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eccles's review against another edition
3.75
A funny little 1960’s intellectual satire in a sort of Swifitan mode, in which our bemused but largely unflappable ordinary-man hero jolts through outlandish interglactic, intertemporal, inter-timeline-ian scenarios, each teaching him some new way of looking at things. It’s less a social satire, although it goes that way in a couple of episodes towards the end, more an amused inspection of Ideas, in which Ethics and Science and Religion and History are all turned upside down or inside out, and we soon find ourselves in cosmologically absurdist narrative with nowhere else to go. A little like all those Monty Python sketches that they couldn’t end, this madcap intellectual romp rather peters out 120 pages in. It’s clear that many ideas in here were fodder for Douglas Adams, who managed to meld this zany content with some more workmanlike narrative structure, turning Carmody into Dent Arthur Dent, but there’s still much to enjoy in this original, energetic, mind-bending novella.
tome15's review against another edition
4.0
Before Terry Pratchett and Douglas Adams, there was Robert Sheckley. As I read “Dimension of Miracles,” I kept thinking that Carmody really needed his bath towel and a little of Rincewind’s creative cowardice. Sheckley was well known in science fiction circles, but he never had the high culture profile of Pratchett or Adams. His wit has more bite than theirs though his style is not as polished. He is well worth a read, and “Dimension” is a good place to start.
atosha's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
3.5
kmccubbin's review against another edition
4.0
Are you looking for the great lost Douglas Adams book? This is it. Sheckley out Hitchhikers Hitchiker in many ways, decades earlier.
afrownlikealice's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.25
viorvix's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
reflective
fast-paced
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
leilania's review against another edition
adventurous
fast-paced
4.0
Great satire of a variety of topics including bureaucracy, gods/religion, science, and consumerism. I liked the ending as well.
diarmuidc's review against another edition
adventurous
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
tense
fast-paced
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
tiedyedude's review against another edition
5.0
A wonderful sci-fi novel, reintroduced to the world by Neil Gaiman, and superbly brought to life by John Hodgman. I share in Hodgman and Gaiman's surprise that Sheckley and Douglas Adams never crossed paths, because the similarities are uncanny. A human is unexpectedly transported from Earth to a quirky journey through the universe. I am certainly interested in exploring Sheckley's work further, as well as other Gaiman Presents titles!
gdhansen's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting precursor to Douglas Adams, and Hodgman does an excellent job with the narration, especially considering that this is a very talky book. It's funny and smart and enjoyable on a lot of levels, but for a book about a guy who wins the galactic lottery, gets zapped out into the universe and then has to find his way back home, there's really not a lot of action.