
I read this science fiction/horror book made up of the novels Blindsight and Echopraxia based on all the high ratings and praise it received. It turned out to be quite a slog. I won't go into a synopsis of the overall story, since it would be very difficult to attempt and there are many four and five-star rating reviewers that have done this already. My main problems with the story are its choppiness, its overuse of scientific jargon and its underdeveloped characters. What makes a story worth reading is the pleasure it gives the reader. Whatever the fictional genre, whether it be science fiction, horror, classical, mystery, thriller, etc. a good story draws the reader in and keeps them wanting to turn pages. It should not read like a textbook covering several areas of scientific theory with some action thrown in here and there; action that comes out of nowhere and leaves the reader perplexed over what just happened. The author has created a dystopian future where genetic manipulation has gone far beyond reason, and so the main characters in the story are every bit as alien as the entity they encounter in deep space. There are no stakes for the reader to care about any of them. Finally, I found this YouTube video of someone giving a much better deeper critique of Blindsight than I can. https://youtu.be/m1TL0xO9AkM?si=45xhzx-dc38QqKY0
I read this science fiction/horror book made up of the novels Blindsight and Echopraxia based on all the high ratings and praise it received. It turned out to be quite a slog. I won't go into a synopsis of the overall story, since it would be very difficult to attempt and there are many four and five-star rating reviewers that have done this already. My main problems with the story are its choppiness, its overuse of scientific jargon and its underdeveloped characters. What makes a story worth reading is the pleasure it gives the reader. Whatever the fictional genre, whether it be science fiction, horror, classical, mystery, thriller, etc. a good story draws the reader in and keeps them wanting to turn pages. It should not read like a textbook covering several areas of scientific theory with some action thrown in here and there; action that comes out of nowhere and leaves the reader perplexed over what just happened. The author has created a dystopian future where genetic manipulation has gone far beyond reason, and so the main characters in the story are every bit as alien as the entity they encounter in deep space. There are no stakes for the reader to care about any of them. Finally, I found this YouTube video of someone giving a much better deeper critique of Blindsight than I can. https://youtu.be/m1TL0xO9AkM?si=45xhzx-dc38QqKY0