Reviews and Comments

This book, and the series it starts, have been a part of the public consciousness for a while now. I've never read any of them before, though, so with this being my first time through, I'm aware of how highly it's regarded by some whose opinions matter to me. All of which has led to a certain degree of expectation...and I'm not sure if this book met it.

To be clear: There's a strong sense from this book that there's SO MUCH MORE to come, and you don't (or I didn't) come away feeling ambivalent about the journey. I'm excited, I'm in. I'm just...nervous, maybe? No, more likely cautious.

This was my first taste of Mary Roach's work, and I gotta say, I'm thrilled. I was delighted from start to finish, and Shelly Frasier's narration was a perfect choice, at once conveying both a gentle humor and quiet solemnity. I look forward to more from either woman, and preferably both.

The pros: The topic of election shenanigans is distressingly appropriate for the times, at least here in the U.S., and the continued discontent over the election and governance of President Trump makes some of the resolutions herein rather de-stressing. Having a story focus on near-future politics turned out to be a more enjoyable experience than I'd've thought.

The cons: While enjoyable, there were a handful of times where I felt left behind by the intricacies of the plot, as if those parts were meant less for the casual reader than the political wonk. Also, while the topic was, well, topical, the downside to it was that the stress and excitement peppered throughout the story had less of an effect on my politically-numbed mind. A couple of times I found myself thinking, "Yeah, this is bad, but the 2016 election? Now THAT was some drama!"

Decently written, but inexplicably boring. I've read that Mitchell's built an entire mythos, so maybe this book would've resonated more if I'd read some of his other books, but I somehow doubt it. The backstory/interview felt like scaffolding for a predictable plot.

The feel of this book was, to me, a bit jarring. The omnipotent narrator's tone would occasionally "skip", like an edgy teenager reciting a serious story, but flubbing a line once in a while and filling it in however she could. Sometimes this really worked for me, and added a levity to the story that even the funnier moments couldn't capture. Other times, it was discordant and 4th-wall-breaking, and felt like the author had written all these beautiful paragraphs of prose, but then stuck them together with cheap string and putty.

The story itself was actually quite nice, and the twists and turns felt surprising and fresh. I never felt like I was reading some recycled trope or overdone idea, and I think that's why the erratically peppered incongruities in the narration patter bothered me so much: I wanted to lose myself in this really interesting worldbuilding, but I couldn't stay in it long enough to get fully immersed.

A frustratingly delightful, or delightfully frustrating, read.

This was simultaneously SUPER hard to listen to and an absolute delight to listen to anyway.

I was lucky enough for most of my life to have almost no dealings with depression, but when I met my wife, I found that the downside to that happy ignorance was that I was terrible at supporting her during her worst moments. I've learned a lot since, and I'd like to think I'm better at this now, but books like this make me uncomfortably aware of how much better I need to be for the person I love.

Brilliant. Satisfying and brilliant. At first I wasn't sure how thrilled I'd be with a story that, at least in its premise, I'd've assumed would be more suited to the short-story format, but I'm delighted to be wrong; Chambers did an excellent job fleshing out a deeply intimate story of love and belonging in a future we'd be honored to herald.

I read this book twenty or so years ago, and it was chiefly Anthony's name on the cover that made me pick it up in the first place. It was the foreword, though, that convinced me to read it. Hell, it was the foreword to this book that inspired me to start reading forewords at all.
The book itself is only so-so, but the story of how the book came to be still moves me.

Wonderfully done. I was right, too: While the story is, indeed, excellent, it's eclipsed by the vivid and arresting storytelling itself. Like Danielewski's "House of Leaves," Clarke's "Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell," and Miéville's "Perdido Street Station," the delivery transcends the story. I can't wait to read the second book.

This was a decent novel, and I enjoyed the pacing and much of the speculation in the premise. Some ideas, like the notion of biotech platforms on which applications could be run, felt a bit incomplete (though I freely admit that this is probably because I've seen those ideas done better by others) but overall I enjoyed the book.