Axiom's End: 1 (Noumena)

Product Information

It is responsible for the genetic purge of the Fremda, sent Obelus after the Genome, and it is extremely likely that it will attempt to destroy the human race sometime in the next hundred years. Cora gets first-hand evidence that the aliens are real and that pretty much everyone is in the dark about what's really going on, resulting in a satisfying story shift where she gains more power, knowledge and agency because of her own experiences (a nice inversion on the more traditional story where the protagonist is always playing catch-up with the plot but somehow ends out coming on top). After earning her bachelor's in Cinema Studies from NYU's Tisch School of the Arts, she earned her MFA in Film and Television Production from USC's School of Cinematic Arts with a focus in documentary and screenwriting. Cora is an alternate name for Persephone of Greek Mythology, a story that Ellis has discussed before in her videos.

Pajiba said it is "less about action than an exploration of communication across boundaries both human and deeply inhuman," and praised Ellis's handling of the book's themes, and that her "well-trained eye for the oddities and political edges of various cultural contexts comes in very handy. It was close, like it was being dragged along on a hitch, so close she could see the faces of the two men in the front seat clearly. I feel like if I knew I was being spied on or phone tapped or followed, I wouldn’t even know how to function. Good Cop/Bad Cop: Cora recognizes that the two CIA agents assigned to keep an eye on her, Vincent and Sol, are doing this routine, with Sol being the jerk and Vincent being the charming one.

asked Demi just after they passed Rosecrans, her anger now cooled enough that she was capable of speech. I just really enjoyed that entire scene and it feels good that Ellis let's you draw conclusions yourself without spelling things out in text. Cora wonders why Ampersand doesn't seem more upset about autopsying Ĉefo, a Fremda who dies by suicide at the beginning of the book, since they were friends. Ampersand reveals to Cora that the majority of amygdaline "Oligarchs" voted to commit planetary genocide against an alien race, against the wishes of Ampersand and a sole few other Oligarchs.

Lindsay Ellis's experience as one of our sharpest cultural observers gives Axiom's End an edge of realism that makes it both cutting and compelling. This contrast reveals another ability of the mechanical components: the ability to live on a planet whose atmospheric nitrogen would kill an unmodified amigdaline. Niles paints Cora as a crazy alien collaborator and an accomplice in the deaths of several CIA agents, and is promised a hero's welcome in the US for his efforts. Interservice Rivalry: The CIA butts heads with the Department of Defense over control of the Fremda Group. LINDSAY ELLIS is an author, Hugo finalist and video essayist who creates online content about media, narrative, and film theory.

is a phrase repeated by Cora to Ampersand several times over book 1, and how the responses change over time reflect the change in their relationship. At times I was able to identify with her, I could look at some of the struggles she was having and see similar things from different times in my life. I have seen the first few movies, and this is a lot better at exploring a similar concept and plot points, but going off in an original direction. This is excellently handled, but it does feel that the story has switched directions from something a bit weirder (think China Mieville's Embassytown or Ted Chiang's The Story of Your Life, later filmed as Arrival) to something a little more traditional (maybe Starman with a slightly less attractive and indeed non-humanoid Jeff Bridges). He was interesting, but he was so hostile and terse that I found myself, like Cora I assume, more interested in the answers that came from him about his species, language, and people than himself as a person.