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allibug26's review against another edition
1.0
The premise of this book is such an interesting idea and I was looking forward to reading it. However, the story and dialogue don’t flow smoothly; both the story and the dialogue are unnatural and flat. I couldn’t make myself read much more than 40 pages. I kept wondering if it was translated even because it’s so awkward.
rufussnailhat's review
challenging
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
paige_georgia_reads's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
I enjoyed the worldbuilding as well as the idea behind the main character, but found the mystery a little dull.
10aya's review against another edition
I did not enjoy this book at all. The rampant misogyny that served zero purpose, the terribly written, female characters, the clunky exposition, and most of all I did not enjoy the glimpse of an alien world that is never explored. Had this not been for bookclub, I would have definitely not finished it.
jrandol7's review against another edition
1.0
The premise of the book drew me in: a human consciousness downloaded into a synthetic human. However, the writing style was so awful I only read 1/3 of the book before skipping to the end to see if the style cleared up. It did not.
The style reminds me of an extreme form of steampunk: the main character (whose head we are in) is far superior to the rest of the characters, but we cannot see his thought process. He manages to pick up all the clues (somehow) and then explains them rationally to the aggressor, who only starts crying as a response. I truly hated the style.
The style reminds me of an extreme form of steampunk: the main character (whose head we are in) is far superior to the rest of the characters, but we cannot see his thought process. He manages to pick up all the clues (somehow) and then explains them rationally to the aggressor, who only starts crying as a response. I truly hated the style.
teachinsci's review against another edition
4.0
A Borrowed Man is a sci-fi mystery book. The book is set in a future where the population of earth has reduced to about a billion. The sci-fi part comes in immediately with the narrator- a reclone of an early twenty-first century mystery author. A woman checks him out from the library, where he lives, seeking his help in solving a mystery surrounding the death of her father and brother... a mystery that the one of the reclone's novel may hold the secret to. There are other sci-fi elements like self driving and flying vehicles & robomaids and a further element that is an integral part of the mystery, though most of this sort could have occurred at any time.
The story was well done overall, but got a little confusing at points as the mystery is revealed. One thing that confused me was why the reclones would be full sized people (with all the attendant difficulties) while other genetic and behavioral could be made. One change that seemed somewhat for the author's convenience was that the reclone would think in a colloquial manner but speak in a formal way. At least that is what he (the reclone) said... oddly (since he was dictating the story supposedly) this did not show and was only occasionally mentioned.
I did like the resolution as it was much more believable than the MegaHappy ending some authors prefer. It was as satisfying an ending as one could desire.
All in all, given the characterizations and story, I would read other books by this author and am actually looking some up to purchase add future reads.
Full disclosure: I received an uncorrected proof copy of this book as a winner of a Goodreads First Read giveaway. No review was requested or required, but it seems appropriate.
The story was well done overall, but got a little confusing at points as the mystery is revealed. One thing that confused me was why the reclones would be full sized people (with all the attendant difficulties) while other genetic and behavioral could be made. One change that seemed somewhat for the author's convenience was that the reclone would think in a colloquial manner but speak in a formal way. At least that is what he (the reclone) said... oddly (since he was dictating the story supposedly) this did not show and was only occasionally mentioned.
I did like the resolution as it was much more believable than the MegaHappy ending some authors prefer. It was as satisfying an ending as one could desire.
All in all, given the characterizations and story, I would read other books by this author and am actually looking some up to purchase add future reads.
Full disclosure: I received an uncorrected proof copy of this book as a winner of a Goodreads First Read giveaway. No review was requested or required, but it seems appropriate.
ninjalawyer's review against another edition
2.0
Gene Wolfe is famous for books that are much more than they seem, that practically demand a second reading to understand beyond the surface.
That might be the case here, but I’ll never know. The apparent surface level of this book starts interesting but quickly becomes crushingly dull. Character act in bizarre ways, details like eye colour change and the world is an obvious dystopia, but none of those pieces fit into anything approaching a coherent picture, or entice a reader to put in the time to put together when the moment to moment story involves the main character learning how to drive a car, or characters chatting about lock mechanisms.
A quick Google didn’t reveal the secrets to this one, suggesting no one else has bothered to do a second read. Lots of speculation, but feels like an Emperor’s New Clothes situation. Sure there’s a second book, but I can’t even imagine anyone eating this dry oatmeal and coming back for a second serving.
I’ve put in the work for other Gene Wolfe books, but this…no. Just no.
That might be the case here, but I’ll never know. The apparent surface level of this book starts interesting but quickly becomes crushingly dull. Character act in bizarre ways, details like eye colour change and the world is an obvious dystopia, but none of those pieces fit into anything approaching a coherent picture, or entice a reader to put in the time to put together when the moment to moment story involves the main character learning how to drive a car, or characters chatting about lock mechanisms.
A quick Google didn’t reveal the secrets to this one, suggesting no one else has bothered to do a second read. Lots of speculation, but feels like an Emperor’s New Clothes situation. Sure there’s a second book, but I can’t even imagine anyone eating this dry oatmeal and coming back for a second serving.
I’ve put in the work for other Gene Wolfe books, but this…no. Just no.
emnii's review against another edition
3.0
A Borrowed Man deftly blends a futuristic setting with a noir style. Collette and Smithe are pursued from the start by unknown individuals who may have been involved in the Coldbrook family deaths, or may be trying to collect on her father's debts. Smithe isn't treated like a "full human" because he's a reclone, so the story has a lot of elements of "what makes a man?" blended in with the central mystery surrounding the Coldbrook family. Complicating the story, Smithe was recloned from a point before he wrote the novel Collette has in her possession, so he doesn't particularly know its significance either. When I started it, the story sank its hooks in deep.
