Scan barcode
A review by ninjabunneh
Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan
3.0
Ellis has been diagnosed with a terminal illness, his marriage is in shambles, and life is quite disheartening. All isn't lost, however. Ellis has discovered the secret of time travel, built a time travel machine in his garage, and plans to take off into the future. His hope is that someone has discovered a cure for his disease. He divulges his secret only to childhood pal, Warren.
Ellis straps himself into his homemade machine and off he goes. Where he lands isn't like the Earth he once knew.
Ellis is now in Hollow World, a place far into the future. The surface of Earth is left alone and people now primarily live underground. There is no war, no murder, no stealing. People don't tell one another what to do, it's one big harmonious community. Humans don't even look the same as they had when Ellis left home. Not even close.
Ellis's arrival in the future sets off a whole chain of events for Hollow World. I don't mean the good kind. It also brings a rather surprising plot twist that I didn't predict. Well played.
I did lose the love a bit when it came to Ellis himself. He's an older man, which by itself is perfectly fine. Age 58, I believe. However, part of his description notes that he has saggy skin. Once I read that, it's all I saw of him in my mind. This is not the mental image I want.
Of course, I picture him like this.
I don't want to imagine the men in my books as saggy. When a bit of romance was hinted at, all I could picture was bad Grandpa. It completely turned me off to that aspect of the story, and it was a good plot point.
Give me an older male protagonist any day. I just need an image more like this:
Call me shallow, call me a bitch. I won't deny either.
3 Ninja-Bunnehs-Wearing-Bowler-Hats
(Arc received in exchange for an honest review.)
Ellis straps himself into his homemade machine and off he goes. Where he lands isn't like the Earth he once knew.
Ellis is now in Hollow World, a place far into the future. The surface of Earth is left alone and people now primarily live underground. There is no war, no murder, no stealing. People don't tell one another what to do, it's one big harmonious community. Humans don't even look the same as they had when Ellis left home. Not even close.
Ellis's arrival in the future sets off a whole chain of events for Hollow World. I don't mean the good kind. It also brings a rather surprising plot twist that I didn't predict. Well played.
I did lose the love a bit when it came to Ellis himself. He's an older man, which by itself is perfectly fine. Age 58, I believe. However, part of his description notes that he has saggy skin. Once I read that, it's all I saw of him in my mind. This is not the mental image I want.
Of course, I picture him like this.
I don't want to imagine the men in my books as saggy. When a bit of romance was hinted at, all I could picture was bad Grandpa. It completely turned me off to that aspect of the story, and it was a good plot point.
Give me an older male protagonist any day. I just need an image more like this:
Call me shallow, call me a bitch. I won't deny either.
3 Ninja-Bunnehs-Wearing-Bowler-Hats
(Arc received in exchange for an honest review.)