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birdmanseven's review
3.0
This book manages an interesting blend of sci-fi with a folklore vibe. Interesting read.
For my interview with the author listen in here:
https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/alex-irvine-talks-baseball-space-and-the-anthropocene-rag
For my interview with the author listen in here:
https://soundcloud.com/allthebooks/alex-irvine-talks-baseball-space-and-the-anthropocene-rag
citronella_seance's review against another edition
4.0
A Review of Anthropocene Rag by Alex Irvine
⭐⭐⭐⭐
This novella is described, right on the cover, as being part Willy Wonka and part Huckleberry Finn, and let me say, that description is exceedingly accurate. It’s a description that, at face value, I feel like I should enjoy, but ultimately this sci-fi dystopian novella about magical realism and robots left me wanting more.
About 90% of the novella follows six people from across America as they make their way to a city in the Rockies that has become more myth than reality, Monument City. Making their way across the country, however, proves to be a little less than normal given that billions upon billions of nanotech-like robots have taken over America and mold the land and the people to whatever story or Americana lore it wishes to see. This is where the intersection of sci-fi and magical realism starts to come into play. Honestly, I loved these parts of the novella. One character describes how “The Boom”, the technology that rules the land, turned thousands of people into a baseball stadium just to watch a historic game played out on it.
This take on our already waning bodily autonomy as we enter into the late stages of capitalism was a very interesting facet of the story and I was intrigued by all of the characters, especially Geck and Teeny. Geck is especially interesting to this ever-present technology because he’s a twin. Like the billions of nanos that make up The Boom, Geck and his twin, Kyle, are coded exactly the same but yet still turned out to be two different people with two different personalities.
I found each character’s journey to Monument City to be fascinating, including Prospector Ed, the robot or “construct” that was assigned to find these six characters and bring them to Monument City. I wanted to know more about The Boom and the kind of world America is now and what Monument City really is. I know the nature of a novella means I won’t get all the answers and should figure some out for myself, but I felt like the plot could have been structured with just a little bit more emphasis on the arrival to Monument City.
Overall I really enjoyed this story and loved the combination of magical realism with science fiction. I also loved the message about American culture and history that Alex Irvine was trying to get across, I just wish there was more of it!
⭐⭐⭐⭐
This novella is described, right on the cover, as being part Willy Wonka and part Huckleberry Finn, and let me say, that description is exceedingly accurate. It’s a description that, at face value, I feel like I should enjoy, but ultimately this sci-fi dystopian novella about magical realism and robots left me wanting more.
About 90% of the novella follows six people from across America as they make their way to a city in the Rockies that has become more myth than reality, Monument City. Making their way across the country, however, proves to be a little less than normal given that billions upon billions of nanotech-like robots have taken over America and mold the land and the people to whatever story or Americana lore it wishes to see. This is where the intersection of sci-fi and magical realism starts to come into play. Honestly, I loved these parts of the novella. One character describes how “The Boom”, the technology that rules the land, turned thousands of people into a baseball stadium just to watch a historic game played out on it.
This take on our already waning bodily autonomy as we enter into the late stages of capitalism was a very interesting facet of the story and I was intrigued by all of the characters, especially Geck and Teeny. Geck is especially interesting to this ever-present technology because he’s a twin. Like the billions of nanos that make up The Boom, Geck and his twin, Kyle, are coded exactly the same but yet still turned out to be two different people with two different personalities.
I found each character’s journey to Monument City to be fascinating, including Prospector Ed, the robot or “construct” that was assigned to find these six characters and bring them to Monument City. I wanted to know more about The Boom and the kind of world America is now and what Monument City really is. I know the nature of a novella means I won’t get all the answers and should figure some out for myself, but I felt like the plot could have been structured with just a little bit more emphasis on the arrival to Monument City.
Overall I really enjoyed this story and loved the combination of magical realism with science fiction. I also loved the message about American culture and history that Alex Irvine was trying to get across, I just wish there was more of it!
onetrooluff's review
1.0
Ugggggggh. The premise of this was interesting and fits in with that surreal category dominated by Jeff Vandermeer... most similar to Borne. Lots of humans trying to live among bizarre, surreal "constructs" created by a tech no one understands. The characters in this book did nothing for me and the end is one of those "eff you, I'm not giving you any actual resolution" type endings, which I detest. I wish I could get back the $4 and few hours of my time that I spent on this book.
Merged review:
Ugggggggh. The premise of this was interesting and fits in with that surreal category dominated by Jeff Vandermeer... most similar to Borne. Lots of humans trying to live among bizarre, surreal "constructs" created by a tech no one understands. The characters in this book did nothing for me and the end is one of those "eff you, I'm not giving you any actual resolution" type endings, which I detest. I wish I could get back the $4 and few hours of my time that I spent on this book.
Merged review:
Ugggggggh. The premise of this was interesting and fits in with that surreal category dominated by Jeff Vandermeer... most similar to Borne. Lots of humans trying to live among bizarre, surreal "constructs" created by a tech no one understands. The characters in this book did nothing for me and the end is one of those "eff you, I'm not giving you any actual resolution" type endings, which I detest. I wish I could get back the $4 and few hours of my time that I spent on this book.
yeehaw_agenda's review against another edition
2.0
Potential spoilers but also I wouldn't recommend reading the book
emilyrandolph_epstein's review against another edition
4.0
By far one of the weirder books I've read lately and I mean that in the most complimentary way.
branch_c's review
2.0
Eh. Although Irvine's A Scattering of Jades remains one of my favorite books, I have to resign myself to the fact that the style of that book is not typical for him. He's clearly more interested in the experimental and the surreal, and this book has plenty of that. There's the literary and historical allusions, the poetic language, the evocative imagery, and even some thoughtful concepts, but the story, such as it is, is not much more than a roughly sketched background and a skeleton of a plot. Reminds me a bit of Zelazny, whose stuff has been hit (Lord of Light) or miss (most everything else) for me, with a hint of P. K. Dick, who even gets a tangential reference in the story.
The idea of the post-Boom (singularity?) country and a set of travelers chosen by the whim of artificial intelligence(s) is interesting, as far as it goes, but for me, it doesn't go far enough.
The idea of the post-Boom (singularity?) country and a set of travelers chosen by the whim of artificial intelligence(s) is interesting, as far as it goes, but for me, it doesn't go far enough.
gigitru's review
2.0
I'm not exactly sure what to say about this book. It's a jumble of classic stories, legends, myths, fairytales, etc that I couldn't make much sense of and basically ended with the questioning of the meaning of life and "god". I didn't feel there was any original storytelling or anything of much interest beyond those elements taken from other tales.
tacanderson's review against another edition
3.0
Enjoyable. Wizard of Oz meets Willy Wonka meets William Gibson via China Miéville. Reads like a long short story rather than a novella with more focus on the concept than the characters.
diken's review
4.0
Did we not show you the reverence due a creator? We made ourselves not in your image but in the image of your stories.
This new (? Or new to me) subgenre of nihilistic American dystopias (cf. The Mandibles) is really fascinating. This is the kritik of the US I want to read forever: insightful, cutting, and beautiful.
This new (? Or new to me) subgenre of nihilistic American dystopias (cf. The Mandibles) is really fascinating. This is the kritik of the US I want to read forever: insightful, cutting, and beautiful.
nameofperson's review
lighthearted
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.0