In this book the author has written a stunning lament about the beastliness in man and the violence in nature, about the darkness of hope abandoned...
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reviews
Mar 25, 2010
Tobinsfavorite
rated it: 
OK, this is really a 1.5-star book. (Interesting typo: 1.5-tsar book) This is one that I remembered selling when I worked in a used-book warehouse. Awesome job; frequently, i would handle books I'd never heard of that had interesting titles or covers, and I made a list. I still have that list, and sometimes I work on it. Sadly, this one was a disappointment.
It started with promise, but it was so very, very bleak, and the characters seemed inexorably drawn to bad decisions that f More...
It started with promise, but it was so very, very bleak, and the characters seemed inexorably drawn to bad decisions that f More...
Dec 22, 2009
Erik
rated it: 
I knew this fellow while at Union Theological Seminary in New York--well enough that, after we learned of a mutual interest in science fiction, he shared with me the draft of his Ambrose Leader, a space opera which, if published, was done so, like all his early work, under a pseudonym. It became our custom to hang out daily between classes at the Paraclete, the UTS cafe under the rotunda at 120th and Broadway.
Now, years later, I find his Birth of the People's Republic of Antarctica. More...
Now, years later, I find his Birth of the People's Republic of Antarctica. More...
Aug 25, 2010
David
rated it: 
"Lord of the Flies" com adultos poderia ser uma boa descrição para este estranhíssimo, mas brilhante romance de John Calvin Batchelor, todavia a narrativa é demasiado complexa (e épica), tanto na forma como no conteúdo, para ser classificada dessa forma. Um título algo desconhecido, mas que é um excelente arremedo filosófico da melhor ficção especulativa (passa-se em 2037) sobre o exercício do poder e do negrume a que o homem é capaz de descer para mantê-lo. Uma sátira amarga, mas muit
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Jun 06, 2010
Michael
rated it:
An alternate-modern-history-apocalyptic-pilgrim's progress laced with wit, dark humor, philosophical and political commentary, complex characters, Norse mythology, violence, and Christian morality.
A friend recommended this book to me years ago, and I finally got around to reading it in May/June of 2010. It's a very difficult book to sum up. I did enjoy it, more so in the beginning than at the end. It is very ambitious, but also very uneven. I can't help but think the story would have More...
A friend recommended this book to me years ago, and I finally got around to reading it in May/June of 2010. It's a very difficult book to sum up. I did enjoy it, more so in the beginning than at the end. It is very ambitious, but also very uneven. I can't help but think the story would have More...
Aug 17, 2009
Marvin
rated it:
A book of almost epic feel, though about the life of one man, and a book of grand themes & ideas--political, ideological, & religious--presented in the form of a personal confession. It was also a difficult book. I never figured out what to make of the grand ideas, and I even had trouble understanding the setting for the story. It was set in the near future, a time of exile, when hordes of people are forced by political upheaval & disease to become refugees who are rejected wherever they go & fi
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Jul 24, 2010
Philip
rated it:
There aren't many heroes who are called Grim Fiddle, and there are even fewer who deserve to be. The best chapters are the early ones, detailing Grim's birth and childhood amid the collapse of modern civilisation, with much reference to Norse myth and the dour fanatical Lutheranism of his grandfather, after Grim himself the best character in the book. The rest is a fairly straightforward adventure saga of self-preservation, revenge and hubris, never less than entertaining.
Jun 01, 2009
Andrew
rated it:
The first half of this book is fantastic. When I read it, I thought, "Holy SH*T this is John Irving doing science fiction!" Unfortunately, the piss poor execution of the second half of the book negates any praise I could give to the first half. I would love to talk to the author and ask him what happened. It's almost as though he got an advance based on the first part, didn't meet the terms of the contract, and the publisher decided to publish his outline for the second half. I don't j
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Jan 18, 2009
Heather
rated it:
I read this along time ago and haven't been able to come up with the name in the meantime. I really enjoyed the book.
It had the flavor of Icelandic sagas; an immense journey, flawed heros, the struggle of individualism and civilization.
I read it shortly after reading Smilla's Sense of Snow and the books had a great pairing of tone.
It had the flavor of Icelandic sagas; an immense journey, flawed heros, the struggle of individualism and civilization.
I read it shortly after reading Smilla's Sense of Snow and the books had a great pairing of tone.
Dec 01, 2011
Brent
rated it: 
A plodding parroting of low-grade Vonnegut and lower-grade Barth. Never have I been so let down by the promise of a back-of-the-book plot summary.
Jun 03, 2008
Yosafbridg
rated it:
I liked this book (i love reading stories of survival in cold and unforgiving places for some reason~perhaps it was my Alaskan childhood~which i loved, by the by) but it took me forever to get through, and i seemed to be trudging through a long book~still worth a look...
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