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adrianhannah's review against another edition
3.0
The story is interesting but the authors writing style makes it hard to process and digest.
yellowpecorah's review against another edition
3.0
(Letto in italiano)
Penso che il voto appropriato siano 3,5 stelle. Non è un capolavoro ma è un libro comunque piacevole.
Nota dolente, penso ci siano evidenti problemi di traduzione che, a quanto pare, sono stati riscontrati anche nella versione inglese.
In caso vi piacciano le tamarrate, ne è stato tratto il film Babylon A.D. con Vin Diesel nei panni di Toorop.
Penso che il voto appropriato siano 3,5 stelle. Non è un capolavoro ma è un libro comunque piacevole.
Nota dolente, penso ci siano evidenti problemi di traduzione che, a quanto pare, sono stati riscontrati anche nella versione inglese.
In caso vi piacciano le tamarrate, ne è stato tratto il film Babylon A.D. con Vin Diesel nei panni di Toorop.
mburnamfink's review against another edition
2.0
This is a novel with ambition, but underneath the gloss, I'm doubt there's anything there. Babylon Babies riffs on the usual cyberpunk tropes, mercenaries, mobsters, New Age cults, hackers and shamans, and it tries to transcend the genre by bringing in a bunch of abstruse theory, Deleuze and Guttari, Donna Harraway, Sun Tzu and Liddell Hart.
Instead of deepening the story, the philosophy about schizophrenia and the next evolutionary stage of mankind just overwhelms what could have been a tight, noirish cyberpunk thriller. In the incredibly fractured setting and plot, the inevitable betrayals and triple-crosses happen because they we all agree they're supposed to. Psyches break and go mad because the plot demands it, not because the characters have been pushed beyond their limits.
This novel consciously follows in the footsteps of Neuromancer. But while the novelty of its ideas at the time and the stark evocative force of Gibson's langauge made Neuromancer an instant classic, Babylon Babies just feels trite and forced.
Instead of deepening the story, the philosophy about schizophrenia and the next evolutionary stage of mankind just overwhelms what could have been a tight, noirish cyberpunk thriller. In the incredibly fractured setting and plot, the inevitable betrayals and triple-crosses happen because they we all agree they're supposed to. Psyches break and go mad because the plot demands it, not because the characters have been pushed beyond their limits.
This novel consciously follows in the footsteps of Neuromancer. But while the novelty of its ideas at the time and the stark evocative force of Gibson's langauge made Neuromancer an instant classic, Babylon Babies just feels trite and forced.
agirlushouldknow's review
3.0
I liked the movie Babylon AD(well up until the last 15 minutes) and so I picked up the book. I liked the book a whole lot more, while the story is similar, the book of course is much deeper. The cast is larger and it doesn't have the "WTF where did the kids come from" moment.
I would have rated it higher, unfortunately though some of the descriptions were awful. I think it was a combination translation from the original French novel, and what I interpret as an artificial effort by the author to try and sound more knowledgeable or highbrow, or perhaps the concepts themselves don't transfer directly between the languages as well as Dantec hoped.
Whatever the reason, it is a good, truly cyperpunk book, as long as you can get past some of the descriptions.
I would have rated it higher, unfortunately though some of the descriptions were awful. I think it was a combination translation from the original French novel, and what I interpret as an artificial effort by the author to try and sound more knowledgeable or highbrow, or perhaps the concepts themselves don't transfer directly between the languages as well as Dantec hoped.
Whatever the reason, it is a good, truly cyperpunk book, as long as you can get past some of the descriptions.
editor_b's review
I got about a quarter of the way through Babylon Babies before giving up. The first chapter was a brutally boring account of one man's love affair with his AK-47, but I slogged through it. I waded through faux hardboiled lines like:
and
I don't mind the f-bombs, but this just seems poorly written. Still I slogged on. Here’s the passage that did me in:
I think the protagonist, Toorop, is falling in love with the other main character, Marie. But I’m not really sure, because I gave up shortly thereafter.
The author’s name is Maurice Dantec. I have to wonder if something got lost in translation. I gather he's big in France. This book has been made into a movie called Bablylon A.D. which I will studiously avoid.
It was fucking hot.
and
Romanenko scanned his screen with fucking intensity...
I don't mind the f-bombs, but this just seems poorly written. Still I slogged on. Here’s the passage that did me in:
She was pretty. Her color was coming back. A mysterious glow played in the blue of her stare.
Toorop felt a kind of bulldozer turn on in a deeply buried excavation.
Something knotted at the base of his stomach.
Now is not the time, a warning light displayed on the dashboard of his consciousness.
Get this shit into program self-destruct right away, another voice screamed.
Imminent threat of sentimentalism, the alarm siren wailed.
He stared at the young woman with a strange smile…
I think the protagonist, Toorop, is falling in love with the other main character, Marie. But I’m not really sure, because I gave up shortly thereafter.
The author’s name is Maurice Dantec. I have to wonder if something got lost in translation. I gather he's big in France. This book has been made into a movie called Bablylon A.D. which I will studiously avoid.
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