past or in the future, here or there or anywhere else in the universe, thinks like these men suppose they do.
I think they try, and are not meaning to offend. However, Brin just does not get it, which is no big surprise really. After all, he is not a woman.
Aside from that, I liked the story quite a bit, up until the end. The ending was pretty cheap; there was no sense of resolution at all. And yes, the other characters needed more development. I expect better from David Brin.
Okay, the ending was lame, but the rest was pretty good
It's a very well written book, and the main character and her society is believable. Aside from the ending, the only real problem I had with it was that none of the other characters were as multidimensional as Maia. Her twin and Renna the alien could definitely have used some more character development. It's a good book if you're into sociatal critiques and lots of discusion on imaginary games especially, but I'd stear clear if you want nonstop action.
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