Scan barcode
josephmoore's review against another edition
challenging
mysterious
reflective
slow-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
3.0
elletivo's review
4.0
The style of this book is so odd. Love the story, fascinating conceptually - but it reads a lot like Hamlet and that wasn’t what I was expecting.
That being said - I cheated and watched the show first so I guess my opinion is moot.
That being said - I cheated and watched the show first so I guess my opinion is moot.
the_unsocial_moth's review
4.0
I know I should not judge a book by my expectation based on the premise, so I shall endeavor to put those thoughts out of my mind and this review. Overall, the world building and alternate-history facts were the most compelling parts of this novel. The characters were intriguing, yet I did not find myself rooting for or heavily invested in them. The ending was a tad confusing, but ingenious after careful consideration (and yes, I may have Googled it to be sure). The most irritating part of this book was the short, clipped writing style, specifically in the dialogue. I can imagine many reasons the author chose to write this way, but it nevertheless is bothersome. I would like to rate this 3.5/5 stars, but that is not an option on here so for classic literary value and its surprising take on things, I will leave the 4/5 as my rating.
yanice97's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-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
3.75
dokterb's review
dark
reflective
medium-paced
3.75
Funky idea, okay plot (feels like it could have had a bit more depth), writing style not my absolute fave compared to other work by Dick.
djla2009's review
4.0
I really enjoyed Dick's writing. This is the second book of his I've read, the other was Androids Dream. He has a unique feel to his writing that seems very natural. The book has moments where Japanese people who have been speaking English for years talk and you can see that they are not native English speakers without use of cliche broken English. He does more interesting similar stuff with the dialogue but I feel like it's better to just read it.
Having read Androids Dream did help my expectations a bit. Don't expect a conclusive, all loose ends tied up ending. It'll feel like the book is ending in the middle of the story but Androids Dream was also like that so I figured that there was a lot of stuff that wouldn't wrap up. But it's okay, the themes still sticks with you even if you can't remember the plot.
I felt like this book was overall an average book, I wasn't super enthusiastic about what the author was doing until I got to chapter 14. That's when the book came together for me and I really connected with it.
Spoilers for that chapter and one of the characters: there is a character that is presented in the book as a decently important, powerful person in society. He has it all together, but in ch 14 he's forced to kill 2 men in order to protect himself and 2 others. This devistates him. He's questioning everything now. He is sold a token that the seller says has something special about it. So he spends his morning trying to understand what that is. He tries to force a sort of religious experience. He wants the token to speak to him, make life make sense but it doesn't. Then it does. It's fascinating. Mostly because I've been there. I want something meaningful to happen. I have fixated on an object and I know there's something special about it, but I don't know what. It felt like a secret human experience that I've never shared with anyone had been described back to me. "I'm not the only one" kind of experience.
A fun book.
Having read Androids Dream did help my expectations a bit. Don't expect a conclusive, all loose ends tied up ending. It'll feel like the book is ending in the middle of the story but Androids Dream was also like that so I figured that there was a lot of stuff that wouldn't wrap up. But it's okay, the themes still sticks with you even if you can't remember the plot.
I felt like this book was overall an average book, I wasn't super enthusiastic about what the author was doing until I got to chapter 14. That's when the book came together for me and I really connected with it.
Spoilers for that chapter and one of the characters: there is a character that is presented in the book as a decently important, powerful person in society. He has it all together, but in ch 14 he's forced to kill 2 men in order to protect himself and 2 others. This devistates him. He's questioning everything now. He is sold a token that the seller says has something special about it. So he spends his morning trying to understand what that is. He tries to force a sort of religious experience. He wants the token to speak to him, make life make sense but it doesn't. Then it does. It's fascinating. Mostly because I've been there. I want something meaningful to happen. I have fixated on an object and I know there's something special about it, but I don't know what. It felt like a secret human experience that I've never shared with anyone had been described back to me. "I'm not the only one" kind of experience.
A fun book.
i1ya's review
adventurous
dark
hopeful
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5