emfiliane reviewed Kaleidoscope Century by John Barnes
Review of 'Kaleidoscope Century' on 'Goodreads'
3 stars
For a while, I really liked this book - as teen male fantasy as it is - though it defies all attempt at categorization. "Like Vonnegut" is close. It's based a century in the future around episodic bits of Joshua Ali Quare's memories, slowly trickling into place after complete amnesia. The first he remembers is his brutal childhood way back in the 1980's, then a job for a meme that employed him to kill and rape for its war in the mid-21st century, back to early adulthood and the US Army, and even in flashbacks there were flashbacks, with occasional narration from the end of the line. Long flashes from working for the KGB in the Eurowar (the kind of grim European techno-WW3 everyone has long feared), the War of the Memes, the escape from Earth and more interleave vexing questioning of who he really is and how many of …
For a while, I really liked this book - as teen male fantasy as it is - though it defies all attempt at categorization. "Like Vonnegut" is close. It's based a century in the future around episodic bits of Joshua Ali Quare's memories, slowly trickling into place after complete amnesia. The first he remembers is his brutal childhood way back in the 1980's, then a job for a meme that employed him to kill and rape for its war in the mid-21st century, back to early adulthood and the US Army, and even in flashbacks there were flashbacks, with occasional narration from the end of the line. Long flashes from working for the KGB in the Eurowar (the kind of grim European techno-WW3 everyone has long feared), the War of the Memes, the escape from Earth and more interleave vexing questioning of who he really is and how many of the memories are correct, before he leaves and encounters the final surprise. If that sounds like cold war thrillers and cyberpunk thrown in a blender, well, it is.
The first half is catchy, when you're thrown well off balance and just trying to come to grips with the future, mixtures of memories keeping you from getting a solid toehold anywhere, when many things remembered conflict outright or are hazy enough to perhaps be dreams. The memories are vivid and real, familiar and at the same time futuristic and eerie. The second half lost steam, lost its charm, and settled into a dull sort of quest to find his enemies, without the grandiose vision and trippiness of the beginning. An astute reader will notice anachronisms in his memories, but I think they're intentional to show his unreliability.
The surprise ending was a surprise, but much too drawn out explaining a confusing and improbable time travel, losing all of the emotional power. A handwave and one short flashback would have sufficed, not several chapter-long ones. The reader ends up with a full grasp of the world by last third, when some confusion should be left. (Except for that strange time travel never did make sense.)
The end result was that the book was a muddle that didn't seem to know what it wanted to be or where it was going. The ending was rather abrupt, and there was no sense of conclusion. The writing just stopped at a convenient point. Overall the writing itself wasn't bad at all, and I enjoyed the time reading it; but it does become a bit of a history lesson trying to show too long a timeline. The plot didn't quite hang together (or act chaotic enough for that to not matter) or leave me satisfied in the end.
Beware the gratuitous violence, sex, language, and all the other grift that comes with the seamy side of humanity. They are present in spades, along with a very bleak view of humanity and the future. But there is some counterpoint.