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jemppu's review against another edition
5.0
Random quick read from couple years ago, whose ghost has been left hovering about, every so often reminding me of itself - like right now again; a book, which I recall with fondness and an oddly ominous attachment. But, which I have to keep looking up every time, to remember it's name.
After being prompted to engage solely by the intriguing title (ironically), this turned out to be a wonderfully human telling of tiny circumstances leading up to, and following the immediate aftermath of, a large scale event.
I recall the narration being quite pop culture alluding / nostalgia fueled. Especially serendipitous turned out to be the importance which Rama played in the narrative; book, which I had read just recently for the first time. Also, one of my personal all time favorite SF movies gets a rare shout out (as reveal my reading updates).
Movies not referenced, but which were felt throughout in the tension, the general manner, and/or the milieu of this: Stand By Me (1986), Unbreakable (2000), and Ex Machina (2014).
This review was written now to finally appease the lingering ghost of the book. I've already clearly been affected by you (despite having no regard for any possible state of your literary potency) and will from now on remember your name, too.
After being prompted to engage solely by the intriguing title (ironically), this turned out to be a wonderfully human telling of tiny circumstances leading up to, and following the immediate aftermath of, a large scale event.
I recall the narration being quite pop culture alluding / nostalgia fueled. Especially serendipitous turned out to be the importance which Rama played in the narrative; book, which I had read just recently for the first time. Also, one of my personal all time favorite SF movies gets a rare shout out (as reveal my reading updates).
Movies not referenced, but which were felt throughout in the tension, the general manner, and/or the milieu of this: Stand By Me (1986), Unbreakable (2000), and Ex Machina (2014).
This review was written now to finally appease the lingering ghost of the book. I've already clearly been affected by you (despite having no regard for any possible state of your literary potency) and will from now on remember your name, too.
danperlman's review
4.0
Without wanting to give away the plot it makes it hard to discuss this book in much detail. Suffice it to say that I thought it was a really interesting premise, and well developed, if, at moments, a bit unbelievable - but then, that's a part of much of SF, no? It's quite well written as well. I only have two real criticisms - first, that the antagonist character's motivation for what he does isn't particularly developed - it's stated as if it's a matter of fact outcome of his life experience, with no details of that provided, and certainly not an absolutely certain or logical outcome from what little is presented; and second, the ending, the last chapter, was just a bit too predictable, almost as if the author had said, okay, I've told the story I want to tell, let me just wrap this up in some way that doesn't take much thought.
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