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camilojvilla 's review for:
Doomsday Book
by Connie Willis
Very torn about where I land on this book. It has a lot going for it, and a lot of issues, as well as a lot of things that are fine but not for me:
Pros:
1. Excellent writing
2. Engaging and didn't feel like 26 hours on audio even though a lot of it was not interesting to me.
Cons:
1. Really, really misses on near future. I don't think it's very easy to write near future (in fact, probably harder than distant future), but the lack of things like cell phones (not a spoiler, this problem is immediately apparent) makes the future parts really hard to believe.
2. A lot of the tone doesn't match. The book starts out somewhat jolly but gets very grim, and the tone and the content just don't match up a lot of the time.
Personal cons:
1. Tired of time travel unless it's done reaaaaaaaaally well. This is just ok time travel.
2. Really not interested in the middle ages at all in terms of historical fiction.
3. Gross (probably a pro in objective terms, it's certainly evocative)
4. It's extremely British in an annoying way.
Pros:
1. Excellent writing
2. Engaging and didn't feel like 26 hours on audio even though a lot of it was not interesting to me.
Cons:
1. Really, really misses on near future. I don't think it's very easy to write near future (in fact, probably harder than distant future), but the lack of things like cell phones (not a spoiler, this problem is immediately apparent) makes the future parts really hard to believe.
2. A lot of the tone doesn't match. The book starts out somewhat jolly but gets very grim, and the tone and the content just don't match up a lot of the time.
Personal cons:
1. Tired of time travel unless it's done reaaaaaaaaally well. This is just ok time travel.
2. Really not interested in the middle ages at all in terms of historical fiction.
3. Gross (probably a pro in objective terms, it's certainly evocative)
4. It's extremely British in an annoying way.