Scan barcode
archytas's review
challenging
dark
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.5
I changed my mind a lot about this book as I was reading it, and I still feel like the jury is out on whether it will be one of my top reads of the year, or will fade a bit with time. At one point I marched out of the bedroom, handed the spouse a passage, and demanded he read it. He liked it a lot, so there you go.
Onyebuchi starts slow, with a narrative that focuses tightly on a few characters in a single town in a shattered future USA. The style is immersive, tightly focused on the ruins of the city, in a way that feels claustrophobic. Dialogue is sparse. We glimpse what has happened, but are drawn in to how to it feels. The narrative flashes through time into flashbacks to the characters pasts. It is stylistically bold, but still quite conventional. As the book progresses, Onyebuchi expands the cast, and through them into other parts of American, terrestial and otherwise. The shifts in place and time build a mosiac of events. Onyebuchi has a feel for the local, the urban, the sense of place. While the focus is in many ways quite narrow (the world outside America appears only in a couple of sentences in the second half of the book), his capacity to make each locale as distinct as they are in reality makes this world seem as vast as our own. The emotional lives of the characters play out increasingly on a canvas social, environmental and political upheaval. That we have to work a bit to put all the pieces together just makes it more compelling. There was a moment here where this felt like one of the greatest books of my year, and easily the best sci fi book.
And like all great sci fi, this is a comment on our world. The literally crumbling cities evoke the growing urban/suburban divide in the USA, the stark demographic split, the police drones which react differently to the poor, black and left behind. The health that is purchasable. Future dystopias often amp up the drama, or reconfigure the board. Onyabuchi gives us a depressingly believable continuum from where we are now, a tangle of dymanics which play out the same old stories.
The third section alternates a tense, almost stand-alone story, with a lengthy exposition dump in the form of an oral history. It is surprisingly readable, even as I kept wondering if an editor has insisted that it be added to make it all less confusing. Then it morphes into a detailed account of how prison riots happen, which didn't entirely feel like it belonged to this book (not because of the topic, Onyebuchi's segue between vignettes is generally a strength, but because the style was just telling, not showing, and it got long enough for that to really feel noticeable).
The final section didn't entirely land it for me. Partly because it felt rushed, and partly perhaps because the investment in the central characters in the earliest part of the book had not been carried through strongly enough in the middle. And partly because it just felt a little dictated by the points the book was trying to make.
All of which is to say, when the book was at it strongest, it was really something. I suspect that come the end of the year, the memory of the flaws will have faded and left the very strong impressions of a complex, charged and compelling book. But only time will tell.
Onyebuchi starts slow, with a narrative that focuses tightly on a few characters in a single town in a shattered future USA. The style is immersive, tightly focused on the ruins of the city, in a way that feels claustrophobic. Dialogue is sparse. We glimpse what has happened, but are drawn in to how to it feels. The narrative flashes through time into flashbacks to the characters pasts. It is stylistically bold, but still quite conventional. As the book progresses, Onyebuchi expands the cast, and through them into other parts of American, terrestial and otherwise. The shifts in place and time build a mosiac of events. Onyebuchi has a feel for the local, the urban, the sense of place. While the focus is in many ways quite narrow (the world outside America appears only in a couple of sentences in the second half of the book), his capacity to make each locale as distinct as they are in reality makes this world seem as vast as our own. The emotional lives of the characters play out increasingly on a canvas social, environmental and political upheaval. That we have to work a bit to put all the pieces together just makes it more compelling. There was a moment here where this felt like one of the greatest books of my year, and easily the best sci fi book.
And like all great sci fi, this is a comment on our world. The literally crumbling cities evoke the growing urban/suburban divide in the USA, the stark demographic split, the police drones which react differently to the poor, black and left behind. The health that is purchasable. Future dystopias often amp up the drama, or reconfigure the board. Onyabuchi gives us a depressingly believable continuum from where we are now, a tangle of dymanics which play out the same old stories.
The third section alternates a tense, almost stand-alone story, with a lengthy exposition dump in the form of an oral history. It is surprisingly readable, even as I kept wondering if an editor has insisted that it be added to make it all less confusing. Then it morphes into a detailed account of how prison riots happen, which didn't entirely feel like it belonged to this book (not because of the topic, Onyebuchi's segue between vignettes is generally a strength, but because the style was just telling, not showing, and it got long enough for that to really feel noticeable).
The final section didn't entirely land it for me. Partly because it felt rushed, and partly perhaps because the investment in the central characters in the earliest part of the book had not been carried through strongly enough in the middle. And partly because it just felt a little dictated by the points the book was trying to make.
All of which is to say, when the book was at it strongest, it was really something. I suspect that come the end of the year, the memory of the flaws will have faded and left the very strong impressions of a complex, charged and compelling book. But only time will tell.
klparmley's review
1.0
I don't mind multiple story lines. This hopped between them too quickly and I had a hard time keeping up with who was who and eventually gave up. I may try again later.
rehssingh's review
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
0.25
linguana's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.5
cekuszy_12's review
adventurous
challenging
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.75
chrisleesounds's review
1.0
DNF
I read the first quarter of the book and simply couldn’t go on. This might be only the second book I’ve ever not finished, and I’ve read some truly awful books as of late. But I just didn’t want to waste any more time with this plotless meandering. I have been so excited about this book, so it was a huge letdown.
I read the first quarter of the book and simply couldn’t go on. This might be only the second book I’ve ever not finished, and I’ve read some truly awful books as of late. But I just didn’t want to waste any more time with this plotless meandering. I have been so excited about this book, so it was a huge letdown.
cb613's review
adventurous
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
lemonlemonster's review against another edition
challenging
reflective
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
4.0