It was interesting enough that I kept reading but just didn’t quite grab me. Perhaps it is not quite my genre; a little too much romance and family drama for my tastes. Plus. lots of interesting philosophical questions bouncing around but not a lot of answers and at the expense of the plot and character development.
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I found it interesting but sort of meandering; a giant thought experiment with some intriguing characters and a good hook but that never quite gets beyond a desultory pace or energy. Despite the “bombshell” at the end, not sure I have the energy to tackle the second book.
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An entertaining and well done novella. Scalzi/Quinto drop you into the story and keep you interested from the start. It has an interesting hook and some well done twists. For such a short story, the characters were developed and seemed quite believable in their actions and motivations. Part urban fantasy, part police procedural, part mystery.
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Daminificados by JJ Amaworo Wilson is a novel based on “The Tower of David” in the center of Caracas, Venezuela. The half-completed tower was occupied by thousands of homeless people during the 2007 housing crisis in that city. Wilson uses the occupation as inspiration to write about a group of damnificados (vagabonds and misfits) who… Continue reading
I am somewhat torn as to my reaction. I really enjoyed it for about 75% but then it felt like it was dragging a bit.
But no sooner had I begun to feel that, it cranked up the tension and I stayed up late to finish it. I guess I am more on the positive (some nearly gushing) reviews spectrum than I am on the negative. But, perhaps because I am not all that knowledgeable about science fiction or speculative fiction, I can’t quite see the profound and literary masterpiece some have found.
Mythic, experimental, fabulist, biblical, there is a lot going on here. And of much of the novel I could appreciate it. But by the end I just wanted to find my way out and find some closure.
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I found it to be a lyrical and imaginative story. Granted it requires the “suspension of disbelief” but if you can just let the story flow the mix of fantasy and folklore is beautiful.
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While I am not in any way offended by his unorthodox views on these issues and/or his attempts to explore them in fiction. I found the overall effect rather flat. It seems a little too much like a CS Lewis Pilgrims Progress mashup.
Continue readingIn typical Gaiman fashion, this story draws you by both making you feel a part of the story but also leaving mystery and the unknown to play their roles. Gaiman never comes across as trying too hard to make everything fit together perfectly in a technical world building exercise. Instead he draws you in through his characters and the way they see the world; the way the world feels, and looks and works to them. He is not trying to explain the world but show you the world through another set of eyes.
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