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lonelyasfranz's review against another edition
3.0
The plot was very detailed and intricate, but the mirage explanation was anticlimactic and did not fit in with the sudden surprise and nuanced developments. The ending of the mirage itself before the "truth" was revealed, however, was well-crafted. It was where the themes and quandaries lived and died.
jbliv's review against another edition
5.0
Utterly engrossing, phenomenal alternate history. Highly recommended.
meganlouise815's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
mysterious
reflective
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
duparker's review against another edition
4.0
this was a really enjoyable book. The plot was interesting, with enough recognizable people and events to absorb you, but enough Nuance and difference to be fun and interesting. The writing is crisp and the use on wikipedia style entries to explain background information was innovative. All told I liked this reverse 9/11 book a lot.
sstachelhaus's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
literarylover37's review against another edition
5.0
Another win from Matt Ruff. While I didn't necessarily agree with everything in the book I felt like he successfully developed his alternate universe and flipped the world quite well. It was both entertaining and thought provoking. I also appreciated the ending. Despite the fact that it bothered other readers, I think it was a very fitting way to wrap up such a fantastical book.
shesagift's review against another edition
4.0
While I got off to a pretty slow start with this one, it really picked up steam once I began to "get" the alternate reality of the world Ruff created. At first it was hard to keep names/places/etc straight, because I'm so used to the world that we actually live in. But once I got it figured out, I all but flew through the rest of the book. Ruff is unceasingly creative through the whole thing, and I love the way he tied together alternate history along with real history and Arab folklore. Without doing so in too in-your-face a manner, Ruff manages to bring to light many questions about terrorism, religion, diplomacy, international relations, and plenty of other controversial and complex ideas that affect us every day in this world.
Though I know this book won't be for everyone -- you've got to be pretty open minded and fairly familiar with the people mentioned so you can appreciate the subversion of the real history -- I really, really enjoyed it, and highly recommend it!
Though I know this book won't be for everyone -- you've got to be pretty open minded and fairly familiar with the people mentioned so you can appreciate the subversion of the real history -- I really, really enjoyed it, and highly recommend it!
scheu's review against another edition
4.0
An enjoyable alternate history novel with an interesting premise (9/11 and its subsequent events, with American and Iraqi roles reversed). In the hands of someone like Harry Turtledove, this would have been a pretty terrible book. In Ruff's hands, however, it is surprising and a bit thought-provoking as well. I liked it much more than his previous book, Bad Monkeys. Actually, come to think of it, I enjoyed it more than any other AH book I've read in the past few years!
chilexi's review against another edition
3.0
Interesting premise, flip history but the characters' cores remain the same. I liked the book, but not nearly as much as some of the others from this author.