bookshelves: currently-reading, sci-fi
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Jimbo
took the never-ending book quiz.
| questions answered: | 13 |
| correct: | 11 (84.6%) |
| skipped: | 0 |
| best streak: | 7 |
| questions added: | 0 |
bookshelves: to-read
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Jimbo added 10 books to this list. Add your votes »
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Jimbo
read and liked
Amanda's
review of The Gone-Away World:
"I should have loved this book. It's got all my usual elements: big story, foreign setting, slightly alternate to very alternate reality... but it doesn't click. And when the "plot twist" is finally (technically) revealed, I actually said ou...more "
"I should have loved this book. It's got all my usual elements: big story, foreign setting, slightly alternate to very alternate reality... but it doesn't click. And when the "plot twist" is finally (technically) revealed, I actually said ou...more "
bookshelves: fiction, hugo-best-novel, nebula-best-novel, own, sci-fi
This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.
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bookshelves: hugo-best-novel, nebula-best-novel, sci-fi, to-read
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bookshelves: fiction, own, sci-fi
This story had a lot of potential, but the telling is sadly flawed. The Gone-Away World has some brilliant ideas, but also an extremely central plot twist that has been blatently stolen from another well-known book/film. I spent half the book thinking "Nah, surely he's not gonna be that unoriginal", and then the other half of the book going "I can't believe he was". In some ways it's brilliantly written - the rhythm to the sentences and way Nick describes things reminds be a lot of Douglas Adams (except Nick likes to use a lot of italics... I can work out where to put my own emphasis at least some of the time you know). On the other hand, he tries to take suspense so far it actually becomes painful and annoying. The opening chapter of this book is exciting and intriguing, but then the story goes back in time to the character's child-hood and nothing of great interest happens for about 200 pages. This pattern repeats itself, with at times the characters doing absolutely bizarre things so that the "reveal" can be delayed for another few dozen pages.
I'm not convince the ending actually makes sense, and even if it does, it has one of worst cases of deus ex machina I've seen in a long while.
Conclusion: If you want to write a funny book, make it silly and short. The Gone-Away World can't decide if it's nonsense or serious, so it ends up being neither and both in a not very appetizing combinbation. ]]>
bookshelves: to-read
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bookshelves: currently-reading, history, non-fiction
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