I loved the set-up of this and I loved the ending. Unfortunately I found the middle section a bit sluggish. Probably because both lead characters are I loved the set-up of this and I loved the ending. Unfortunately I found the middle section a bit sluggish. Probably because both lead characters are living in a wasteland – Augustine is marooned on a research centre in the Arctic and Sully is up in outer space – and the author struggles a bit to make these spaces interesting. As a result I found it was one of those novels where you’re impatient to find out how it ends as opposed to enjoying the ride. You could say the big ideas that structure the novel are great but the little ideas that form the motor of the novel are a bit wanting. Just okay for me. ...more
Brilliant vision of a possible future scenario when global warming has reaped havoc and food has to be genetically produced. The detail of the world tBrilliant vision of a possible future scenario when global warming has reaped havoc and food has to be genetically produced. The detail of the world the author creates is fantastic as is his evocation of Thai culture. Unfortunately for me the story itself didn’t quite live up to the brilliance of its setting. I found the details were more compelling than the plot and the characters. It’s a very cinematic novel in many respects. The bigger picture tends to swamp the individual lives of the characters. The Windup girl herself was my favourite character but she had to share the stage with several other lead characters, not all of whom were anywhere as near as riveting. There’s also a twist with one character which I never bought into. So it was admiration I felt for this rather than love. ...more
There are times in everyone’s life when we know without a shadow of a doubt we are our own worst enemy…
I agree with what people have said about this bThere are times in everyone’s life when we know without a shadow of a doubt we are our own worst enemy…
I agree with what people have said about this book. It’s a compelling quick read. Not the most literary of novels but fantastic light entertainment with some particle physics thrown in. A bit like Jason Bourne with the Tardis.
Without doubt we’ll be seeing the film quite soon. ...more
I should probably have read Egan's bio before buying this: "Greg Egan specialises in hard science fiction stories with mathematical and quantum ontoloI should probably have read Egan's bio before buying this: "Greg Egan specialises in hard science fiction stories with mathematical and quantum ontology."
I rarely read SF and soon realised I might be out of my depth with this novel. It’s incredibly cerebral, consisting of more science than story as if Egan was more concerned in establishing the credibility of his vision of a world where humans clone themselves electronically and live in virtual worlds to computer programmers and quantum theory boffins than make any kind of appeal to people like me who simply want a good story! Often dialogue consisted of one character (taking on the role of the author) explaining to a less well informed character (the reader) how the science or technology worked and I found this method very wooden. Often the very long-winded technical details of what was going on went completely over my head. There was also a lack of human warmth or even interest in the novel. At times it read more like a manual than a novel. The story only really begins in the last fifty pages and finally, when I was hooked, the novel ended!
Against that was the undoubted brilliance and breadth of Egan’s ideas which certainly provided much food for thought. I’d suggest though that this is only likely to appeal to hardcore SF buffs who demand any vision of the future be scientifically and technologically justified in painstaking detail. ...more
First of all, I’m going to nominate this for the worst sex writing award - “All those pieces. She moveThis is like a Walt Disney version of The Road.
First of all, I’m going to nominate this for the worst sex writing award - “All those pieces. She moved. Her moving over me called them called them. The way a thousand fish rock together with the swell. Back and forth. The way the stars in the leaves. I reached. In her, in the very center, somewhere the single only stillness where everything cohered. Nothing but reach.”
It’s taken me a month to get through this relatively short book. Mainly this was down to the often absurdly pretentious nature of the prose. The world is all broken into serrated untidy fragments so Heller does the same to his prose. “"For the dog he said. Angry. Because I didn't do my job. To him." That kind of thing. Which soon begins to grate and become nothing but a backfiring and rather adolescent gimmick. Shame because there are lots of good things in this novel. My other problem was with Hig himself. You know sometimes when you just know the author is fictionalising himself for the main character and as a result is constantly pushing you as the reader to like him? Hig is like a man advertising himself on a dating site. He’s straining so hard to make himself seem attractive that you begin to dislike him. He does this by offsetting himself with his companion Bangley, a brutish taciturn redneck, born killer who fights off all intruders. Hig has scruples about killing. He loves fishing and hunting except for the part where he has to end a life. Because Hig, we’re relentlessly reminded, is a sensitive guy. It began to feel like Heller was imagining Hig from the comfort of an armchair, not immersed in a world where every stranger is a deranged serial killer. Hig’s companion thinks of Hig as a bit of a pussy and unusually I found myself agreeing with a redneck.
The first part of this novel is all about survival. And I enjoyed this aspect more. The second part wanes into a cheesy love story. Hig finds Eden and Eve. And cue the hyper flowery prose. For me the parts that worked best were Hig's relationship with the natural world and his uncomfortable but life-preserving partnership with Bangley and his arsenal of weaponry.
The virus in Station Eleven is much more virulent and deadly than Covid 19. It kills within hours and wipes out 99% of the world's population. And EmiThe virus in Station Eleven is much more virulent and deadly than Covid 19. It kills within hours and wipes out 99% of the world's population. And Emily St John does a great job of conjuring up this post-apocalyptic world. Often her lens is nostalgia. The characters succumb to a deeper appreciation of the beauty of the world that has now been taken away. If it has a weakness it's the characters. I couldn't help feeling it deserved more interesting characters. The fulcrum of the book is an actor called Arthur Leander. Ironically, he dies of a heart attack while playing Lear on stage before the pandemic arrives. But every character in the novel will have some connection with him. But all the compelling relationships, dramatized in flashback, take place before the pandemic arrives. Afterwards, there wasn't a single relationship that interested me. Kirstin, the main character, is a bit of a cliché, computer game heroine, who despite travelling with a drama troupe and performing Shakespeare has nothing of interest to say for herself. The dark murderous side of the post-apocalyptic world wasn't the novel's strong point -it's far less convincingly imagined than The Road for example. We hear that a cult learn to silently stalk their adversaries and surprise them from behind but when we see them in action they are accompanied by a barking dog. Made the whole stealth and silence ethos absurd! Kirsten has five minutes to hide but instead of retreating into the forest she hides behind a bush within sight of the road. How she survived the first year when everyone was supposedly killing everyone else became still harder to believe. Another central character, Jeevan, was even less interesting, a kind of everyman who becomes a nobody-man. The best two characters, Miranda creator of the Station Eleven comic which plays a big role and Arthur both disappear early - an interesting structural decision which would have worked much better were they backed up with strong characters. So, lots to like but for me it was crying out for a couple of compelling characters....more
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