Scan barcode
A review by routergirl
Devices and Desires by K.J. Parker
3.0
What a strange book this was. I found this through a thread on metafilter from someone looking for books with "likeable bastards." Ziani, the main character, is almost a likeable bastard. He's an engineer who is sentenced to death for creating an abomination: a toy for his daughter with pieces that fall (GASP) outside of official Specifications.
The engineering aspect I found interesting, but not as interesting as K.J. Parker, who went on for entirely too long about measurements and mechanisms. Seriously, K.J., give it a rest. We get it, you love this stuff, but some of us would prefer the plot advanced!
What a plot it is, too! Deceit, extraordinary planning, a little bit of intrigue. The problem is, as other reviewers have stated, how incredibly unbelievable it is. I mean, Ziani is engineering people soon enough, and somehow he always escapes notice, somehow he is left as the SMARTEST MAN IN THE WORLD, considered the least threat, given ridiculous advantages. I hesitated to even call him the main character - it's like saying the main character in Twister was a tornado. The main character in Arachnophobia was a spider. You get it, right?
If you read this on its own, you'll be disappointed if you're hoping to ever figure out what in the hell happened. I picked up the second one because I had some free time and I wanted to see if anything was revealed, and it's a bit better. Much more humanity in that one. And well, I guess I'm a sucker for trilogies.
Bastard he is, though I don't know about likeable.
The engineering aspect I found interesting, but not as interesting as K.J. Parker, who went on for entirely too long about measurements and mechanisms. Seriously, K.J., give it a rest. We get it, you love this stuff, but some of us would prefer the plot advanced!
What a plot it is, too! Deceit, extraordinary planning, a little bit of intrigue. The problem is, as other reviewers have stated, how incredibly unbelievable it is. I mean, Ziani is engineering people soon enough, and somehow he always escapes notice, somehow he is left as the SMARTEST MAN IN THE WORLD, considered the least threat, given ridiculous advantages. I hesitated to even call him the main character - it's like saying the main character in Twister was a tornado. The main character in Arachnophobia was a spider. You get it, right?
If you read this on its own, you'll be disappointed if you're hoping to ever figure out what in the hell happened. I picked up the second one because I had some free time and I wanted to see if anything was revealed, and it's a bit better. Much more humanity in that one. And well, I guess I'm a sucker for trilogies.
Bastard he is, though I don't know about likeable.