Reviewed by -- Bookaholic
Book Review of --
Darwinia by Robert
Charles Wilson
My overall star rating
--- 3
About the book:
In 1912, history was changed by the Miracle, when the old world of Europe was replaced by Darwinia, a strange land of nightmarish jungle and antedeluvian monsters. To some, the Miracle is an act of divine retribution; to others, it is an opportunity to carve out a new empire.
Leaving American now ruled by religious fundamentalism, young Guilford Law travels to Darwinia on a mission of discovery that will take him further than he can possibly imagine...to a shattering revelation about mankind's destiny in the universe.
Book creation ratings:
Overall total, out of
30 -- 17
-- Story &
characters -- 4
-- Cover & title
-- 6
-- Editing &
formatting -- 9
* based on a 1-10
scale with: 1-4, poor; 5-7, good; 8-10,
very good.*
The review --
This book
started with an interesting premise: Europe disappears and is replaced by a
primeval and alien wilderness. Unfortunately, the story itself failed to grab
me. It began like an explorer's journal from 1912, heavy on description of
strange lifeforms, but dry and detached. We saw only a plodding journey
upriver, followed by the expected mishaps, disasters, and deaths. There was a
subplot with the main protagonist's wife, and another one with an American
ner-do-well who seems to commune with spirits. These plots didn't seem
engaging either. The story became interesting when the alien city
appeared...but then all of a sudden we had the Demons. A whole new raft of
weird concepts and terms were thrown at us. "Ontosphere"? "Turing packets"? Are the culprits some kind of
cyberpunk-style berserk computers? I like galactic strangeness, but it should
make some sort of sense. Instead, the denouement comes as a horror movie with
demon possession, monsters, and, um, gun battles? Really? You can fight
world-destroying demons with bullets??
This author has a way
with prose, but my reaction to most of this was "I don't get
it".
Reader Recommendations
Genre -- Science
fiction
Age recommendations -- 12. Suited for any
age.
Sex content rating -- No real sex
scenes.
Violence rating -- Moderate violence, not
too
graphic
** The author's links
for **
Amazon
Amazon author page
Website
Twitter
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