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A review by branch_c
The Exile Kiss by George Alec Effinger
2.0
I’m afraid that for me this was another step down from the second book, which was itself a step down from the first.
The society that was intriguingly original in When Gravity Fails now comes across as just more of the same, and the incessant displays of pseudo-Islamic culture were more tedious than ever this time around. If you question this, go ahead and mentally substitute “Praise Jesus” or your favorite familiar Christian saying for the numerous occurrences of “May Allah reward you” and similar Islamicisms and see how it reads then.
The characters are largely obnoxious, cruel, or miserable, and the overall tone is deeply cynical. The story is bland, with little in the way of interesting plot. There were minimal science-fictional elements here beyond what was introduced in the first book.
I have to admit that the writing itself is polished and professional, and the skill that drew me in to the first book is clearly still present, so it wasn’t as if it was amateurish or painful to read, but that only makes it worse that this time Effinger used his obvious talent on a story that was uninspired and unenjoyable.
The society that was intriguingly original in When Gravity Fails now comes across as just more of the same, and the incessant displays of pseudo-Islamic culture were more tedious than ever this time around. If you question this, go ahead and mentally substitute “Praise Jesus” or your favorite familiar Christian saying for the numerous occurrences of “May Allah reward you” and similar Islamicisms and see how it reads then.
The characters are largely obnoxious, cruel, or miserable, and the overall tone is deeply cynical. The story is bland, with little in the way of interesting plot. There were minimal science-fictional elements here beyond what was introduced in the first book.
I have to admit that the writing itself is polished and professional, and the skill that drew me in to the first book is clearly still present, so it wasn’t as if it was amateurish or painful to read, but that only makes it worse that this time Effinger used his obvious talent on a story that was uninspired and unenjoyable.