But halfway through, it loses the plot. The story is told from the perspective of Smithe looking back at the events of the past, so when a significant character goes away, we (the readers) lose a valuable point of view. Without them, Smithe is almost robotic in his behavior. His programming takes over and he starts doing things that take us away from the mystery. It eventually gets back on track, but there's a strong feeling of lost momentum. The conclusion is satisfactory, but it has a lot of knots and a fair amount of handwaving.
I spent a lot of the second half of the book scratching my head. I couldn't tell where we were going or why. The strong start convinced me to see it through to the end, but it shouldn't have nearly lost me in the first place. It's a net positive, but barely.
But halfway through, it loses the plot. The story is told from the perspective of Smithe looking back at the events of the past, so when a significant character goes away, we (the readers) lose a valuable point of view. Without them, Smithe is almost robotic in his behavior. His programming takes over and he starts doing things that take us away from the mystery. It eventually gets back on track, but there's a strong feeling of lost momentum. The conclusion is satisfactory, but it has a lot of knots and a fair amount of handwaving.
I spent a lot of the second half of the book scratching my head. I couldn't tell where we were going or why. The strong start convinced me to see it through to the end, but it shouldn't have nearly lost me in the first place. It's a net positive, but barely.
shelvesofsecrets's review against another edition
2.0
The premise of this book really intrigued me. Can you imagine being able to actually check out clones of your favourite authors from the library and take them home with you for a few days?! I haven't decided if that is really cool or completely terrifying or both. Anyway, this idea was the reason I wanted to read this book and I did end up enjoying that aspect of the book. The rest, however, didn't work out for me.
Let's start with the good things. The premise. As I mentioned before, the premise drew me to this book and that aspect did not disappoint. I really enjoyed the moral aspect it brings to the story. You see, our main character is Ern Smithe and he is not considered fully human by law. That's because he is a clone of a famous author and has been imprinted with the memories of his original self. Because he is a reclone, he is not considered fully human (although biologically he is) and is the property of the library. Because he is property, he can be bought and sold and even destroyed if not enough people check him out from the library (a constant fear among reclones like Ern). Obviously most readers would have a huge moral issue with this form of slavery (although, as Ern points out, slaves can be freed and he cannot), but the author just state this as fact and mores on without dwelling on it, which I enjoyed because it lets the reader get worked up about the injustice on their own, without the author dwelling on the issue.
Unfortunately, the rest of the book was a bit of a mess for me. I just didn't enjoy the storyline. I felt like the author kept having things happen and introducing characters, then taking them away, without any actually bearing on the plot. I felt like the plot was set up well initially, then most of the middle was Ern just wandering around doing stuff, then at the end the author rushed to tie the plot back together again.
Another thing that bothered me was inconsistent explanations of things. The initial world building was not bad, but then Ern makes a huge discovery, but there is absolutely no description about how that came about. It's just this fantasical thing plunked down in the middle of a vaguely sci-fi novel with no explanation whatsoever, which I found really annoying. Even if it's not super technical, I want a why!
My third major complaint was the characters. I didn't like them. They all felt flat to me. Ern seemed very bland to me. Colette was kind of interesting because of what had happened to her family, but I certainly found her situation much more interesting than her character. Georges and Mahala were the most interesting character based on the bit of backstory we get, but they pretty much just show up, do whatever Ern tells them, then disappear. Arabella had potential I think, but her character was pretty much non-exiestent and I actually didn't think she contributed anything to the story at all. The bad guys had basically two or three chapters of page time and weren't fleshed out much at all.
This book, despite it's amazing premise and moral issues, turned out to be a disappointment. The characters and plotline were both lacking, which dragged the book way down for me.
Let's start with the good things. The premise. As I mentioned before, the premise drew me to this book and that aspect did not disappoint. I really enjoyed the moral aspect it brings to the story. You see, our main character is Ern Smithe and he is not considered fully human by law. That's because he is a clone of a famous author and has been imprinted with the memories of his original self. Because he is a reclone, he is not considered fully human (although biologically he is) and is the property of the library. Because he is property, he can be bought and sold and even destroyed if not enough people check him out from the library (a constant fear among reclones like Ern). Obviously most readers would have a huge moral issue with this form of slavery (although, as Ern points out, slaves can be freed and he cannot), but the author just state this as fact and mores on without dwelling on it, which I enjoyed because it lets the reader get worked up about the injustice on their own, without the author dwelling on the issue.
Unfortunately, the rest of the book was a bit of a mess for me. I just didn't enjoy the storyline. I felt like the author kept having things happen and introducing characters, then taking them away, without any actually bearing on the plot. I felt like the plot was set up well initially, then most of the middle was Ern just wandering around doing stuff, then at the end the author rushed to tie the plot back together again.
Another thing that bothered me was inconsistent explanations of things. The initial world building was not bad, but then Ern makes a huge discovery, but there is absolutely no description about how that came about. It's just this fantasical thing plunked down in the middle of a vaguely sci-fi novel with no explanation whatsoever, which I found really annoying. Even if it's not super technical, I want a why!
My third major complaint was the characters. I didn't like them. They all felt flat to me. Ern seemed very bland to me. Colette was kind of interesting because of what had happened to her family, but I certainly found her situation much more interesting than her character. Georges and Mahala were the most interesting character based on the bit of backstory we get, but they pretty much just show up, do whatever Ern tells them, then disappear. Arabella had potential I think, but her character was pretty much non-exiestent and I actually didn't think she contributed anything to the story at all. The bad guys had basically two or three chapters of page time and weren't fleshed out much at all.
This book, despite it's amazing premise and moral issues, turned out to be a disappointment. The characters and plotline were both lacking, which dragged the book way down for me.
mwideman's review
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? N/A
2.5