Axiom's End: 1 (Noumena)

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My main problem was with the main character Cora. She is young, lost, inexperienced, and scared all the time. For most of the book she is constantly told what to do and taken to different places either in secret or while being unconscious. She is not a fully passive character, but for the most part she was weak and didn't know what to do. And yet I'm supposed to believe that she is the most important human on Earth and the only one able to communicate with an alien (again, not because she is skilled or achieved it herself, she just had a chip inserted in her head against her will). She then somehow started to assign genders to these aliens, recognize their postures and face expressions which was also impossible for me to believe because it's constantly stated that these aliens kinda look like giant insect looking machines. Same goes for her friendship and even infatuation with an alien, it was just too out there for me. s group of… refugees chose Earth because the planet was known to the… superorganism as having an oxygen-rich, stable climate and had likely not been colonized or consumed by other exoterrans. This is true of all alien proper nouns. Ampersand, Obelus, and Pequod are all CIA codewords, while Amigdaline, Fremda, Esperas, and the other aliens' names were all names given them by ROSA employees. The aliens use them as a functional Sure, Let's Go with That translation of proper nouns that have no native human vocabulary.

This emotionally drained me. Is it because of the thoughtful take on the early noughties' political atmosphere, or is it due to the well-written characters, fully fleshed out and relatable in their struggles? The Amygdaline relationship model shown is closest to a polycule, though it's explicitly noticed that there's a level of intimacy involved that doesn't translate to human understanding. Do you think these Beauty and the Beast narratives are moving away from the old fairy tale trappings and more toward the sci-fi aesthetic? Axiom's End is eerily plausible and wildly entertaining. An alternate history that fully delivers on its premise." — Caitlin Doughty, New York Times Bestselling Author and Mortician Calling Parents by Their Name: Cora refers to her father as Nils. He abandoned the family. In fact, her mother insists on it, and corrects Cora's younger siblings when they call him "Dad".

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She felt the injection just beneath her left jawbone before she even saw the syringe… She reached into her memory, trying to recall what only a couple of minutes ago had her so concerned. Something to do with a family, perhaps, a family whose names she couldn’t recall. What Axiom’s End Does Right Tactful Translation: In her capacity as Ampersand's interpreter, Cora often smooths over some of his overly blunt comments that could be construed as insulting. People who know a lot about why nerdy things work, in theory, should be able to make amazing nerdy things themselves. It doesn't always work out that way, so when someone excels at both, it's worth talking about. With Ellis’ first novel, that’s exactly what’s happened. She’s harnessed her knowledge and love of science fiction into a new series of sci-fi novels, the first of which — Axiom’s End— was just published this week by St. Martin’s Press. Demi looked at her like she had just lost their house in a drunken bet. “Sure.” It was the last word she said to Cora for about half an hour. The final thing I want to make sure I praise this book for is its exploration of the idea of the other. Axiom’s End is not the first book to use the “aliens come to Earth and discover humans” trope to explore these ideas, but I think it explores them quite well. The aliens are obviously a novel discovery for the humans living on Earth. However, as intelligent and all-knowing as they seem to be, the aliens weren’t completely unsurprised at what awaited them on Earth.

an example: “they [the eyes] took up so much facial real estate that there wasn't room for much else, positioned more on the sides of the head like a deer's than front facing like a human's.” I liked Cora as a main character, but the huge caveat is that I feel like Cora's personality and responses often felt like they were serving the plot rather than a product of her characterization. Better pacing and some editing could've had that feeling like growth throughout the story. Book One in The Noumena Series. Two sequels are planned; the first, Truth of the Divine, was released on October 12th, 2021. The novel is, after all, about estrangement—not just between humanity and alien races, but between humans and other humans. Cora’s relationship with her father is present in every moment of the novel, even when Nils isn’t directly named. Excerpts from his blog even intersperse the chapters—the reader can’t forget about him and neither can Cora. Their goals are in conflict despite them never interacting and even (presumably) without Nils ever knowing. There’s a real sense of loss and grief that comes from this, of what might-have-been and what might-be-impossible. Ampersand acts a stand-in for Nils—providing comfort and companionship for Cora where before she had been alone, and even grappling with the questions of transparency and responsibility that Nils constantly elides. It’s lovely to witness, even when you’re not sure you can trust Ampersand—and isn’t that just a fundamental truth about building any kind of relationship? No Historical Figures Were Harmed: According to Ellis, Nils Ortega is functionally based on Julian Assange, the founder of WikiLeaks, although his personality is not.

