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4.07 AVERAGE
4.07 AVERAGE
Just couldn't bring myself to keep reading this, even though I was about 2/3 through. Didn't grab my attention and I kept losing track of who was who.
This is almost a 5 but the initial Jeamland part frustrated me a little as I didn't know what was going on or why and it seemed to drag a little. BUT this was still really very good. I'm not entirely sure I actually know what on earth happened by the end, but I loved all the ideas in the story, very well imagined and good characters.
Love this quote from the end:
"Everything you've done, everything you've seen, everything you've become, remains. You never can go back, only forward, and if you don't bring the whole of yourself with you, you'll never see the sun again."
Love this quote from the end:
"Everything you've done, everything you've seen, everything you've become, remains. You never can go back, only forward, and if you don't bring the whole of yourself with you, you'll never see the sun again."
Wow. Ok. That was unexpected, for a number of reasons. Let me start with the easiest, most personal one - I try to reserve my "eyeball" reading time for books that either I can't get in audio format, or for short story collections, as I sometimes like to juggle multiple short story books simultaneously, and that's much easier with my eyes. For some reason, I'd tagged this book as a short story collection. Since it doesn't appear to have ever been produced in audiobook format, and is highly rated by goodreads' users, I finally pulled it off of my to-read shelf after 2 1/2 years.
Right off the bat, I determine that it's not a short story collection, but I decide to stick with it. That was my first, personal "unexpected" - a simple miscategorization on my part.
Since I'd somehow mis-tagged it as a SS, then the follow up to that was that I didn't read the description, and I didn't read that it had received a Philip K. Dick award.
I like PKD, especially his books that deal with unreliable realities. So it didn't take long for this book to really CLICK with me. At one point, the main character has a discussion with the walls of his neighborhood about the color of his pants. I immediately mentally tagged this one as WEIRD.
And it continued from there. Weird. Witty. Thrilling. Mind-bending. Touching. Surprising. Unexpected.
I'll be thinking about this one for a while.
Right off the bat, I determine that it's not a short story collection, but I decide to stick with it. That was my first, personal "unexpected" - a simple miscategorization on my part.
Since I'd somehow mis-tagged it as a SS, then the follow up to that was that I didn't read the description, and I didn't read that it had received a Philip K. Dick award.
I like PKD, especially his books that deal with unreliable realities. So it didn't take long for this book to really CLICK with me. At one point, the main character has a discussion with the walls of his neighborhood about the color of his pants. I immediately mentally tagged this one as WEIRD.
And it continued from there. Weird. Witty. Thrilling. Mind-bending. Touching. Surprising. Unexpected.
I'll be thinking about this one for a while.
I don't usually read sci-fi, as I'm not fond of the genre overall. As an old fogey I usually have trouble understanding the alternate worlds frequently portrayed in this type of book. If I feel the need to read something different, I'll usually go with fantasy. But I'll admit this book has a little bit of everything, and is very well written. It was imaginative and a bit bizarre while remaining accessible and understandable. The pace was constant, and the book didn't drag anywhere. For anyone who likes accessible sci-fi, I would recommend this book.
A debut (?) novel about a man who is just trying to do his job (fixing problems) the best way he can. Part humorous with huge chunks of whoa! (psychological) it's a different book than his later efforts - all fantastic and unsettling, in a good way.
Definitely an author for those who like books that pry your brain open and stories with bomb-like reveals.
Definitely an author for those who like books that pry your brain open and stories with bomb-like reveals.
adventurous
dark
funny
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I didn't know what to expect picking this up but I ended up really enjoying this book. If you're at all interested and have heard good things about it I recommend jumping in with as little knowledge as possible. That's what I did, and it was truly an experience.
The first half was definitely my type of humor so I was giggling to myself with the parody bits and britishisms throughout. The writing was stellar. The author is able to put such distinct feelings and thoughts into succinct little tidbits that feel special and poignant. The protagonist has a lot of emotional intelligence yet a detached voice so reading his first person musings on everything under the sun was great fun.
