A review by sayitagainjen
Plague Birds by Jason Sanford

dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

2.25

Where the novel succeeds is in its ambitious world-building—a far future where humans have been so wildly spliced with animals that they're largely unrecognizable. Keeping all of them in check are plague birds, humans who've achieved a unique (and often unstable) symbiosis with artificial intelligences. In true Dredd fashion, these plague birds act as judge, jury, and executioner.

So far, so good.

However, the writing itself is chaotic and often amateurish, a classic example of doing a lot of telling without any showing. As a result, the characters were flat and failed to leave any sort of emotional impact.

I can't help feeling like this needed more time in the incubator.