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28. Neal Stephenson & Nicole Galland "The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O"
This book was hard to get through. The writing isn't good. The detail plotting feels clunky. The characterization isn't. In the middle of this book I actually looked up some reviews to try to find how the authors divided up the writing. I mean I really wanted to makes sense why it was written the way it was.
Several of the reviewers complained about the quirky format. It goes from regular first person past narrative as the main characters diary to various other formats: another characters journal, email chains, bureaucratic reports, transcribed audio, powerpoint slides, even some epic poetry. For the most part I enjoyed the exotic methods better than the straightforward narrative. This is because the straight narrative wasn't very good and the authors didn't seem to be able to portray or develop the characters. The odd formats actually covered up a lot of that inadequacy. So the weird parts were actually better. With the exception of the epic poetry. I'm glad I wasn't reading that in close proximity to a fork or knife. I remain ocularly intact.
The book has a fair amount of satire poking at bureaucracy. Alas it's sprinkled throughout the main text. Sometimes it jars against the rest of the text, feels like an off note, and loses it's own punch amongst all the other words. It probably would have been better as a short.
Through the whole thing the authors keep having secondary characters refer to the high degree of romantic tension between the primary characters. But the authors seem utterly unable to show that to the reader. Of course, overall, I don't think the characters are well portrayed, but the romance thing feels really unsupported.
One of the tricky parts of magic is you need to have rules and be consistent with them. One of the tricky things about time travel is you need to have rules and always obey them. The more you pile on the harder it becomes to not seem inconsistent, or sloppy, or slapstick.
Overall, if you see this book on your (virtual or physical) shelf, don't walk away. Run.
This book was hard to get through. The writing isn't good. The detail plotting feels clunky. The characterization isn't. In the middle of this book I actually looked up some reviews to try to find how the authors divided up the writing. I mean I really wanted to makes sense why it was written the way it was.
Several of the reviewers complained about the quirky format. It goes from regular first person past narrative as the main characters diary to various other formats: another characters journal, email chains, bureaucratic reports, transcribed audio, powerpoint slides, even some epic poetry. For the most part I enjoyed the exotic methods better than the straightforward narrative. This is because the straight narrative wasn't very good and the authors didn't seem to be able to portray or develop the characters. The odd formats actually covered up a lot of that inadequacy. So the weird parts were actually better. With the exception of the epic poetry. I'm glad I wasn't reading that in close proximity to a fork or knife. I remain ocularly intact.
The book has a fair amount of satire poking at bureaucracy. Alas it's sprinkled throughout the main text. Sometimes it jars against the rest of the text, feels like an off note, and loses it's own punch amongst all the other words. It probably would have been better as a short.
Through the whole thing the authors keep having secondary characters refer to the high degree of romantic tension between the primary characters. But the authors seem utterly unable to show that to the reader. Of course, overall, I don't think the characters are well portrayed, but the romance thing feels really unsupported.
One of the tricky parts of magic is you need to have rules and be consistent with them. One of the tricky things about time travel is you need to have rules and always obey them. The more you pile on the harder it becomes to not seem inconsistent, or sloppy, or slapstick.
Overall, if you see this book on your (virtual or physical) shelf, don't walk away. Run.
