Helpful Score: 4
I heard about this after an interview on NPR. They're correct in that it is a very interesting premise, a unique apocalypse dystopia.
I knew it was originally a short story, and it was self-published, but I didn't realize it was serialized, because, man, there is a LOT of repetition and reiteration of what just happened. It's about 200 pages too long (it's 508 pages - so I'm not exaggerating). If they had bothered to mention this serialization on the back cover or at the intro, I probably wouldn't have been so bored half the time and would have started skimming sections - which I eventually did start doing around page 300. I know it's a first book , but damn, find someone who can edit your work.
That said, it's an interesting psychological study of humanity in confinement, and the lies necessary to keep society functioning. I still have some trouble suspending disbelief at the idea of no elevators in the construction of a 130 story underground silo, and people accepting that computers can't transfer messages via email, despite everyday use, and phones and radio technology could be 'lost'. I guess you have to accept that Big Brother can enforce ignorance and curiosity can be weeded out of the gene pool in two or three generations.
There are neat ideas here, but most of it reads like a cautionary dystopia YA novel - I thought about "The Giver" a lot while reading this. Frankly, the scenario in "The Hunger Games" is better. It was better than "Divergent" but only because of the technical details about engineering (and man, there are a lot of them!)
I knew it was originally a short story, and it was self-published, but I didn't realize it was serialized, because, man, there is a LOT of repetition and reiteration of what just happened. It's about 200 pages too long (it's 508 pages - so I'm not exaggerating). If they had bothered to mention this serialization on the back cover or at the intro, I probably wouldn't have been so bored half the time and would have started skimming sections - which I eventually did start doing around page 300. I know it's a first book , but damn, find someone who can edit your work.
That said, it's an interesting psychological study of humanity in confinement, and the lies necessary to keep society functioning. I still have some trouble suspending disbelief at the idea of no elevators in the construction of a 130 story underground silo, and people accepting that computers can't transfer messages via email, despite everyday use, and phones and radio technology could be 'lost'. I guess you have to accept that Big Brother can enforce ignorance and curiosity can be weeded out of the gene pool in two or three generations.
There are neat ideas here, but most of it reads like a cautionary dystopia YA novel - I thought about "The Giver" a lot while reading this. Frankly, the scenario in "The Hunger Games" is better. It was better than "Divergent" but only because of the technical details about engineering (and man, there are a lot of them!)
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