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A review by sondosia
Kiln People by David Brin
2.0
I could barely get through this. The plot started off promising but quickly veered into something you'd see in a really wacky dream--a talking ferret, some pendulum that turns you into a god, a chick with multiple personality disorder who's become a criminal mastermind, hidden bio-weapons, etc.
That said, the universe Brin has created is undoubtedly a compelling one.
However, in addition to the ridiculous plot, the writing style is AWFUL. There are random italics and exclamation points all over the place, and the narration is basically stream-of-consciousness. However, my suspension of disbelief was completely ruined because this stream of consciousness narrator constantly makes references to the technology around him that normally people wouldn't. For instance, I wouldn't say something like, "I got up from my bed, which has a mattress specially designed to mold itself to my body shape, and entered my bathroom. I decided to check my weight on the scale, which automatically sensed when I stepped on it and almost instantly showed me my weight. I then turned on the water to take a shower, glancing at the display specially calibrated to show the temperature of the water." That would be ridiculous. If Brin wanted to wax poetic about the intricacies of the technology in the world he's created, he shouldn't have used first person. It just sounds ridiculous that way. Furthermore, there were frequent grammatical errors. Where's this guy's editor?
All in all, I guess the story itself was interesting enough (though I didn't understand the ending at all), but slogging through the awful writing style wasn't worth it. This guy needs to go back to grammar school.
That said, the universe Brin has created is undoubtedly a compelling one.
However, in addition to the ridiculous plot, the writing style is AWFUL. There are random italics and exclamation points all over the place, and the narration is basically stream-of-consciousness. However, my suspension of disbelief was completely ruined because this stream of consciousness narrator constantly makes references to the technology around him that normally people wouldn't. For instance, I wouldn't say something like, "I got up from my bed, which has a mattress specially designed to mold itself to my body shape, and entered my bathroom. I decided to check my weight on the scale, which automatically sensed when I stepped on it and almost instantly showed me my weight. I then turned on the water to take a shower, glancing at the display specially calibrated to show the temperature of the water." That would be ridiculous. If Brin wanted to wax poetic about the intricacies of the technology in the world he's created, he shouldn't have used first person. It just sounds ridiculous that way. Furthermore, there were frequent grammatical errors. Where's this guy's editor?
All in all, I guess the story itself was interesting enough (though I didn't understand the ending at all), but slogging through the awful writing style wasn't worth it. This guy needs to go back to grammar school.