Reviewed by nannah on
As with his other stuff I've read, John Scalzi's strength is in his dialogue, and definitely not in his prose, which kind of sucks, which makes sense that there's not really a lot of it. But unlike Lock In, which I adored, the whole only-dialogue technique didn't seem to work with this book, even if it's a comedy. The whole thing seemed kind of flat.
Initially, I thought the book was pretty fun, and I was really invested in what the mystery surrounding the f-ed up ship was going to be (even if the book had another one-girl-only-boy-group-thing which I despise). Halfway through, though, it ran into one too many subplots and complications, and the whole book began to seem nonsensical--and not in the way it was intended, I'm sure. Especially when the great reveal tried to use that plot device twice (if you read the book you'll know what I'm talking about).
What really destroyed the book for me though was its resolution . . . which happened on page 231 of 314. The rest of the book is divided into three "codas" that have no real relevance to the book, and just seemed unnecessary. They might have worked better after some incredibly touching novel or something where they were actually needed, but hanging behind as they were, I was yawning trying to just get to the end.
Reading updates
- Started reading
- 5 October, 2015: Finished reading
- 5 October, 2015: Reviewed