Waking Gods by Sylvain Neuvel
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

Re-read 2/17/18:

Thrilled as hell to get the ARC of book three, I decided to go on a tear through the first two again.

But Why?

Because they're just that good. Great characters, fantastic dialogue, and action, action, action. What kind of action? GIANT ROBOT ACTION.

I hated to see who died and loved to see who took over. I'll leave it at that. I would like to call this pure popcorn fiction, but it's a bit better crafted than that. Deceptively simple, even, sprinkled with very sharp quotes and humor. I'd say don't miss this SF if you're at all a fan of SF at all. It's pure fun. :)

And with that cliffhanger.......

I'm SO HAPPY to have the new book! WOOOO! WOOOO!


Original Review:

Thanks to Netgalley for the ARC!

I've been looking forward to this one ever since I read the ARC for the first, and I cannot even begin to describe how excited I was when I got the second. :)

In the first, we get an adventure and the assembly and the loss and the regaining of the Giant Robot Themis, with our motley pilots and oh-so-mysterious Interviewer.

In this one, we dive right into the thick of things ten years after the adventure began with the arrival of rival robots from right across the universe. We'd already heard tales of them in the first, from strange long-lived people who'd stayed behind to see through the bloodlines, but this is where things get really wonky.

And where the death-count starts rising.

And if you're more interested in the characters and their arcs, never fear. Some very interesting developments are happening. Am I just as thrilled for the Neon Genesis Evangelion nod? Hell yeah. Do I love this tale and the odd kinds of twists and turns surrounding our original researcher? Double hell yeah.

As for our not-so-favorite geneticist? I feel nothing but loathing. That's kind of the point. She rather deserves it. :)

No spoilers since this won't be released for several more months, but suffice to say I really enjoyed it and I really want to sing its praises. I love my big robots! I love ALL my big robots, even if they're not on our side. They still give me the warm tingles. :)


All told, if you guys haven't enjoyed the first novel, then get on it. The second is just as delicious and its satisfying all types of unfulfilled SF niches for us. :)

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