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mialuca45's review against another edition
challenging
dark
mysterious
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
timinbc's review against another edition
3.0
This is a hard one to rate. There aren't many books about a not-too-far-future world that is only halfway into dystopia.
The setting is interesting, and each little story is OK, and I don't have a problem with the idea of showing us a set of vignettes across time. Especially when each one presents a different aspect of what's happening and what decisions our hero has to make.
Maybe I wasn't able to engage with the sketchy presentation of the situation. Made me think of that kind of art where three brush strokes can represent a cat or the Empire State Building. The whole thing left me feeling as if I had skipped the first story, the one that would have told me about what was happening. It's a perfectly valid technique for a writer to use, but I don't much care for it.
Perhaps it's just that this is almost a mainstream story.
The setting is interesting, and each little story is OK, and I don't have a problem with the idea of showing us a set of vignettes across time. Especially when each one presents a different aspect of what's happening and what decisions our hero has to make.
Maybe I wasn't able to engage with the sketchy presentation of the situation. Made me think of that kind of art where three brush strokes can represent a cat or the Empire State Building. The whole thing left me feeling as if I had skipped the first story, the one that would have told me about what was happening. It's a perfectly valid technique for a writer to use, but I don't much care for it.
Perhaps it's just that this is almost a mainstream story.
grahamclements's review against another edition
4.0
Things we Didn’t See Coming is a collection of nine stories with the same unnamed central character. The stories are told in a linear order and follow the life of the main character from his childhood to his death. The first story is set on New Year’s Eve 1999 and subsequent stories extend fifty years into the future. The stories are all set in an Australia suffering wild climatic swings.
The main character is neither hero nor anti-hero. He is an everyman survivor; a loner, not a leader. He is shown adapting to new roles and situations as the world around him falters and transforms.
Things We Didn’t See Coming is a perfect title for the book. When most people think of climate change they think of prolonged drought, but in this book the climate swings wildly, as scientists always predicted it would. Each of the nine stories is unpredictable, but not so much in having twists at the end, more that the stories head in unexpected directions and surprise the reader with what the characters are actually up to.
The book is written in a very sparse style. There is not a lot of description or exposition. This is very much a speculative fiction piece where the reader gets to speculate on what happened to get the main character to his current situation.
The novel won the 2009 Age Book of the Year. Because of its literary nature, I would recommend it to any reader who thinks about the future, not just those who enjoy science-fiction.
The main character is neither hero nor anti-hero. He is an everyman survivor; a loner, not a leader. He is shown adapting to new roles and situations as the world around him falters and transforms.
Things We Didn’t See Coming is a perfect title for the book. When most people think of climate change they think of prolonged drought, but in this book the climate swings wildly, as scientists always predicted it would. Each of the nine stories is unpredictable, but not so much in having twists at the end, more that the stories head in unexpected directions and surprise the reader with what the characters are actually up to.
The book is written in a very sparse style. There is not a lot of description or exposition. This is very much a speculative fiction piece where the reader gets to speculate on what happened to get the main character to his current situation.
The novel won the 2009 Age Book of the Year. Because of its literary nature, I would recommend it to any reader who thinks about the future, not just those who enjoy science-fiction.
cyberbolt's review against another edition
adventurous
dark
emotional
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
rewarner's review against another edition
4.0
When you pick up a book about the post-apocalyptic world, this is not what you would expect. It is at turns despairing and haunting, but somehow the main character, all the while struggling to survive, remains in possession of a kind heart. This book was actually as touching as it was surreal.
elizaed's review against another edition
4.0
Interesting post-apocalyptic tale, a series of stories separated in time but connected by the same narrator. Engaging prose but too vague on the details of the alternate 21st Century world to be a truly great read.
bluestarfish's review against another edition
3.0
We start the book with a family fleeing the city into the countryside ahead of Y2K and then we follow the boy as he grows up in a future of sifting and changing apocalypses and good times. The intensely narrow field of view of the story means that there are indeed many things that we didn't see coming. Wider responses, events, or happenings are at best hinted at in this changing world - which perhaps is more realistic but is sometimes frustrating. Survival takes many forms.
cdale8's review against another edition
5.0
Mind blown. Not your normal A then B then C dystopia where the world either finally comes 'round to build utopia or decimate humanity. I really enjoyed trying to mentally fill in the gaps between chapters, although I can see where that lack of continuity between "stories" might annoy some readers. I may even try to read this one again in a few months to see what more I can glean (and/or create) of both the personal and societal evolution in the narrative not provided. 5 stars for something different and unpredictable.
olivia_lauren_reads's review against another edition
2.0
2 1/2 stars! (Goodreads! Give us the half star option!)
This book is a series of short stories that are connected. I was unaware of the connection until I was a few stories deep. Liked the writing, though. I would read more of this author. I think I was hoping for a little more to fill in the blanks of the overall story. The potential was there… I just needed a little more.
This book is a series of short stories that are connected. I was unaware of the connection until I was a few stories deep. Liked the writing, though. I would read more of this author. I think I was hoping for a little more to fill in the blanks of the overall story. The potential was there… I just needed a little more.