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A review by silea
Hollow World by Michael J. Sullivan
2.0
If you're a liberal or progressive, and you want an author to use some hypothetical future world to pat you on the head that you're right in all your ideologies and beliefs, then look no further. My favorite part was when they said only a monster (they literally used the word 'monster') would deny lifesaving treatment to someone because they couldn't pay.
And let's be clear: i'm a leftie, a tree-hugging progressive. This 'liberals are right!' bias didn't offend me in the slightest. What offended me was the absolute bludgeoning sanctimony of it. It's like the worst Star Trek:TNG fanfic ever, where the wise future-people react with horror at the barbarity of the past, the cruelty that we 21-century people think is normal.
And the characters were no better. There was exactly one that i cared about in the slightest, and it wasn't sad-sack Ellis Rogers, trapped in a loveless marriage, diagnosed with a terminal disease, and worst of all, besties with the kind of caricature right-wing hypocrite who decries the welfare state while collecting government benefits.
So yeah, unimaginative future-world in line with what a zillion other authors have imagined, oppressive sanctimony, and characters that range from pathetic to annoying? Pass.
And let's be clear: i'm a leftie, a tree-hugging progressive. This 'liberals are right!' bias didn't offend me in the slightest. What offended me was the absolute bludgeoning sanctimony of it. It's like the worst Star Trek:TNG fanfic ever, where the wise future-people react with horror at the barbarity of the past, the cruelty that we 21-century people think is normal.
And the characters were no better. There was exactly one that i cared about in the slightest, and it wasn't sad-sack Ellis Rogers, trapped in a loveless marriage, diagnosed with a terminal disease, and worst of all, besties with the kind of caricature right-wing hypocrite who decries the welfare state while collecting government benefits.
So yeah, unimaginative future-world in line with what a zillion other authors have imagined, oppressive sanctimony, and characters that range from pathetic to annoying? Pass.