A review by noirverse
The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. by Nicole Galland, Neal Stephenson

4.0

It should be no secret that I was immediately interested in this book from the moment of reading the blurb. I'm a very big fan of fantasy and science fiction and the mingling of the two is one of my favorite things to read about if done well. And this was a book that was done well.

This is a brick of a novel but don't let that hold you back on giving this book a chance. I went into it uncertain what the concept would be but was very pleased that it was taken in a direction that I found highly engaging and exciting. It does have its humor to it which sparked a grin from me several times. My favorite parts were the characters getting right to it with time travel and dealing with subsequent mess that it brought. It was the characters interacting with the world that I liked the most.

However, it did have some flaws. The book felt like it was plagued by an undercurrent of sexism that the authors simply didn't notice. I highly doubt that they intentionally meant it and it shows through in the book.

Spoiler

The one specific thing that I was particularly bothered by was the fact that Belvin, Stokes' former superior, was mentioned to have sexually harassed Melisande. Nothing comes of this. Instead, Belvin more or less fades away into irrelevance to the plot altogether near the end. Here I was thinking that Melisande would be able to have her moment of glory against Belvin but, to my great disappointment, that didn't happen.

This is just one example of several that other readers might pick up on. It brought down my enjoyment of the story and felt like a flaw that could've easily been done away with. Make of that what you will.

There was also some lingering problems with pacing and giving detail to things that I honestly didn't care about and less so towards things I did, such as actual adventures on going time traveling. It dragged in some places but was made up for by when the characters took over the action.

I liked the ending which for the most part, neatly tied up any lingering questions and would eagerly look forward to a sequel. All in all, this was a greatly enjoyable read that I sped through in the course of two days. It brought in fresh and new concepts that I have not seen done before. I would highly recommend at least giving this a chance if you are at all interested in a fresh spin on Time Travel and Science Fantasy.