Ryan Boudinot

I overall enjoyed the individual parts, but I never really felt a big payoff in terms of plot resolution. It felt more like a collection of short stories woven together in the same universe (which is fine) but the premise of the book is so grand and exciting that I kept hoping Boudinot would step up to the plate and really knock out a home run by weaving it all together but through the chaos towards the end I never really got that reward. Also I felt like the book couldn't decide whether it was science fiction or magical realism, which is fine, but I feel like in a sci-fi universe everything has a *somewhat* rational explanation, but some things were introduced and just left at the surreal level, which is fine. Jonathan Lethem's Amnesia Moon is a great book that also delves into an abstract reality, so in some ways I find it agreeable.

I liked the near future commentary about cloning and the bionet and apocalyptic scenarios. This is a big book in terms of having a lot going on and a lot of stories and ideas and imagery which really offsets the negatives, so definitely check it out if you love science fiction / magical realism / apocalypse fiction. I loved Woo-jin Kan, the seizure ridden award winning dish washer, I wish he had more presence in the book.

I'll definitely check out more of Boudinot, I think his writing is strong, I hope in the next book he ether makes a commitment to one genre, or figures out a way to better blend the two.

In the end, I need to think more about this book, there's so much going on and the crazy, chaotic world in this book is fascinating and really dark and fun.… (more)