Gods, I already knew they had chosen Matt Damon as lead role, and I can imagine him in that role so very well! Brilliant humor with hard scifi. I seriously hope they won't fuck up the movie.
Wow. Easily my favourite book of the series so far.
We get: character development for everybody (except maybe the advisory wizards, they got theirs last time). Dairine is obviously front and center for this, but Kit and Nita get to explore their feelings for each other, and Nita's parents get to deal with computers and even more wizardry.
I really wonder how I would have reacted to this book as a child. Would it have been to complex or abstract? By now, I just love it. I love the inclusion of computers in a book from 1990, I love how it reminds me of Stross (computers can work magic), and HPMOR (magic has a system that gets more clear as the books carry on). I love how we deal with the implications of creating a true AI in a book from 1990. For children. This book went in a different direction than I thought and wasn't just a copy of the first two books, including Dairine as protagonist. It explores a different theme entirely, and does it well. Will re-read, and it easily deserved my five stars.
I liked the first book in the series a bit more, although Duane does a lot of nice world-building here, both regarding the deep ocean and the whales, and Nita's family (Dairine, mom, and dad).
While I was still fascinated with the world Duane builds, and the very poetic language she uses, I felt that she mostly re-used the first book's plot, relocating it to the ocean. It also got a bit too dramatic for me; since I didn't believe that Nita would actually have to die, the foreshadowing and plot was pretty clear. Then again, it's a book aimed at children, so I guess I can't really complain here.
I really loved this book - it reminded me of Harry Potter, naturally, but better written and better thought-out. Magic actually has a system, people have motivations and actions have actual consequences.
Nita and Kit are the most adorable protagonists, and very much to be taken seriously. Both human side-characters like Nita's sister Dairine and parents, and the Advisory wizards seem very real, none too perfect. Even the Lone Power is not completely evil.
Duane also has a way with words that made me swoon and/or feel frission on several occasions. This is definitely a book to re-read and I'm now diving into the remainder of the series.
Nita goes to Ireland - it felt less important, somehow, and just like following a pattern. But since the pattern is pretty good, I still enjoyed reading it.
Nita faces temptation … a lot. Felt like a Hiob story in many ways. She has to deal with her mother dying and learns how to change whole universes to try and deal with it. Reminded me a lot of Buffy in the same situation, only a lot younger (but including the outcome and the younger sister, btw).
I didn't quite like how the criticizm of an overly-dependent Nita was addressed here, because I think it has some merit. Still an enjoyable book, especially interactions with the Advisory, but I hope that the next one will be more like High Wizardry or at least the first two in the series.
Just a review to remind myself what happened here and why I liked the book.
We meet Mhari again! Bob is amazingly grown-up about it. Everybody realizes they get played early on … and still: people die. A lot of them. Including Angleton. Because their opponent is a century-old PHANG.
Written very smoothly, Stross is really in his element here. Feels effortless, and is easy to read.