Babel 17 - the language of space terrorists.

I'm about halfway through the novel for now. I will update more soon. So far I find the storyline simple enough to follow, though every now and then there are explanations given for things that just don't make any sense. It's like the author wants us to really feel like we're in a futuristic world so he's making up all sorts of future tech and introducing concepts that I don't feel are explained well enough. I was totally lost with the whole 'circle' business when the ship was drifting. Something about the orbit moving some marbles about or whatever, but I'm sure any physics major might be able to make heads or tails of it. I don't know. I'm sure if I was there for the explanation I would have just stood there and nodded. Also, what's with the Suicide thing? Apparently, if people aren't dead of old age or of some horrible traumatic disfiguring, they can be recovered. They don't really go that far in depth about this up to the middle of the book and I think it's pretty important. I mean, that Second Navigator was dead before they picked her up. The Eyes, Ears, and Nose characters were sort of left out too. You get a broad idea of what they're good for, but it isn't explained why that job is so important, where they came from, and what they are exactly. I'm picturing that the Ear is just some faceless, noseless, blind flesh thing with huge ears...

Still reading.

And done.

Things got pretty confusing as I read along, but I was able to understand the general idea. I wasn't able to read this story in a day or anything because I haven't had the time, so I don't remember a whole lot of the details. The parts in which Rydra goes into these strange Babel-17 induced states confused me quite a bit, but after the story wrapped up I'm sure I'd understand everything better if I re-read it. I don't have the time, but the story was interesting enough for me to consider doing so.

One element that bothered me a lot, and I see this often in Science Fiction, is sudden infatuation. Rydra and the Butcher had this relationship that seemed to come out of nowhere and it bothered me a bit. Sure, she was helping him to understand the concept of 'you' and 'I'; I guess a teacher/student relationship could have lead to that? I'm not well versed on the subject. As for the other characters, like the pilot and crew, I feel like there should have been more on them in the story. They're very intriguing characters just by what we see of them. They're a more interesting group than the main character is on her own.

I did like the concept on a language that could act as a sort of mind control. I skimmed over most of the explanation, because it wasn't making a whole lot of sense or it seemed outdated, but I got the general mechanic down. It provided for an decent twist by the end of the book. You start to suspect the Captain around the middle, but she's so cautious about finding a spy that you start to second guess yourself. Then you find out it's the language that's manipulating her. The story was well put together in my opinion. It did feel like they breezed past everything a little too quickly, like the novel needed to be several chapters longer for us to really get a feel of their universe. They neglected to cover certain things like the necessity for certain crew members and such. The war could have been better explained as well as the Invaders.

I'd give this story a 7.5/10. It had a good plot, but it was too skeletal and at times it left me a little confused.

-Peace out