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3.4 AVERAGE
3.4 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
I feel that I need to explain my 1-star rating. I originally picked up this book because I had seen the Amazon Prime series (which I really liked - at least the earlier seasons) and I thought that the story was very interesting. When I found out that the show was based off of this book, I thought that I should read it because usually the books are better than the shows/movies created from them. In this case, it was not. The story was quite different than what I expected and I didn’t really enjoy the writing style - hence the rating. Clearly, many other readers have enjoyed this book, but if you’re looking for it to be like the show, you will definitely be disappointed.
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Retroactive review as forgotten I had read this until I found it on my shelf
I always think I enjoy alt-history books more than I actually do. Whilst I love the politics of a well crafted alt-history world (aka who ends up doing what), I often find the plot and characters forgettable and hard to engage with. Couldn’t tell you a single character in this (read it ~9 years ago tho). Liked the physical division of America though.
Saying this I don’t think I’d enjoy reading just an alt-history ‘non-fiction’ styled book. I need characters to explore through, just a shame I don’t care for them
I always think I enjoy alt-history books more than I actually do. Whilst I love the politics of a well crafted alt-history world (aka who ends up doing what), I often find the plot and characters forgettable and hard to engage with. Couldn’t tell you a single character in this (read it ~9 years ago tho). Liked the physical division of America though.
Saying this I don’t think I’d enjoy reading just an alt-history ‘non-fiction’ styled book. I need characters to explore through, just a shame I don’t care for them
Found the concept intriguing, but the character development was lacking.
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
When i picked up the book, I did not have much expectations regarding the books outcome. I had read positive reviews about the book and wanted to give it a try. And i am glad that i did. Philip K Dick paints a very vivid and interesting picture of a world where Nazi rule the world. A very interesting read. Though I found some aspect of the story mundane, I thoroughly enjoyed the book.
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Been quite a while since I've read Philip K. (I hesitate here to say "Dick" without preamble!) but this may be his most impressive work. Dick's books have always been perplexing to me because they are full of great ideas, but the prose usually feels slightly out of tune--the proper names don't fit, the dialogue is a little lazy, the descriptions of moments somehow feeling inept, like a lie, like a work of ficktion. But in this book I had no problems. The premise of the novel is clear and complex. The incorporation of the I Ching woven into the fabric of the book so beautifully, and is made more impressive, too because the book itself contains a book which is our reality. He writes of the Axis powers winning the War, and a novelist consults the I Ching to write a book in which the Allies win, a narrative foil to his own work. And his contemplations of art and artifice, of the historicity of objects, and the invocation of the book of changes, the oracle, and the various components of eastern philosophy make this perhaps Dick's masterpiece in a stunning career of envelope-pushing sci fi.