Ryan

I bought the book off of the back of the first which I thought was brilliant. A great look back on 80s pop culture, pulled forward to futuristic setting. The second book, however, I found a chore to read. So much so that I’ve still not finished it, and have no real desire to pick it up again. The biggest issue is that it’s just an almost word for word rehash of the first book. You never feel like there’s anything particularly exciting around the corner. It’s a very slow plod through the same story. The other issue I have with it, I’ll try and deal with as sensitively as possible. Cline has obviously decided, since writing his first book, that he wants to bring in more “liberal” views which is absolutely fine. The way he does this, however, is very clumsy. Firstly, the main character has now become a total arse. No reason is given for this except he has decided that, as a white man, he should be. He’s also now bisexual even though he’s infatuated by the same woman he was infatuated with before. We also have a new cast of racially diverse characters who seem to be shunted in, without any real thought other than that to show that they’re there. And then we get to Halliday who, having not had a bad word spoken about him in the previous book, is a racist, misogynistic sexual predator who is unrelenting in getting what he wants. Odd that this was never mentioned before, considering how well the characters were supposed to know the man and all the evidence being freely available. Now there’s not necessarily anything wrong with anything above, except it doesn’t feel at place with the same characters. It just all feels.... forced. I don’t think this was the original story arc the writer wanted to take, but took it in the wake of the recent movements across the west. If he had have wanted to go this way, why not create a simultaneous cast, with new backgrounds, exploring this universe with a different view of it? Make the main character be that person. Black. Gay. Disabled. Whatever. But give them their back story carved that way from the start. Don’t demote these people to an afterthought. So, in summary; this book is incredibly beige. No new ideas and a serious lack of direction of character and storyline. Give it a miss.