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cherubssong's review against another edition
4.0
I was paranoid about gut worms for a good month after this book.
It sucked me in and I lapped up word after word as though I were dehydrated to the point of near-death. It just enraptured me with it's pacing and premise within the first half and I was curious as to how it would progress.
The second half (or maybe the last quater) seemed to be rushed and I almost had whiplash by the end of the book. But I held onto each chapter and enjoyed the entirety of Grant's writing style. I do wish it was a stand alone novel, though.
It sucked me in and I lapped up word after word as though I were dehydrated to the point of near-death. It just enraptured me with it's pacing and premise within the first half and I was curious as to how it would progress.
The second half (or maybe the last quater) seemed to be rushed and I almost had whiplash by the end of the book. But I held onto each chapter and enjoyed the entirety of Grant's writing style. I do wish it was a stand alone novel, though.
timinbc's review against another edition
2.0
Hugo nominee? Pfui.
Luckily, it's not a likely winner, if only because Ancillary Justice was so good, and Grimnoir 3 was darn fine too despite the controversy about it.
This was a smooth, easy read for about halfway. Then it bogged down a bit, and I started noticing that it was feeling a bit like a Dan Brown, a beach book, an airport book. Not in a league with Bacigalupi and Miéville and several other masters of the craft.
First, as others have noticed, the basic premise requires a huge suspension of disbelief. By 2020-something we'll have millions of people all wormed up just like that. See, if it was something simple like antigravity or FTL I could believe that someone made a breakthrough, and built prototypes, and they worked, and the builders built, and away we go. But tapeworms? Heck, if we started now we'd just be getting the hearings to discuss the shape of the table for the meetings that will determine what courts might have jurisdiction over the thousands of lawsuits from - just to name one - Big Pharma.
Second, I wasn't impressed by the handwaving on how this all worked. A little of this, a little of that, a touch of this other thing and zoing! we have something that can AT THE SAME TIME go all biblical on every disease ever known, and also do that other thing that would be a spoiler if I mentioned it. Again, this is not very far from mixing sulphur and titanium with a pinch of argon and coming up with Cavorite so we can fly to the moon. Dropping in Latin names is just smoke screening.
But, as I said, if you read fast enough you can get past that and just follow the plot. Which is decent until it goes all zombie on us, and don't bother with the "No, no, they aren't zombies"; geez, at one point they're even walking with their arms extended. And of course they're super fast and super strong; oh wait, isn't it vampires that do that?
Then we start to get more and more of Nathan, who makes Barbie's friend Ken look like a hobo. He's so nice I wanted to go brush my teeth. As Terry Pratchett put it, he made my fists itch.
Maybe Nathan got all the nice that Sally's Dad spilled. Because he is right up there with Jar Jar Binks and Thomas from Downton Abbey as the jerkiest jerk ever jerked into existence by an author. Every scene he was in was spoiled by his presence.
And don't get me started on Sally's mother, a classic enabler and passive observer, and probably a victim of domestic abuse. If they made a movie of this, her part could be handled by editing in old clips of Edith Bunker. Except no, because Edith occasionally showed some spine.
Dr. Banks is unctuous, but I suppose it's reasonable within the plot for him to be that. Dr. C and some others are also acceptably odd, just what a plot needs to keep it moving.
Tansy is ridiculous, but at least amusing; really she's Strax the Sontaran from Doctor Who.
And the drums. Which were probably mentioned 200 times in the book, AND NEVER EXPLAINED. From the ending, you can make your own explanation, but even so, it would have been enough to mention them six or seven times.
Still, to be fair, I enjoyed the book for about 2/3 of it, then it just lost me. I finished it, but enjoyed it less with each page.
Hugo nominee? Not if the awards are still for excellence, which they claims they are.
Lookit, we're talking about this author having a chance to be listed with Zelazny, Asimov, Clarke, Niven, Heinlein, Leiber, Anderson, Dick, Doc Smith, Silverberg, Bujold, Le Guin, Farmer, Vinge, Card, Bacigalupi, Miéville, .... and no, much as I admire Scalzi, HE doesn't fit there either (at least not for Redshirts!)
Luckily, it's not a likely winner, if only because Ancillary Justice was so good, and Grimnoir 3 was darn fine too despite the controversy about it.
