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<a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/144773.Contest?utm_medium=api&amp;utm_source=blog_review" style="float: left; padding-right: 20px"><img alt="Contest" border="0" src="http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172166025m/144773.jpg" /></a> <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/144773.Contest?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">Contest</a> by <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/author/show/83714.Matthew_Reilly">Matthew Reilly</a> 
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/show/32995689?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review"><h3>My review</h3></a>
 rating: 2 of 5 stars BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!
 
 Oh my God, this book was hilarious. And in a fantastical train wreck kind of way, not a belly laugh kind of way. I picked this book up because my Book Club book wasn't available yet, and I needed something to read. I noticed this book because of the picture of The New York Public Library on the cover, and thought "Hey, I work there....what's this about?"
 
 Well, let me just set the stage for you....
 
 Contest is about an intergalactic competition that takes place once every millenia in which the seven intelligent alien races (a list humans have only recently and reluctantly been added) are teleported into a labyrinth in which they must compete in a battle royale, fighting each other to the death until the final contestant remains and is declared the victor. The 'labyrinth' in this case is the central library of NYPL (of course). And transported into this building is the unsuspecting Stephen Swain (my initials, by the way, which makes things that much more bizarre)--a New York City doctor--and his 8 year old daughter.
 
 LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!
 
 First off, let me go out on a limb and hazard a guess that Australian author Matthew Reilly has never once set foot in this building. I say this because the layout of the library is so incredibly inaccurate that it borders on being grossly inaccurate. Rooms are inserted that don't exist. He gives the correct name to some rooms but not to others. Elevators exist where elevators not only don't exist but, in fact, simply cannot go. There's a multi-level parking garage, which, I guess we just put in recently. And the 7 line is made to run North and South through Manhattan instead of East and West into Queens as it should be. But I digress.....
 
 Then there's the action. Isn't it convenient that every alien who speaks, speaks in English? I mean....all of them. Like it's literally the universal language. Also, there are so many gods in this machine that you'd have to start considering polytheism as a belief system. I mean really, there's hardly a scene written in which just the right improbable device isn't inserted at just the right improbable place and time in order to save our hero (?) in just the right improbable way.
 
 Then, finally, in the end (and faithful readers, you may want to skip this next part if you don't wish to have the ending spoiled)...
 
 our hero (again, ?) becomes the victor and, for good measure and to quickly and conveniently clean up any loose threads, the Library gets blown up by a series of "micro-nuclear" explosions.......I can't even make this stuff up.
 
 The whole thing is fantastically ludicrous, but I guess that goes without saying. I actually have to give it two stars, though because it was so incredibly ludicrous that it was so unintentionally funny to read. Will wonders never cease?
 <a href="http://www.goodreads.com/review/list/951102?utm_medium=api&utm_source=blog_review">View all my reviews.</a>

Stephen's review
rating:

bookshelves: pop-lit
status: Read in September, 2008

BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Oh my God, this book was hilarious. And in a fantastical train wreck kind of way, not a belly laugh kind of way. I picked this book up because my Book Club book wasn't available yet, and I needed something to read. I noticed this book because of the picture of The New York Public Library on the cover, and thought "Hey, I work there....what's this about?"

Well, let me just set the stage for you....

Contest is about an intergalactic competition that takes place once every millenia in which the seven intelligent alien races (a list humans have only recently and reluctantly been added) are teleported into a labyrinth in which they must compete in a battle royale, fighting each other to the death until the final contestant remains and is declared the victor. The 'labyrinth' in this case is the central library of NYPL (of course). And transported into this building is the unsuspecting Stephen Swain (my initials, by the way, which makes...more BWAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!

Oh my God, this book was hilarious. And in a fantastical train wreck kind of way, not a belly laugh kind of way. I picked this book up because my Book Club book wasn't available yet, and I needed something to read. I noticed this book because of the picture of The New York Public Library on the cover, and thought "Hey, I work there....what's this about?"

Well, let me just set the stage for you....

Contest is about an intergalactic competition that takes place once every millenia in which the seven intelligent alien races (a list humans have only recently and reluctantly been added) are teleported into a labyrinth in which they must compete in a battle royale, fighting each other to the death until the final contestant remains and is declared the victor. The 'labyrinth' in this case is the central library of NYPL (of course). And transported into this building is the unsuspecting Stephen Swain (my initials, by the way, which makes things that much more bizarre)--a New York City doctor--and his 8 year old daughter.

LET THE BATTLE BEGIN!

First off, let me go out on a limb and hazard a guess that Australian author Matthew Reilly has never once set foot in this building. I say this because the layout of the library is so incredibly inaccurate that it borders on being grossly inaccurate. Rooms are inserted that don't exist. He gives the correct name to some rooms but not to others. Elevators exist where elevators not only don't exist but, in fact, simply cannot go. There's a multi-level parking garage, which, I guess we just put in recently. And the 7 line is made to run North and South through Manhattan instead of East and West into Queens as it should be. But I digress.....

Then there's the action. Isn't it convenient that every alien who speaks, speaks in English? I mean....all of them. Like it's literally the universal language. Also, there are so many gods in this machine that you'd have to start considering polytheism as a belief system. I mean really, there's hardly a scene written in which just the right improbable device isn't inserted at just the right improbable place and time in order to save our hero (?) in just the right improbable way.

Then, finally, in the end (and faithful readers, you may want to skip this next part if you don't wish to have the ending spoiled)...

our hero (again, ?) becomes the victor and, for good measure and to quickly and conveniently clean up any loose threads, the Library gets blown up by a series of "micro-nuclear" explosions.......I can't even make this stuff up.

The whole thing is fantastically ludicrous, but I guess that goes without saying. I actually have to give it two stars, though because it was so incredibly ludicrous that it was so unintentionally funny to read. Will wonders never cease?...less

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