It's pretty complicated genre wise. It's surprisingly emotional and in touch with the human condition for science fiction. It's a private eye futuristic sci-fi mystery for the first half, then it dives deep into a magical realism, psychological horror adventure type landscape with LOTS of unexpected developments along the way, because you can't predict what's about to happen if you don't know what's possible. The twists and my fascination with the world kept me hooked and I enjoyed the ending.
TLDR; it's like "The City and The City" by China Mieville, but with a snarky funny protagonist that has many human emotions. Highly recommend.
The first half was definitely my type of humor so I was giggling to myself with the parody bits and britishisms throughout. The writing was stellar. The author is able to put such distinct feelings and thoughts into succinct little tidbits that feel special and poignant. The protagonist has a lot of emotional intelligence yet a detached voice so reading his first person musings on everything under the sun was great fun.
It's pretty complicated genre wise. It's surprisingly emotional and in touch with the human condition for science fiction. It's a private eye futuristic sci-fi mystery for the first half, then it dives deep into a magical realism, psychological horror adventure type landscape with LOTS of unexpected developments along the way, because you can't predict what's about to happen if you don't know what's possible. The twists and my fascination with the world kept me hooked and I enjoyed the ending.
TLDR; it's like "The City and The City" by China Mieville, but with a snarky funny protagonist that has many human emotions. Highly recommend.
VERDICT: 1.9 stars, mostly for premise/concept.
A fantasy with a purposely unreliable narrator at the helm. No science here. Tries too hard to impress, instead of getting to the point.
Succeeds conceptually as an imaginative and slightly weird tale, but the execution was painful and incredibly slow. The narrator stops mid-explanation countless times ("Ha! maybe I'll tell you later, but maybe not!" [paraphrased]), and almost always for NO logical reason. Don't expect even partial answers until the last 15%.
Is the payoff/ending worth it? Opinions will vary.
Note: A few obvious editing errors in the eBook version I had. May have been corrected in newer versions.
A fantasy with a purposely unreliable narrator at the helm. No science here. Tries too hard to impress, instead of getting to the point.
Succeeds conceptually as an imaginative and slightly weird tale, but the execution was painful and incredibly slow. The narrator stops mid-explanation countless times ("Ha! maybe I'll tell you later, but maybe not!" [paraphrased]), and almost always for NO logical reason. Don't expect even partial answers until the last 15%.
Is the payoff/ending worth it? Opinions will vary.
Note: A few obvious editing errors in the eBook version I had. May have been corrected in newer versions.
Stark on kova luu: hän on fiksu, tavattoman viileä ja pukeutuu moitteettomasti. Ammatikseen Stark hoitaa ongelmia. Pienempiä, ja sitten sellaisia, joita kukaan muu ei pysty hoitamaan. Stark saa keikan, joka vaikuttaa alkuun melko yksinkertaiselta, sellaiselta, jossa Starkin erikoistaitoja ei tarvita. Mies on kidnapattu. Syyllinen on selvitettävä ja uhri saatava takaisin. Helppo juttu.
Stark hoitaa homman, mutta lukija tuskin yllättyy, kun paljastuu, ettei kaikki olekaan aivan niin yksinkertaista kuin miltä näyttää. Only Forward tottelee kovaksikeitetyn dekkaritarinan perinteitä, vaikka onkin jotain aivan muuta kuin tavallista tavaraa. Kirjan maailma on futuristinen, omaleimainen ja kiehtova, erikoinen tulevaisuuden maailma, jossa mantereen laajuinen kaupunki on jakautunut naapurustoihin, joissa samanmieliset kokoontuvat olemaan omanlaisiaan ja vähät muista. Vain harvat Starkin kaltaiset henkilöt matkustavat laajemmin paikasta toiseen.
