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2.84 AVERAGE
2.84 AVERAGE
adventurous
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
An interesting idea, but I didn't really get what it meant when it said they hadn't really gone back in time, but it was more of a sort of astral projection. But they didn't seem to be leaving their bodies behind in the "present day".
Goes a bit batshit after the final reveal thathumans up until the 22nd century have been living "backward" in time and they're actually on the brink of discovering this true fact about themselves . It's easy to read, and it'd be 3 or 4 stars, but I took off some stars for homophobia. There's nothing more offputting than getting about a quarter of the way through a book before finding the main character indignantly spitting that he's not one of them damn queers! or something like that. No thanks. I considered just dropping the book there and then. But I guess I was in a charitable mood. Some other commenters have mentioned the book's deplorable attitude to women - I think after I'd clocked the homophobia it didn't come as any surprise.
Goes a bit batshit after the final reveal that
Decent enough - though the end felt very thrown together, and stops abruptly, in my opinion. Beautiful prose, though. Enjoyed the theory concerning time that is offered, but wish it had been fleshed out a bit more.
After reflection, I came back here to revise the rating from 3 down to 2.
The "scientific" conceit revealed at the end is ridiculous and doesn't make any sense, but that shouldn't be a big deal because this is a "New Wave" book and the point is supposed to be the characterization and psychology and so on. But the psychology is also pretty bad.
To wit: the protagonist is supposed to have a uniquely "broken psyche", giving him mind traveling abilities exceeding anyone else's, and it all stems from an event when his mom made him play outside one day when he was six.
The "scientific" conceit revealed at the end is ridiculous and doesn't make any sense, but that shouldn't be a big deal because this is a "New Wave" book and the point is supposed to be the characterization and psychology and so on. But the psychology is also pretty bad.
To wit: the protagonist is supposed to have a uniquely "broken psyche", giving him mind traveling abilities exceeding anyone else's, and it all stems from an event when his mom made him play outside one day when he was six.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
adventurous
challenging
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
First 3/4 were definitely enjoyable and I loved the concept, the final 1/4...ohh boy. Definitely one to try and get your head around, and I'm not entirely sure that I even managed that myself.
https://nwhyte.livejournal.com/3762027.html
Cryptozoic! aka An Age shows more of Aldiss's greatness as a writer than The Primal Urge, but doesn't quite come together as a novel. A couple of hundred years from now (in a setting which nonetheless feels like England in 1967), people have developed the technology of mental time-travel by use of a drug (called CSD, totally different from LSD of course). Our protagonist returns from an extended mental time trip to find that a fascist government has taken over, and he is sent on a meandering quest to eliminate a fellow time-traveller who is a threat to the government. It's the sort of story that Moorcock and Ballard were doing just that bit better at the time, but there are some Aldissian twists to it all the same (notably the protagonist's relationship with his father and his lover).
Cryptozoic! aka An Age shows more of Aldiss's greatness as a writer than The Primal Urge, but doesn't quite come together as a novel. A couple of hundred years from now (in a setting which nonetheless feels like England in 1967), people have developed the technology of mental time-travel by use of a drug (called CSD, totally different from LSD of course). Our protagonist returns from an extended mental time trip to find that a fascist government has taken over, and he is sent on a meandering quest to eliminate a fellow time-traveller who is a threat to the government. It's the sort of story that Moorcock and Ballard were doing just that bit better at the time, but there are some Aldissian twists to it all the same (notably the protagonist's relationship with his father and his lover).
reflective
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Fascinating ideas, great discriptions of both past and future, but insufferable characters.
Despite some frustration, I couldnt put it down. There is a lot in this tiny book, still I'm not sure I could endure Ed and Ann's encounters again.
Despite some frustration, I couldnt put it down. There is a lot in this tiny book, still I'm not sure I could endure Ed and Ann's encounters again.
Very disappointing. It starts with an interesting idea that with the aid of drugs an individual is able to mind travel through time. Inconsistent with so many plot holes. For example if you want to assassinate some one who has mind travelled why do you have to mind travel back in time to do it? Find them in your present, in this case 2093 and do it whilst they are in their drugged state.
I didn't care about any of the characters and I was sick of them for ever banging on about how time can flow in more than one direction. How you die and move back into the womb etc. The book does touch on the big crunch theory, however this isn't enough to save a boring book.
I didn't care about any of the characters and I was sick of them for ever banging on about how time can flow in more than one direction. How you die and move back into the womb etc. The book does touch on the big crunch theory, however this isn't enough to save a boring book.