Phunky Sai
As someone who writes, I admire the imaginative daring that went into the creation of this book. 6 stories intertwined through time, each referential and connected in some way to the one before? And then to structure those in the order of 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2, 1 - so that you're only getting the first half of each story in the first half of the book? The first story (journal) even ends mid-sentence! And then the narrator of the second story, reading the same journal, gets frustrated that the journal is cut off mid-sentence! I knew then that I was in for something very special.
As someone who does not really like historical fiction (I've tried and failed many times with various authors, some of whom are my faves), I struggled through the first few stories, but the lingering premise, and the mysteries and gall that the author displays kept me mesmerized throughout. And then of course he delves into the future into one of my favorite genres - Scifi - and totally wins me over.
This book made me want to go curl up in a leather chair and write, or just make art, while also getting me to look at my life and the influence I have on others and vice versa - and the influence we have on each other through various mediums. This is one of the most daring and imaginative novels in modern history.
While it's hard to easily recommend this given that it's not casual beach reading by any means, but if you're in the mood for heady, artistic, imaginative writing then this book is for you.
While this was just a side story taking place between books 4 and 5, it was so enjoyable to be back in this world I could have cared less whether it revealed anything about the grand overall Dark Tower story. King taps into something special every time he visits this world, and I hope he continues to give us more stories like this in the metaverse.
Aside from an early nihilistic rant that felt like the author just dumping his own feelings on the page, this was a pretty fun read. While you can definitely tell it's a first novel, the geeky references kept me reading. What started kind of rough writing-wise finally settled into a groove about halfway through, and the story and writing get more engaging from there forward. Overall a fun ride, and a great retrospective on all the geeky stuff I grew up with.
Reynolds is so good at making Hard Scifi palatable. This, the first in a new series, is no exception, with interesting characters and a unique locale. Reynolds' showcase flair for little scifi details is on full display here, made even more interesting by the fact that this book is set in the near future rather than the typical hundreds or thousands of years in which he likes to set most of his books. Highly recommended, and makes me long for the next in the series.
While I did miss some of Stephenson's diatribes (although there was an epic one near the beginning on designing an MMO), it was refreshing not to have to work so hard to read a Stephenson book as I did with Anathem. The breakneck pace and characters you fall in love with made this a blast to read.
While my favorite of his books tend to be scifi (or cyberpunk-ish), it's always a treat to read a Stephenson book, especially when he's geeking out. Very snarky as well, which had me laughing more often than not. Great read!
Two stars for this book (which, on Goodreads, rates as an ‘OK') mainly because through high school and college I read so much Dean Koontz that I got tired of the formula, and while Dekker's premise is original, this book FELT like a Koontz book, and therefore I wasn't as into it as I might have been in my pre-Koontz days. You can kind of tell by how long it took me to read it....
Well, that's what a finale is all about, right? Emotional resolution through tight plotting, and an ending that you don't see coming. This was, in my opinion, the perfect conclusion to a series that exists in a harsh world, where you know your hero is not going to escape without some damage (or loss of life).
And surprisingly (after the frenetic action of the first two books), the series ends up having a message that doesn't get preachy.
Overall, this is one of the best series I've read in years, and can't recommend it highly enough.
Thankfully, the second book in this trilogy doesn't suffer from middle-book syndrome. What starts as an interesting world-building read eventually turns into a burning page-turner like the first book.
For those reading these for the first time, you may as well go ahead and buy the whole trilogy and read them at once. The cliff-hanger that ends this book, and the promise of what is to come, will have you reaching for book 3 right after you turn the final page.
Shew - haven't turned pages that fast in a couple of years! If I could give a book 4 and 1/2 stars on here I would, since it's nearly a perfect book.
The book moves along at a breakneck pace, and what it lacks in depth it sure makes up for with instant emotional appeal and a ripping yarn, set in a very interesting dystopia. The ideas here are great, but I wish we could have seen some more details of the world. But hey, that's what sequels are for.
Speaking of - on to book 2!