This was a smooth, easy read for about halfway. Then it bogged down a bit, and I started noticing that it was feeling a bit like a Dan Brown, a beach book, an airport book. Not in a league with Bacigalupi and Miéville and several other masters of the craft.
First, as others have noticed, the basic premise requires a huge suspension of disbelief. By 2020-something we'll have millions of people all wormed up just like that. See, if it was something simple like antigravity or FTL I could believe that someone made a breakthrough, and built prototypes, and they worked, and the builders built, and away we go. But tapeworms? Heck, if we started now we'd just be getting the hearings to discuss the shape of the table for the meetings that will determine what courts might have jurisdiction over the thousands of lawsuits from - just to name one - Big Pharma.
Second, I wasn't impressed by the handwaving on how this all worked. A little of this, a little of that, a touch of this other thing and zoing! we have something that can AT THE SAME TIME go all biblical on every disease ever known, and also do that other thing that would be a spoiler if I mentioned it. Again, this is not very far from mixing sulphur and titanium with a pinch of argon and coming up with Cavorite so we can fly to the moon. Dropping in Latin names is just smoke screening.
But, as I said, if you read fast enough you can get past that and just follow the plot. Which is decent until it goes all zombie on us, and don't bother with the "No, no, they aren't zombies"; geez, at one point they're even walking with their arms extended. And of course they're super fast and super strong; oh wait, isn't it vampires that do that?
Then we start to get more and more of Nathan, who makes Barbie's friend Ken look like a hobo. He's so nice I wanted to go brush my teeth. As Terry Pratchett put it, he made my fists itch.
Maybe Nathan got all the nice that Sally's Dad spilled. Because he is right up there with Jar Jar Binks and Thomas from Downton Abbey as the jerkiest jerk ever jerked into existence by an author. Every scene he was in was spoiled by his presence.
And don't get me started on Sally's mother, a classic enabler and passive observer, and probably a victim of domestic abuse. If they made a movie of this, her part could be handled by editing in old clips of Edith Bunker. Except no, because Edith occasionally showed some spine.
Dr. Banks is unctuous, but I suppose it's reasonable within the plot for him to be that. Dr. C and some others are also acceptably odd, just what a plot needs to keep it moving.
Tansy is ridiculous, but at least amusing; really she's Strax the Sontaran from Doctor Who.
And the drums. Which were probably mentioned 200 times in the book, AND NEVER EXPLAINED. From the ending, you can make your own explanation, but even so, it would have been enough to mention them six or seven times.
Still, to be fair, I enjoyed the book for about 2/3 of it, then it just lost me. I finished it, but enjoyed it less with each page.
Hugo nominee? Not if the awards are still for excellence, which they claims they are.
Lookit, we're talking about this author having a chance to be listed with Zelazny, Asimov, Clarke, Niven, Heinlein, Leiber, Anderson, Dick, Doc Smith, Silverberg, Bujold, Le Guin, Farmer, Vinge, Card, Bacigalupi, Miéville, .... and no, much as I admire Scalzi, HE doesn't fit there either (at least not for Redshirts!)
thatzed's review against another edition
dark
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
4.0
veraann's review against another edition
3.0
Was a bit slow moving. There really wasn't a ton of action, but it was pretty interesting read. Not completely believable of a concept, but entertaining. The main character was made interesting by the supporting characters more than Sal, herself.
Reminded me slightly of a Crichton novel in the medical thriller, with sc-Fi mix.
Reminded me slightly of a Crichton novel in the medical thriller, with sc-Fi mix.
whimsicalmeerkat's review against another edition
3.0
Not only did she phone it in, she telegraphed the ending. I’m still going to read the next one.
leflambeur's review against another edition
4.0
So far this looks like another zombie series, but with a twist relating to the main character. The twist is not revealed in the book.
As always, with a book by Mira Grant there is good bio-science behind the story makes it plausable and great character development makes it fun to read.
If you liked any of the Newsflesh trilogy you'll enjoy this.
As always, with a book by Mira Grant there is good bio-science behind the story makes it plausable and great character development makes it fun to read.
If you liked any of the Newsflesh trilogy you'll enjoy this.
glowsheep's review against another edition
dark
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.0
kat7890erina's review against another edition
3.0
The premise of this is quite interesting - that science has provided the answer to all our health woes in the form of a simple intestinal parasite - however, I didn't find Sal to be an interesting enough character for me to follow on with the series. I mean, even the other characters say she's dull