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A review by anomieus
Stamping Butterflies by Jon Courtenay Grimwood
4.0
3.5⭐
Ok, well, a lot to unpack here.
There are three separate story streams (past, present, far future) happening here. So of course you know they have to intersect at some point. Interestingly, I found the 3 individual stories to be stronger and more engaging than the sum of their parts. It was weirdly predictable and yet frustratingly obtuse and slow in coming together. I think you don't even get any king of hint of their possible connections until the final quarter of the book, and even then they are the vaguest of story-morsels. They only really come together in about the last 5 pages of the novel, and then they weirdly and abruptly end. Most frustrating.
I think the strongest storyline was that of the boy Moz, set in 70s Morocco. I wanted a whole book of just this main character and his friends, family, and life. Second strongest was a great foil to the abject poverty of dusty Marrakech, being set in the far FAR future of the adolescent, petulant Emperor of All, Zaq. Society is based on an interesting mix of ancient Chinese culture where we're not entirely sure of who and what may be human, post-human, AI, or post-singularity life. Weakest storyline was that of the 'present' (or what was the present when the book was written in 2004) which has a pseudo-terrorist-espionage plotline that I found more frustrating than engaging.
Eventually. Eventually these three storylines will tie together, but oh yeah, you need some patience for this one. And I am a huge fan of time-reality challenging plotlines (I'm looking at you [b:Cloud Atlas|49628|Cloud Atlas|David Mitchell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1563042852l/49628._SX50_.jpg|1871423] and [b:Light|17735|Light (Kefahuchi Tract, #1)|M. John Harrison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1389700041l/17735._SX50_.jpg|295250], [b:Nova Swing|1666406|Nova Swing (Kefahuchi Tract, #2)|M. John Harrison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320499016l/1666406._SY75_.jpg|295249].)
Across these three timelines we have a whole host of themes... maybe too many...? Dreaming vs Reality. Extreme poverty. Child abuse. AI vs Humanity. Self-identity vs fate. Post humanity. Maybe hyper-advanced-alien-life or maybe not? Terrorism (capitalizing a bit on 9/11 fears) and America's penchant for torture. Self-determinism. Social media amped beyond our wildest dreams/fears. The Singularity. Body horror and modification.
That is a lot of heady ideas going on in a single novel.
So, I liked it... But.... I wanted to like it so much more.
Ok, well, a lot to unpack here.
There are three separate story streams (past, present, far future) happening here. So of course you know they have to intersect at some point. Interestingly, I found the 3 individual stories to be stronger and more engaging than the sum of their parts. It was weirdly predictable and yet frustratingly obtuse and slow in coming together. I think you don't even get any king of hint of their possible connections until the final quarter of the book, and even then they are the vaguest of story-morsels. They only really come together in about the last 5 pages of the novel, and then they weirdly and abruptly end. Most frustrating.
I think the strongest storyline was that of the boy Moz, set in 70s Morocco. I wanted a whole book of just this main character and his friends, family, and life. Second strongest was a great foil to the abject poverty of dusty Marrakech, being set in the far FAR future of the adolescent, petulant Emperor of All, Zaq. Society is based on an interesting mix of ancient Chinese culture where we're not entirely sure of who and what may be human, post-human, AI, or post-singularity life. Weakest storyline was that of the 'present' (or what was the present when the book was written in 2004) which has a pseudo-terrorist-espionage plotline that I found more frustrating than engaging.
Eventually. Eventually these three storylines will tie together, but oh yeah, you need some patience for this one. And I am a huge fan of time-reality challenging plotlines (I'm looking at you [b:Cloud Atlas|49628|Cloud Atlas|David Mitchell|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1563042852l/49628._SX50_.jpg|1871423] and [b:Light|17735|Light (Kefahuchi Tract, #1)|M. John Harrison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1389700041l/17735._SX50_.jpg|295250], [b:Nova Swing|1666406|Nova Swing (Kefahuchi Tract, #2)|M. John Harrison|https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1320499016l/1666406._SY75_.jpg|295249].)
Across these three timelines we have a whole host of themes... maybe too many...? Dreaming vs Reality. Extreme poverty. Child abuse. AI vs Humanity. Self-identity vs fate. Post humanity. Maybe hyper-advanced-alien-life or maybe not? Terrorism (capitalizing a bit on 9/11 fears) and America's penchant for torture. Self-determinism. Social media amped beyond our wildest dreams/fears. The Singularity. Body horror and modification.
That is a lot of heady ideas going on in a single novel.
So, I liked it... But.... I wanted to like it so much more.