Review: a flawed gem
Rating: 4 out of 5
Date: 04 29, 2014
The premise and scope of this book are fascinating, and certainly hold ones interest as the events unfold. I have very much enjoyed reading it for these alone.However, it also feels somewhat disjointed... and not always in a good way, on occasion building towards a crescendo and then skipping forward a hundred years just before things are about to get really interesting; or spending time exploring a character, and then moving off in a new direction as if the character turned into a tangent that had strayed too far from the central plot.I have read and enjoyed most of Gurley's short stories, and am especially enamoured of the writing in the preview for his imminent book, Eleanor. So, I chose to read this despite the negative comments many have left. Make no mistake, the blatant lack of quote marks in all the dialogue is annoying and disorienting, but forewarned is forearmed, so it didn't entirely ruin the experience! I'm very glad I picked up this book, and I am about to buy the next one to see what happens next... But I would have enjoyed it more after another round of dev' editing to clean up the sloppy parts.As long as you are prepared to work a little and forgive a little, I recommend this to anyone who enjoys character driven sci-fi.