Shortly after going back to press for a second printing, Peter Watts’ mind bending THE FREEZE-FRAME REVOLUTION enjoyed a quartet of sensational reviews.

David Agranoff on his eponymous blog enjoys his first Peter Watts encounter.

I am not sure how I never read Peter Watts before but somehow I missed out. This book first got on my radar when Luke Barrage and Juliana of the Science Fiction Book Review podcast did an episode about a few months back. After listening to fifteen minutes of that episode I paused it and went to reserve a copy. I am glad I did and thank you Tachyon publications for sending Luke a copy because that is how it entered my books-a-sphere.

THE FREEZE-FRAME REVOLUTION is a mind bending science fiction novel that packs in more ideas and story into it’s 192 pages than some novels three times its length.

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I loved THE FREEZE-FRAME REVOLUTION in part because of the massive cutting edge mind expanding ideas but also the human core of characters who development is not ignored. Watts has a biting tone and it is clear if you listen to interviews with him he is not in the routine of taking shit. This is a masterpiece of science fiction and has sold me that I need to read all Peter Watts that I can get my hands on.

At BLOGINHOOD, Robin Shantz praises the story.

It’s a fairly short book, just 175 pages, making it a novella by today’s standards, though it would have been perfectly acceptable as a novel 40-and-more years ago. But its length makes it perfect for the emotional pitch of the story and the way the plot pays-out: any shorter and it would feel rushed; longer, and the tension would feel forced and start to lose its punch.

Annabel Gooder for NZ HERALD likes the book.

The puzzle Peter Watts has set his protagonists (and himself) is how do you plan a revolution when you are chipped and continuously surveilled and you have to communicate asynchronously with co-conspirators over thousands of years? Watts invariably writes rigorous, mindblowing science fiction; while there is less room for his biology expertise to come to the fore, he still manages to design a couple of ingeniously original ecosystems aboard and outside the Eriophora. 

THE MIDDLE SHELF reviews the novella.

THE FREEZE-FRAME REVOLUTION was an excellent surprise. In itself, it may seem a bit too overworked, or using too many déjà-vu concepts. But the execution led to a story that very cleverly inserts itself in many literary and genre traditions, and pushes the envelope, particularly in the social literature tradition. But you can also just read it for a space adventure, and it works just as well!

For more info on THE FREEZE-FRAME REVOLUTION, visit the Tachyon page.

Cover and design by Elizabeth Story