Scan barcode
rocko_granato's review
This book has a very interesting concept but is lacking in execution. Some of the dialogue was virtually incomprehensible to me without in-depth knowledge of the varieties of London accents from which you are required to extrapolate the future characters lingo. I would have turned to a translation for easier access but (unsuprisingly) there is none.
idklena's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
1.0
read this for uni, sucked ass
alexclare's review
3.0
A vivid picture of how and action can spark a future, full of deep images but lost its way towards the end.
mathew's review
4.0
In this satire of organized religion, a depressed bigoted London taxi driver writes a series of extended rants about his ex-wife and other everyday frustrations. He buries them in her back garden for his estranged son to find, but instead they are discovered in a half-submerged London of the distant future and turned into the national religion. The priests are Drivers, viewing the Passengers of their congregation using rear view mirrors as they intone prayers which are corrupted versions of The Knowledge. Children spend half the week with their mothers, half with their fathers, as ordained by holy law, fathers only being permitted to speak to mothers about "childsupport".
The present-day sections of the book have Dave's random unspoken thoughts interjected into the text in italics. The far future sections have dialog mostly in Mokni, a future tongue based on Cockney with elements of text messaging and early 20th Century culture. (Religious rites of the future are conducted in "Arpee", i.e. RP.) This will likely make the book heavy going for anyone not from the London area, though there's a glossary at the back.
In addition, the ebook version from the publisher is fairly obviously a badly corrected OCR of the printed book, which is disappointing and distracting, but sadly not unusual for books first published by small publishers before 2010.
The present-day sections of the book have Dave's random unspoken thoughts interjected into the text in italics. The far future sections have dialog mostly in Mokni, a future tongue based on Cockney with elements of text messaging and early 20th Century culture. (Religious rites of the future are conducted in "Arpee", i.e. RP.) This will likely make the book heavy going for anyone not from the London area, though there's a glossary at the back.
In addition, the ebook version from the publisher is fairly obviously a badly corrected OCR of the printed book, which is disappointing and distracting, but sadly not unusual for books first published by small publishers before 2010.
More...