Sign in with Facebook
Beth's Reviews > The Trials
The Trials (The Red Trilogy Book 2)
by
by
The Trials continues the story that started with The Red: First Light. It starts with a literal trial(view spoiler) that is the direct aftermath of the first book.
After nearly ten years, I remembered some of the responses I had to Shelley's basic situation, alluded to in my review of First Light, but the majority of the characters and events were lost to me. My current "series catch-up" project is all about making these delays less egregious (I'm heading into 2015's backlog now, good for me!), but I have remembered a fair amount about all the other series I've caught up with on a similarly long time scale. This one's exceptional in the extent of the memory holes it left behind.
Those memory holes must be caused by my not caring all that much about action narratives. I don't know if this is a side effect of getting older, a feeling that my brain can only retain so much and that I don't want to fill it with what I perceive to be inconsequential, or a desire--to put it positively--to engage more with narratives and genres I'm happier and more compatible with, or something else.
There was enough of Shelley's first-person introspection in the first book to keep me interested despite all the explodey parts, but this second book neither expanded on that nor gave me something new to ponder. The whole idea of reclusive billionaires retreating into low-earth orbit to "dragon's lairs" was interesting, and I appreciated the glimpses of the aftereffects of "Coma Day" in the empty highways and business parks that Shelley and co. passed through during their many travels. But neither of those would qualify as a theme, or point toward the book being "about" something more substantial than "lots of things happening in lots of different places" or "what's the Red up to, anyway?"
Lots of things do indeed happen in lots of different places. :D
- Imprisonments
- Nukes (again, apparently? that's another thing I didn't remember, heh)
- Compromised security (both physical and digital)
- The Red mostly being on vacation or at least absent from Shelley's head
- A robust body count (both anonymous and named)
- Rumblings and disruptions in the corridors of power
- Named (view spoiler) operations (which name was associated with which is another thing that would not stick. "thing that happened. moving on.")
- A couple of new organizations for Shelley and co. to deal with. Another org raises its head in the last few pages of the book, enlarging the reader's view of what the Red is capable of, and has already done.
After finishing the first book, I was interested enough in reading the next one that I didn't put it on my "one and done" shelf. But after a month and a half of on-again, off-again reading of The Trials, I'm tempted to put it on "it stopped here". I'll simmer on it for a while--not ten years, ideally--and see what I think. To be continued, or to be put into the used bookstore box? We'll see!
The Trials is probably a good example of what it is, so I'll round 2.5 stars up to three.
After nearly ten years, I remembered some of the responses I had to Shelley's basic situation, alluded to in my review of First Light, but the majority of the characters and events were lost to me. My current "series catch-up" project is all about making these delays less egregious (I'm heading into 2015's backlog now, good for me!), but I have remembered a fair amount about all the other series I've caught up with on a similarly long time scale. This one's exceptional in the extent of the memory holes it left behind.
Those memory holes must be caused by my not caring all that much about action narratives. I don't know if this is a side effect of getting older, a feeling that my brain can only retain so much and that I don't want to fill it with what I perceive to be inconsequential, or a desire--to put it positively--to engage more with narratives and genres I'm happier and more compatible with, or something else.
There was enough of Shelley's first-person introspection in the first book to keep me interested despite all the explodey parts, but this second book neither expanded on that nor gave me something new to ponder. The whole idea of reclusive billionaires retreating into low-earth orbit to "dragon's lairs" was interesting, and I appreciated the glimpses of the aftereffects of "Coma Day" in the empty highways and business parks that Shelley and co. passed through during their many travels. But neither of those would qualify as a theme, or point toward the book being "about" something more substantial than "lots of things happening in lots of different places" or "what's the Red up to, anyway?"
Lots of things do indeed happen in lots of different places. :D
- Imprisonments
- Nukes (again, apparently? that's another thing I didn't remember, heh)
- Compromised security (both physical and digital)
- The Red mostly being on vacation or at least absent from Shelley's head
- A robust body count (both anonymous and named)
- Rumblings and disruptions in the corridors of power
- Named (view spoiler) operations (which name was associated with which is another thing that would not stick. "thing that happened. moving on.")
- A couple of new organizations for Shelley and co. to deal with. Another org raises its head in the last few pages of the book, enlarging the reader's view of what the Red is capable of, and has already done.
After finishing the first book, I was interested enough in reading the next one that I didn't put it on my "one and done" shelf. But after a month and a half of on-again, off-again reading of The Trials, I'm tempted to put it on "it stopped here". I'll simmer on it for a while--not ten years, ideally--and see what I think. To be continued, or to be put into the used bookstore box? We'll see!
The Trials is probably a good example of what it is, so I'll round 2.5 stars up to three.
Sign into Goodreads to see if any of your friends have read
The Trials.
Sign In »
Reading Progress
October 13, 2017
– Shelved
October 13, 2017
– Shelved as:
to-read
October 13, 2017
– Shelved as:
sf-by-women
February 19, 2018
– Shelved as:
want-to-read-owned
February 15, 2024
–
Started Reading
February 15, 2024
– Shelved as:
2010s-sff-by-women
February 15, 2024
–
4.17%
"There's plot summary from the first book along with the setup for this second one, and that's helped a lot, since it's been quite a while since I read First Light (2015). I remember none of the characters aside from our MC, for one thing."
page
20
February 24, 2024
–
16.04%
"This court-martial trial has a bit too much violence surrounding it for my liking, but maybe such gimmicks are necessary if a book's to be called a "thriller.""
page
77
March 19, 2024
–
54.17%
"I left Shelley and co. in the middle of an operation over a week ago, and am only now getting back to them after a half-dozen side tracks. I'm interested enough in the overall outcome to finish it up, though!"
page
260
March 22, 2024
–
75.0%
"A "dragon's lair" - a tiny dwelling in Earth's orbit - feels like a much more possible near(ish)-term space stunt for an attention-hungry billionaire than Mars, or even the moon.
Heading into the last lap, after what feels like a very long time. The body count increases. I hope that Jaynie and Delphi at least, make it to the next book."
page
360
Heading into the last lap, after what feels like a very long time. The body count increases. I hope that Jaynie and Delphi at least, make it to the next book."
March 26, 2024
–
Finished Reading
Comments Showing 1-2 of 2 (2 new)
date
newest »
newest »
message 1:
by
Michelle
(new)
Mar 26, 2024 11:42AM
I just read your review of the first book, and this series sounds like it's right up my alley. I guess I'll find out, and thanks!
reply
|
flag
I'll be interested in seeing what you think of these as a much more experienced and invested mil-SF reader than I am! :)
