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leanna_vera's review against another edition
emotional
mysterious
reflective
fast-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
2.0
asterope's review against another edition
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
3.0
The idea of refugees from a parallel timeline suddenly arriving in our world is fascinating, along with being able to pinpoint when the timelines split. This book is more literary than scifi though - an exploration of the refugee experience through this concept.
This reminded me of Station Eleven and the other related ESJM books. It also has in-universe literature as the focal point, with snippets appearing throughout. I liked what we got of these, but I couldn't quite make the link with the main story. Most of it went over my head.
Another similarity is the writing - it's just as smooth and intimate. I found it easy to grasp what's going on with the characters early on. The main character Hel is not particularly likeable, but you can empathise with why she's like that. I still enjoyed reading her story. It was like a slow-moving car crash you can't look away from.
I liked this book, but I can't imagine it'll stick with me. It was missing a stronger thread that stitches all the vibes together. Things just kind of...happened. And then the ending turned out more dramatic than expected. I thought the book was just going to peter out, but there's a strange plot development right at the end that doesn't quite work. It seemed like it was tacked on at the last minute. I'll keep an eye out for more of the author's work though because I really enjoyed their style.
This reminded me of Station Eleven and the other related ESJM books. It also has in-universe literature as the focal point, with snippets appearing throughout. I liked what we got of these, but I couldn't quite make the link with the main story. Most of it went over my head.
Another similarity is the writing - it's just as smooth and intimate. I found it easy to grasp what's going on with the characters early on. The main character Hel is not particularly likeable, but you can empathise with why she's like that. I still enjoyed reading her story. It was like a slow-moving car crash you can't look away from.
I liked this book, but I can't imagine it'll stick with me. It was missing a stronger thread that stitches all the vibes together. Things just kind of...happened. And then the ending turned out more dramatic than expected. I thought the book was just going to peter out, but there's a strange plot development right at the end that doesn't quite work. It seemed like it was tacked on at the last minute. I'll keep an eye out for more of the author's work though because I really enjoyed their style.
vandermeer's review
2.0
So eine gute Idee, aber es hat mir nicht gefallen. Hakelig zu lesen, die Protagonistin und ihre Motivationen sind mir fremd und sogar unsymphatisch. Ich kann sie teilweise verstehen und doch denke ich, sie könnte so viel mehr in ihrer Situation sehen. Auch die Reaktionen von Menschen der angestammten Bevölkerung wundert mich. Ich denke nicht, dass die Reisenden auf so viel Feindseligkeit stoßen würden, sondern auf viel mehr Interesse an ihrer Geschichte, Kultur, Kunst, Literatur aus einer anderen Welt. Vielleicht überschätze ich die Menschheit auch.
vampireweekend's review
dark
emotional
mysterious
reflective
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75
actuallyahorsereads's review
2.0
Fascinating idea, not the greatest execution. Tried to do too much and got bogged flown in the details.
bethtabler's review
3.0
Thank you to Netgalley and the publisher for providing me with an eARC of this in exchange for my open and honest review.
K Chess's debut novel, "Famous Men Who Never Lived" is a diverse blend of different science fiction, sociological, and psychological ideas. It is a profoundly cerebral collection of ideas of who we are, and how do we go on after facing the loss of an entire timeline. The premise is what if a whole group of UDP (universally displaced persons) fled their failing and dying timeline and came into ours and how survivors of that would fare in our new world. The UDP's each have a different history both large and small, and even though they have gone through an intensive reintegration program to adapt to the new timeline, they still remain a curiosity to some and a focus of outright hostility and prejudice for others.
The narrative follows a few different people as they surf the woes and difficulties adapting to living in a new timeline — specifically those of Hel and Vikram. Vikram's favorite author in the old timeline was a man named Sleight. Vikram managed to bring one of Sleight's books with him, a book that was never written in this timeline due to Sleight dying at a young age. Hel feels like there is something strange about Sleight and how he somehow caused the divergence between the two timelines and Vikram and Hel decide to figure out what that is.
