Matthew Meade > Recent Status Updates

Unbelievably sharp opening. Already heartbreaking and sad.

Speaking of death, the book veers from treating death flippantly and as a punchline to super-serious faux militarism. There is a real brothers in arms vibe in the book, But of course none of the heroes die. Only peripheral characters:

The book doesn’t do much to set up character conflicts: it’s too episodic for that. And for a light, fun read there are too many characters to keep track of. Literally dozens of mercenaries are involved and a reader is expected to feel something for them when they die.

This would make a decent movie:

Casting

Clay: Tom Hardy
Gabe: Idris Elba
Moog: Rhys Ifans
Matrick: Simon Pegg
Ganelon : Michael B Jordan
Jaime: Chloe Grace Moritz
Rose: Zoe Kravitz
Lastleaf : Neil Patrick Harris

So strange and beautiful and complex. The moon has been irrigated! And it’s green. Fantastic.

It’s such a beautiful book full of beautiful ideas, but it’s devoid Of tension, characterization, or any perceptible plot. It’s almost impressive how insistent James is at toppling any momentum he establishes immediately . It is exciting because of how packed with experiments it is, but it’s fucking miserable to read.