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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
dark
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
Dick is such a vibes writer and I love that about his books.
adventurous
dark
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
the initial worldbuilding was really strong, especially when diving into the psyches of characters like childan (where he's really not all that different from an average american with his prejudices and insecurities, even though the axis won world war 2 instead). the way dick wrote the thought processes of people living in japanese-occupied america was also very meta - short, clipped, "ungrammatical" sentences that evoked the japanese language and japanese thinking, which i appreciated a lot.
but all this worldbuilding gets thrown out the window at the very end, when juliana frink goes on a pilgrimage, first as a fling with ex-soldier joe, and then in an almost-fever dream way to meet the author of the in-universe alternate history book "the grasshopper lies heavy". this part was a lot weaker, and made for a disappointing ending, at least for me.
but all this worldbuilding gets thrown out the window at the very end, when juliana frink goes on a pilgrimage, first as a fling with ex-soldier joe, and then in an almost-fever dream way to meet the author of the in-universe alternate history book "the grasshopper lies heavy". this part was a lot weaker, and made for a disappointing ending, at least for me.
dark
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Fucksake, Philip
Okay, I get it now.Is the world actually a better place thanks to the Allies (particularly the US) winning the war, or is it actually MORE authoritarian and nefarious than the unfathomable evil of a Nazi + Japanese takeover
Okay, I get it now.
I can't believe I've finally finished it. Great idea, terrible narrative.
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Did not enjoy. Characters felt under developed so whatever happened (which I'm not sure what even did happen) to them I didn't overly care.