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A review by maria_hossain
A Strange and Brilliant Light by Eli Lee
First thing I wanna say before talking about this book is that although I finished it long ago, I did not sit down to write this review for almost a month. I have a valid reason. I was asked to be part of the social media blast for this book ahead of its release and I agreed. Soon, I was sent a visual containing my blog name and social media handle. I was enthused by the GoodReads synopsis. But soon I found out I was not the intended reader for this book and hence, I delayed to post this review. I didn't want to post a review with a rating lower than 4 stars and hence, I decided to post this review on a much later date.
So that's my reason. Now let's move on to the book.
I started reading this book hopeful to discover a literary sci-fi after reading a few in recent past. However, this book was more academic than cerebral. It's a slow paced, character driven sci-fi that can be either a cyberpunk or a simple dystopian sci-fi. Or maybe a dystopian cyberpunk sci-fi? Anyway, the point is that the book is more heavy on the literary section than the sci-fi one. Several things made me realize I'm not the intended reader for this book.
First, the book was way too slow for me. Almost nothing noteworthy happened in the book and a lot of the incidents could be cut off and the book will not suffer from it. The climax was anticlimactic and a deux ex machina. The solution almost came out of nowhere and solved too easily and quickly, as if you blink and you miss it. The whole story is basically the author discussing with us the pros and cons of having AI take over our world. The nuances made me appreciate the book and the deep insights the author provides us, the nuances, the farsightedness, and the way intersectionality are all considered. However, a lot of the book feels like academic rambling and a lot of big, intellectual words were used. Yes, the author raised some great points as well as some gray, unacknowledged parts of what our grim reality could be in an AI revolutionized society. However, the way she executed it into the characters' lives wasn't seamless. Most of the time, nothing noteworthy happened. The characters felt to me very passive and reactionary, especially Janetta and Lal. Rose felt very active and interesting at first until she couldn't shake off toxic Alek. Same goes for Lal who just wouldn't stop thinking for herself for one second, or Janetta who wouldn't stop toxic women from ruling her heart and career and life. The ending felt rushed and again, anticlimactic and deux ex machina. The villain is too robotic and apathetic to actually strike fear, rather I felt like the efforts to make her disturbing and chilling failed. She rather felt one-dimensional and flat. The supporting cast just fades away and leaves no remarkable effects on you or the main characters' lives. The toxic exes, the overenthusiastic creepy or overfriendly colleagues, even the family members of the main characters appear for one or two scenes, serve their purposes, and then leave for the rest of the book.
I also couldn't grasp the world building. It felt too all-over-the-place. The randomly sprouted names of places and mountains and religions and food items felt too foreign. The food items especially made me confused. The author mostly provided their names and that's it. Not much descriptions to expand her fantasy world. It felt also like a one-dimensional, flat character who melts into the distance after her purpose to the story has been served.
Overall, this felt more like a fictional example of a nonfiction thesis/dissertation. I'm sorry if my review feels harsh but that's how it made me feel in the end.
Also, Tekna feels like a fictional Tesla and Uhli Ranh may be a fictional Elon Musk. I'm imagining Angelina Jolie as Taly Kett.
Thank you, NetGalley and Jo Fletcher/Quercus Books for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.
So that's my reason. Now let's move on to the book.
I started reading this book hopeful to discover a literary sci-fi after reading a few in recent past. However, this book was more academic than cerebral. It's a slow paced, character driven sci-fi that can be either a cyberpunk or a simple dystopian sci-fi. Or maybe a dystopian cyberpunk sci-fi? Anyway, the point is that the book is more heavy on the literary section than the sci-fi one. Several things made me realize I'm not the intended reader for this book.
First, the book was way too slow for me. Almost nothing noteworthy happened in the book and a lot of the incidents could be cut off and the book will not suffer from it. The climax was anticlimactic and a deux ex machina. The solution almost came out of nowhere and solved too easily and quickly, as if you blink and you miss it. The whole story is basically the author discussing with us the pros and cons of having AI take over our world. The nuances made me appreciate the book and the deep insights the author provides us, the nuances, the farsightedness, and the way intersectionality are all considered. However, a lot of the book feels like academic rambling and a lot of big, intellectual words were used. Yes, the author raised some great points as well as some gray, unacknowledged parts of what our grim reality could be in an AI revolutionized society. However, the way she executed it into the characters' lives wasn't seamless. Most of the time, nothing noteworthy happened. The characters felt to me very passive and reactionary, especially Janetta and Lal. Rose felt very active and interesting at first until she couldn't shake off toxic Alek. Same goes for Lal who just wouldn't stop thinking for herself for one second, or Janetta who wouldn't stop toxic women from ruling her heart and career and life. The ending felt rushed and again, anticlimactic and deux ex machina. The villain is too robotic and apathetic to actually strike fear, rather I felt like the efforts to make her disturbing and chilling failed. She rather felt one-dimensional and flat. The supporting cast just fades away and leaves no remarkable effects on you or the main characters' lives. The toxic exes, the overenthusiastic creepy or overfriendly colleagues, even the family members of the main characters appear for one or two scenes, serve their purposes, and then leave for the rest of the book.
I also couldn't grasp the world building. It felt too all-over-the-place. The randomly sprouted names of places and mountains and religions and food items felt too foreign. The food items especially made me confused. The author mostly provided their names and that's it. Not much descriptions to expand her fantasy world. It felt also like a one-dimensional, flat character who melts into the distance after her purpose to the story has been served.
Overall, this felt more like a fictional example of a nonfiction thesis/dissertation. I'm sorry if my review feels harsh but that's how it made me feel in the end.
Also, Tekna feels like a fictional Tesla and Uhli Ranh may be a fictional Elon Musk. I'm imagining Angelina Jolie as Taly Kett.
Thank you, NetGalley and Jo Fletcher/Quercus Books for providing me with an eARC in exchange for my honest opinion.