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pkiwi's review
4.0
Admittedly, this was a snack book inbetween all the thick fantasy/sci-fi tomes I'm reading. But what an exciting and fun snack it was!
I'm biased, because I like Yahtzee's humour (which is quite close to Pratchett humour) and I like his curt, sarcastic writing style; i.e. I knew I would like this book and my rating thoroughly represents personal preferences. (It also accepts that Yahtzee's books follow a certain formula)
Differently Morphous is a great pageturner with a pretty good murder mystery at its core (it had me wrongfooted a couple of times), some adorable aliens, magic powers, horrible bosses and less adorable aliens.
This books also tries its hand at social and political commentary, which I couldn't really get my fingers behind. It is loaded with references to internet culture, neckbeards, SJWs and more nuanced movements of LGBTQ+, POC and feminist discourse. However, as all characters are multi-faceted and quite flawed, the moral, if any, is buried under so many layers of questionable (or flat out wrong) actions it's all but lost.
In summary, a very fun book if you like some light british humour and don't go too deeply into story/character/literary analysis.
I'm biased, because I like Yahtzee's humour (which is quite close to Pratchett humour) and I like his curt, sarcastic writing style; i.e. I knew I would like this book and my rating thoroughly represents personal preferences. (It also accepts that Yahtzee's books follow a certain formula)
Differently Morphous is a great pageturner with a pretty good murder mystery at its core (it had me wrongfooted a couple of times), some adorable aliens, magic powers, horrible bosses and less adorable aliens.
This books also tries its hand at social and political commentary, which I couldn't really get my fingers behind. It is loaded with references to internet culture, neckbeards, SJWs and more nuanced movements of LGBTQ+, POC and feminist discourse. However, as all characters are multi-faceted and quite flawed, the moral, if any, is buried under so many layers of questionable (or flat out wrong) actions it's all but lost.
In summary, a very fun book if you like some light british humour and don't go too deeply into story/character/literary analysis.
pcro99's review
2.0
This is the second Croshaw book I have tackled and I'm afraid that this time, two strikes means you are out. Just like the previous Croshaw novel I read, I know I should enjoy this. The prose is simply dripping in dry British wit which I usually love. But this did not hold me and I could not wait for it to finish.
euzie's review
2.0
Loved everything else he has written, just this wasn't funny. A couple of smirks here and there but the belly laughs from the other books were just absent. Maybe if the book wasn't trying to shoehorn in some tired tropes about PC culture. Just seemed ham fisted. And every character was so 1 dimensional (which is actually quite ironic... Maybe he meant that... That would be smart indeed)
quiss42's review
5.0
Think of this book as a blend of Ben Aaronovitch's "Rivers of London" and David Wong's "John Dies at the End" series, which I both enjoyed a lot. Fully recommended read.
Audio book: Yahtzee Croshaw does a great job reading this.
Audio book: Yahtzee Croshaw does a great job reading this.
slayra's review
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
Aliens and people who have magic abilities exist, but they are both carefully concealed by the Ministry of Occultism. All is well until a group of aliens seeks refuge on Earth and the press meets them before the ministry does. Even though it is sci-fi, I felt this book had a different take to it, and I think it is the first time I read a book where none of the main characters are likeable, and that's refreshingly welcome. I enjoyed the farcical type of humour and the narrator, who is the author, is an excellent reader and does the different voices of the characters. Quite an enjoyable read!
heatherldstorm's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.25
jon288's review
3.0
Not bad, although his characters are a little one-dimensional and the allegories drawn are sometimes clumsy. Still, entertaining
mary_soon_lee's review
4.0
This book is unlike most of the science fiction I've read. It contains humor, much of which is excellent, and as such is somewhat reminiscent of Douglas Adams or Terry Pratchett. Spoilers ahead.... Recommended.