It was a really interesting read, but also pretty wordy at times. The author doesn’t ease you into the world at all. you’re dropped straight into this sci-fi setting with very little explanation, and you’re expected to figure things out as you go. I know that’s intentional, and ties into the themes of the book (Chinese Room and all that), but it was still confusing for me in places. There were moments where I felt like I was missing context and just had to trust that it would eventually make sense.
The humor also didn’t always land for me. It’s very dry and layered with sarcasm, to the point where I sometimes couldn’t tell if something was meant to be funny or just bleak. Theres also a lot of sexual innuendos and comments that didn’t always seem to fit into the story. Or just caught me off guard. The style worked for the tone of the story, but it made it a little harder for me to connect with some scenes.
Overall though, I’m glad I read it. It’s a fun, thoughtful sci-fi book that really makes you stop and think about consciousness, intelligence, and what it means to be “aware.” Not the easiest read, but definitely an interesting one.
If you’re into sci-fi that challenges you and doesn’t explain everything up front, I’d say give it a shot.
by Caffeine_And_Regret
2 Comments
Got almost half through this one before quitting, I just found it outright boring. It might have a bit to do with the audiobook narrator too though, but I recall some vampire(?) – it was just pretty weird. There was a good scifi concept, but a lot of unnecessary weirdness, for lack of a better word, thrown in on top.
It took me ages to finish this book. I kept falling asleep while reading.
Extremely interesting topics and ideas, but the exposition was nearly intolerable