1. Just how much info-dumping does Robert J. Sawyer need to do per novel?
2. What was the point of the chimpanzee???
Seriously, do we really need to know the history of Google's search engine? Do we need to be told that Lenscrafters can make glasses in an hour? This book would have been half the length it is without info-dumps of stuff aimed at people who probably wouldn't be reading science fiction in the first place. The story itself is interesting enough, if not complete enough, but it's too cluttered with background detail that should be fairly common knowledge. Half the time I was reading it, I felt like I was being "educated".
I think this is supposed to be Sawyer's attempt at a young-adult novel, but the main character just didn't ring true. I suspect that most teens would just walk away from this one. I only gave the book 3 stars because of the concept. Writing-wise, it's a 2.(less)
Palimpsest is one seriously weird book. Consider the concept: If you have sex with someone with a map tattoo, you will "dream" that you are in the cit...morePalimpsest is one seriously weird book. Consider the concept: If you have sex with someone with a map tattoo, you will "dream" that you are in the city of Palimpsest. Palimpsest is a really f'd up place, but people are desperate to go back. They are so desperate to go back and visit other parts of the city that they will have sex with anybody who has part of the map tattooed on them, sexual attraction and orientation have nothing to do with anything.
While there are a lot of sexual encounters in Palimpsest, none of it is erotic. It's quick and desperate. Each encounter leaves the characters and the reader emptier than the last. The characters aren't even attracted to the people they have sex with. It's especially uncomfortable when heterosexual characters are having homosexual encounters that they don't want but need so they can return to Palimpsest.
The city of Palimpsest itself is surreal, like a dream or a nightmare. It's full of improbable people, impossible places and undefinable rules. It can only be reached by way of post-coital dreams unless you find the secret way to become a citizen.
I give this book three stars because I'm not sure if I liked it or not. The writing is evocative and poetic. It captures the surreal quality of dreams perfectly. However, the desperation got to me. It was depressing and I never did quite figure out why the characters wanted to be a part of Palimpsest so much. It was like a drug and the story had a psychedelic quality to it that didn't quite appeal to me. However, I do give Valente points for creating something that was unlike anything I have ever read.
Palimpsest is a Hugo Award nominee this year, but I'm not really sure why. It strikes me more as psychedelia or surrealism than SF&F. I suppose if you assume that the city of Palimpsest is real and that the map tattoos and everything that happens in the city are magic, then it might be borderline fantasy. I just didn't interpret it that way.(less)
Science fiction has always been my first love. I've been reading a lot of fantasy lately simply because it's more popular and there's more good new fa...moreScience fiction has always been my first love. I've been reading a lot of fantasy lately simply because it's more popular and there's more good new fantasy than good new science fiction. So much science fiction just looks like it's rehashing old stories, I kind of yawn reading the blurbs. However, The Windup Girl has been getting a lot of good word of mouth and I really liked a couple of short stories I've read by the author, so I thought I'd check it out. I was truly impressed with the book. Paolo Bacigalupi's novel is very much like Ian MacDonald's work that I love so much. He creates a very rich and exotic future Thailand in a world that has been devastated by genetic engineering run amok. The characters are as complex as the world they live in. No one is all-good or all-bad, they're just all human. Bacigalupi is really good at the art of showing rather than telling.
Because I listened to it on audiobook, I have to comment on the production. The narration of this book was excellent. You'll probably laugh, but he sounds a lot like William Shatner did when he narrated documentaries back in the Sixties and Seventies. Will Shatner is a terrible actor, he was an excellent narrator. Jonathan Davis is also an excellent narrator. His vocal intonation was quite well suited for the Asian flavor of the novel and he never sank to the point of giving the characters stereotypical accents. I was able to tell the character's dialogue apart but never felt like I was listening to Mel Blanc. I also really, really liked the intro and outro music. It was excellent. (less)
Cherie Priest has done a wonderful job with this novel. It's fun, exciting, and fun. The pacing is perfect, the dialog is good, and the exposition is...moreCherie Priest has done a wonderful job with this novel. It's fun, exciting, and fun. The pacing is perfect, the dialog is good, and the exposition is well done. Priest is very good at letting the background story unfold via the characters' dialog, the action, and the setting. Even though this story has zombies, I chose to call this steampunk masterpiece science fiction rather than fantasy or horror because it is about the use and misuse of science and technology. I really had a lot of fun reading this book. It's probably only a 4 star book but I gave it 5 because of the enjoyment factor.(less)
I really don't know what to say about this terrific book. It's the fourth book I've read by Robert Charles Wilson and the best by far. (I really didn'...moreI really don't know what to say about this terrific book. It's the fourth book I've read by Robert Charles Wilson and the best by far. (I really didn't think he could top Spin.)
Let's be clear that this book is not about Julian Comstock. It is about the narrator, a young man named Adam Hazzard. Along with his best friend, Julian, we are taken on a tour of what must be every aspect of post-apocalyptic America. In this case, the apocalypse is brought about by the collapse of oil, pollution, plague, infertility, and global warming. By the time this story starts, America has sort of been reformed.
I really loved Adam Hazzard. He is sweet, innocent, and a loyal friend. He's an unabashed romantic. This story has a refreshing innocence to it thanks to Adam's narration. For example, it's quite apparent that Julian is homosexual. In a society that is controlled by religious zealots, that is the ultimate sin. Although Adam tells us things that indicate that Julian is gay, he never says it outright and I suspect that he doesn't even realize it. I found it refreshing the way he talked about his physical relationship with his wife, Calyxa in a manner that's much like an old movie where the door closes and we don't see what happens behind it.
Julian Comstock A Story of 22nd-Century America is wonderful on so many levels. I highly recommend it to anyone who loves a good story, even if they aren't science fiction fans. (It really doesn't read like science fiction, but it is.)(less)
The City & the City is a book that defies explanation. On the surface, it's a murder mystery about an archeology student whose body is found in on...moreThe City & the City is a book that defies explanation. On the surface, it's a murder mystery about an archeology student whose body is found in one city, Beszel, but she was murdered in the city that borders it, Ul Qoma. The two cities are very different from each other and it's very difficult to get permission to cross the border. Those who cross illegally are subject to Breach.
As the story starts, the relationship between the two cities seems kind of like the relationship between West and East Berlin during the Cold War. As you turn the pages, you slowly realize just how weird the relationship is and how unlike two bordering cities Beszel and Ul Qoma are.
The only thing that really bugged me about this book is that we never, ever learn why Beszel and Ul Qoma have the relationship they do in the first place. How and why did they get to be two cities instead of one? I'm very disappointed that the question never got answered.(less)
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