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A review by mcearl12
The Book of Strange New Things by Michel Faber
2.0
I so wanted to like it! Love the title, the cover, the concept.
The premise of this book was original, clever, thought-provoking, and yet...the book itself completely missed the mark for me. I found the author's description of another universe to be interesting both in terms of landscape/atmosphere detail and the other life forms described. Things going haywire on earth was scarily believable. Unfortunately the main character was just too one dimensional. I didn't feel empathy or sympathy for him. He wasn't unlikable, nor was he likable. I just didn't care. The protagonist's wife was the most fully-fleshed character, to me, which is ironic since most of what we know of her is through intra-universe correspondence with her husband. I like the premise, and I really wanted to like the book, but it just laid flat for me.
The premise of this book was original, clever, thought-provoking, and yet...the book itself completely missed the mark for me. I found the author's description of another universe to be interesting both in terms of landscape/atmosphere detail and the other life forms described. Things going haywire on earth was scarily believable. Unfortunately the main character was just too one dimensional. I didn't feel empathy or sympathy for him. He wasn't unlikable, nor was he likable. I just didn't care. The protagonist's wife was the most fully-fleshed character, to me, which is ironic since most of what we know of her is through intra-universe correspondence with her husband. I like the premise, and I really wanted to like the book, but it just laid flat for me.