Stark on hauska päähenkilö. Kertojana Stark on täysin epäluotettava — mistä Stark muistaa mainita lukijalle aina silloin tällöin. Puolivälissä kirjaa sävy muuttuu. Alun vitsailu — kirjan maailma on kuin parodiaa, lähes täysi vitsi — ja toisaalta kovaksikeitetyn dekkarin tyylittely väistyvät ja tilalle tulee synkempää, surrealistisempaa ja syvällisempää kerrontaa. Tapahtumat muuttuvat kummallisemmiksi ja unenomaisiksi. Only Forward onkin enemmän kuin miltä aluksi vaikuttaa.
Erikoinen kirja jää mieleen. Kiitetty esikoinen potkaisi Michael Marshall Smithin uralle vauhtia ja voitti Philip K. Dickin ja August Derlethin palkinnot. (1.5.2010)
Stark hoitaa homman, mutta lukija tuskin yllättyy, kun paljastuu, ettei kaikki olekaan aivan niin yksinkertaista kuin miltä näyttää. Only Forward tottelee kovaksikeitetyn dekkaritarinan perinteitä, vaikka onkin jotain aivan muuta kuin tavallista tavaraa. Kirjan maailma on futuristinen, omaleimainen ja kiehtova, erikoinen tulevaisuuden maailma, jossa mantereen laajuinen kaupunki on jakautunut naapurustoihin, joissa samanmieliset kokoontuvat olemaan omanlaisiaan ja vähät muista. Vain harvat Starkin kaltaiset henkilöt matkustavat laajemmin paikasta toiseen.
Stark on hauska päähenkilö. Kertojana Stark on täysin epäluotettava — mistä Stark muistaa mainita lukijalle aina silloin tällöin. Puolivälissä kirjaa sävy muuttuu. Alun vitsailu — kirjan maailma on kuin parodiaa, lähes täysi vitsi — ja toisaalta kovaksikeitetyn dekkarin tyylittely väistyvät ja tilalle tulee synkempää, surrealistisempaa ja syvällisempää kerrontaa. Tapahtumat muuttuvat kummallisemmiksi ja unenomaisiksi. Only Forward onkin enemmän kuin miltä aluksi vaikuttaa.
Erikoinen kirja jää mieleen. Kiitetty esikoinen potkaisi Michael Marshall Smithin uralle vauhtia ja voitti Philip K. Dickin ja August Derlethin palkinnot. (1.5.2010)
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
medium-paced
If you like scifi and love books and cats, you won't go wrong with this book. Fed-up with Scandinavian Crime, I asked hubby for a recommendation, and this was what he handed me.
This story follows the main character, Stark, as he journeys from his own Neighbourhood of 'The City', called Colour, (reminiscent of Jasper Fforde's "Shades of Grey"), through other Neighbourhoods such as 'Red', (think 'Mad Max') and 'Cat', (a neighbourhood inhabited by cats). Stark is sent on a mission that takes him to other locales and this is the meat of the plot. I would have quite happily had Stark staying in the City, as it was a very interesting place, but then it would have been a different book. As it stands, the plot is tricky, but a successful denouement ties it all together in a sound fashion.
I was surprised to find out that the author was a Brit, as much of the language seemed quite American. Perhaps this was on the editor's(') behest? Dunno.
Anyhoo, a good read. Am back on the crime now, for my new bookclub. Glad of the diversion, though.
This story follows the main character, Stark, as he journeys from his own Neighbourhood of 'The City', called Colour, (reminiscent of Jasper Fforde's "Shades of Grey"), through other Neighbourhoods such as 'Red', (think 'Mad Max') and 'Cat', (a neighbourhood inhabited by cats). Stark is sent on a mission that takes him to other locales and this is the meat of the plot. I would have quite happily had Stark staying in the City, as it was a very interesting place, but then it would have been a different book. As it stands, the plot is tricky, but a successful denouement ties it all together in a sound fashion.
I was surprised to find out that the author was a Brit, as much of the language seemed quite American. Perhaps this was on the editor's(') behest? Dunno.
Anyhoo, a good read. Am back on the crime now, for my new bookclub. Glad of the diversion, though.