The Fifth Science

Exurb1a

2018

April, 2023

6/10 (DNF ~85%)

I appreciated the scope of the stories, the cohesive world, and the topics addressed. Each story was also a good size (though some were rather short, others rather long) for conveying whatever it had to say.

However, there were some common issues throughout the book. First was the snarky tone inserted at arbitrary moments. The tone of the writing was often "fun" or "silly" overall, but I never enjoy it when a statement is made that is clearly just the author inserting their thoughts or opinion or making a remark (like Sea of Tranquility).

The second issue was the need to have scientific explanations for everything. Again, there is nothing wrong with using fictional science. But many of the stories relied on fictional science and the intricate details involved. My problem is not with the science itself, rather the focus being the science as opposed to some grander story. In other cases, the book just felt like it was really trying to be intelligent. The key point is that it tried. It didn't always work.

Towards the end, I just couldn't care enough to keep reading. Every other paragraph was about some "wouldn't it be cool if this worked like that?" or "here's a cool idea that gives me a reason to talk about advanced-but-also-made-up physics".

I appreciate the ideas. Not the delivery. It was an enjoyable read at first, but I just couldn't keep going.