Ampersand is genuinely scared of Cora and finds humans terrifying. And that goes both ways. From the reader’s point of view, it’s extremely one way. In earlier drafts, I was very low-key about it. I buried the lede so much that at the end you had this relationship where there was no real connection. It was only after The Shape of Water came out that I was like, “Oh, I guess people are here for this.” Eli was a scene kid, the type that was just a little too into Panic! at the Disco to be trusted. Ever since she’d started temping here a couple of weeks ago, Eli had been one of the first people who had taken a special interest in her, and for the worst possible reasons. At first, he saw her as an in where The Broken Seal was concerned and then, when he realized she wasn’t, he turned cold. She saw him sometimes talking to other people while staring at her. She was always waiting for him to accuse her of being a traitor to the cause, an enemy of free speech. Cora Sabino is an ordinary college dropout with an ordinary anxiety about her future prospects. Except her Disappeared Dad is a whistleblower about a supposed coverup by the U.S. government about proof of alien life. Not that she cares. It's all an excuse to draw attention to himself as far as she and her family are concerned. Until an asteroid strikes down near Los Angeles in the exact same spot that an earlier asteroid which caused the conspiracy to begin with. Thrown into a shadowy world of dangerous secrets and cautious mistrust Cora must now re-evaluate her preconceptions about what is the truth and what is a lie. Eli, The Broken Seal is at the top of my list of things that I try not to think about if I can help it,” she said. “Did he say something about me?”

Alien Abduction: The amygdalines managed to interact with humans (and learn the language) by abducting them before returning to Earth centuries later. All abductees were euthanized by the aliens. So, as you might have guessed by my star rating, Axiom’s End wasn’t flawless for me. Firstly, the writing was often repetitive and sometimes overly descriptive. Next, Cora was a somewhat hollow protagonist. Also, and perhaps most confusingly, there were several random details and plot threads on which Ellis never followed through. Let’s talk about those regular ol’ terrestrials Jokes aside I've seen this book being called The Three-Body Problem For Girls, which is a hilariously bad take. I see this trend among "serious book critics" which spins the narrative that female protagonist = book for females. This is stupid - an insult to women as well as gatekeeping reading for men. Book Genre: Adult, Adult Fiction, Aliens, Alternate History, Fantasy, Fiction, Historical, Historical Fiction, Science Fiction, Science Fiction Fantasy, Speculative FictionHomeworld Evacuation: The amygdalines, transients, and the unnamed "post-biological" species all descend from a race that fled their dying homeworld and colonized the surrounding star systems. i thought his looming presence was a nice addition, but because nils never fully interacts with the main plot, it felt like he was mostly there to represent the theme and talk about how truth is a human right. he never felt like a real, tangible character. The spike of fear, the same one that always came with the mention of Nils, prodded her in the gut again. “What?”

Overdrawn at the Blood Bank: Obelus badly wounds Cora before she, Ampersand, and the Genome can escape in one of the autonomous plates. When the plate opens, all three occupants have been effectively painted red. Despite this, Cora remains conscious and aware. Britt, Ryan (2020-07-21). "'Axiom's End' Is the Most Relatable Sci-fi Novel in Years." Syfy Wire. Retrieved 2020-07-23. Cora thundered, her words reverberating through the trees, through the atmosphere, through the entire galaxy, through space, through time and eternity." It’s a balancing act, and I was inspired by his cult of personality. There comes a point whenever you’re so invested in maintaining this cult of personality that whatever your beliefs were just kind of falls by the wayside.

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Cora finds herself struggling for food, water, and clothing for most of the month or so the novel takes place over, let alone higher needs. That said, she always does what needs to be done to get alive, even if by the thinnest margin. Overall, this book was... very strange but I really enjoyed it and I am really looking forward to the sequel. I think there’s a nostalgia argument too, The Shape of Water being an example of that. It takes place in the early 1960s, based on a franchise from the 1950s, and obviously my book is deliberately in the same vein. A sort of adventure story influenced by the narratives of the 1990s, but told through the aesthetic of the post-9/11 mid-2000s filter. Oh, man, this could be huge,” he said as the door to the third floor at long, long last opened. Cora all but fell out of the elevator, and he followed. “All that shady stuff the feds have done that’s come out—up in Altadena and Pomona. You know?” Rambling aside, I'm struggling to formulate a decent review for this, and will think it through. For now, enjoy my splurge-style writing. Still trying to slip into my review meat suit since being on hiatus.