"Famous Men Who Never Lived" is marketed as a science fiction novel; however, I felt it was more a character study based on a science fiction premise. Those looking for a heavy parallel universe novel should look elsewhere as the parallel universe premise is a means of talking about the effects of displacement for people. The writing is well done, the characters are well-formed and interesting, especially for a debut novel but I felt that the story did not know precisely what it wanted to be and that led to it feeling choppy.
K Chess's debut novel, "Famous Men Who Never Lived" is a diverse blend of different science fiction, sociological, and psychological ideas. It is a profoundly cerebral collection of ideas of who we are, and how do we go on after facing the loss of an entire timeline. The premise is what if a whole group of UDP (universally displaced persons) fled their failing and dying timeline and came into ours and how survivors of that would fare in our new world. The UDP's each have a different history both large and small, and even though they have gone through an intensive reintegration program to adapt to the new timeline, they still remain a curiosity to some and a focus of outright hostility and prejudice for others.
The narrative follows a few different people as they surf the woes and difficulties adapting to living in a new timeline — specifically those of Hel and Vikram. Vikram's favorite author in the old timeline was a man named Sleight. Vikram managed to bring one of Sleight's books with him, a book that was never written in this timeline due to Sleight dying at a young age. Hel feels like there is something strange about Sleight and how he somehow caused the divergence between the two timelines and Vikram and Hel decide to figure out what that is.
"Famous Men Who Never Lived" is marketed as a science fiction novel; however, I felt it was more a character study based on a science fiction premise. Those looking for a heavy parallel universe novel should look elsewhere as the parallel universe premise is a means of talking about the effects of displacement for people. The writing is well done, the characters are well-formed and interesting, especially for a debut novel but I felt that the story did not know precisely what it wanted to be and that led to it feeling choppy.
liketheday's review
4.0
This book had been sitting on my shelf for ages until a friend mentioned she loved it and I put it right up on the top of the list, behind all my book club books. Then a hurricane came and I didn't want to read a thinky thing, so I grabbed this instead.
It was a little more thinky than I was expecting, so I didn't devour it all in one sitting, but it was an excellent story to intersperse between hurricane preparation and (thank goodness) hurricane boredom.
I really enjoyed the premise, that three years ago refugees from a parallel New York City showed up in our New York City. This setting gives the author a lot of room to play with nostalgia, ostalgie (a new word I learned!), casual prejudice, identity politics, behavior politics, and the frustrations of life in general. There are a few points in the book where you think it might be about to take a wild turn toward action and adventure, but, spoilers, it maintains a steady pace all the way through. It definitely does not answer all the questions it poses, but it answers enough of them that I think people who are not me (with my love of the ambiguous ending) will still be satisfied.
It was a little more thinky than I was expecting, so I didn't devour it all in one sitting, but it was an excellent story to intersperse between hurricane preparation and (thank goodness) hurricane boredom.
I really enjoyed the premise, that three years ago refugees from a parallel New York City showed up in our New York City. This setting gives the author a lot of room to play with nostalgia, ostalgie (a new word I learned!), casual prejudice, identity politics, behavior politics, and the frustrations of life in general. There are a few points in the book where you think it might be about to take a wild turn toward action and adventure, but, spoilers, it maintains a steady pace all the way through. It definitely does not answer all the questions it poses, but it answers enough of them that I think people who are not me (with my love of the ambiguous ending) will still be satisfied.
bbretterson's review
adventurous
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
balletbookworm's review
4.0
Between a 3 and 4 star, I think I’m going to round up to the 4 because I really, really like the premise - using the idea of two divergent Earths and their histories to explore the idea of forced migration and Otherness, “belonging” to a group, grief, and mourning. Where I struggled with the book was when the sections of the fictional book “The Pyronauts” from Hel and Vikram’s world were included in the narrative - the technique was distracting here and didn’t work as well as it did in a book like Station Eleven.