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lara_not_croft's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
mysterious
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
5.0
joosty's review against another edition
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
2.5
darameja's review
5.0
Fast-paced and thought-provoking novel. I could not put it away. Those images of the dead worlds will stay with me.
ghostmuppet's review
3.0
An interesting read - a whole load of Earth's with different apocalypses. The synopsis sounded great - they story just fell a little short. Maybe I was expecting too many alternatives, and what there were - were a little weird (bee heads).
That all said, this was a fun and fairly short read. Stand alone, so you don't need any further reading. A solid 3 - maybe a 3.5
That all said, this was a fun and fairly short read. Stand alone, so you don't need any further reading. A solid 3 - maybe a 3.5
appo's review
3.0
Three stars feels like a 'wow this was terrible', and it's not - it's a 'wow, this was average'.
Don't get me wrong - post apocalyptica? Travel to alternate earths? I'm all over that shit. The plot moves along at a decent pace, the writing is accessible, the worlds are well built, the disasters are horrifying and fascinating and wonderful and terrible. On the flip side of that, the characterisation of the humans involved is at times shallow, and a lot of the twists can be seen coming several miles off. There's one character in particular who may or may not exist purely as a deus ex machina - though it's at least done in a way that leaves me intrigued rather than annoyed. The ending resolves itself nicely while leaving itself open for sequels, though if there are any I sincerely hope the author doesn't rely too much on recycled character development from this one.
Come for the end of the world, and stay for the end of several others. But don't expect too much from the people.
Don't get me wrong - post apocalyptica? Travel to alternate earths? I'm all over that shit. The plot moves along at a decent pace, the writing is accessible, the worlds are well built, the disasters are horrifying and fascinating and wonderful and terrible. On the flip side of that, the characterisation of the humans involved is at times shallow, and a lot of the twists can be seen coming several miles off. There's one character in particular who may or may not exist purely as a deus ex machina - though it's at least done in a way that leaves me intrigued rather than annoyed. The ending resolves itself nicely while leaving itself open for sequels, though if there are any I sincerely hope the author doesn't rely too much on recycled character development from this one.
Come for the end of the world, and stay for the end of several others. But don't expect too much from the people.
porsane's review
3.0
Taut murder mystery involving a diverse group of people, all of whom have been rescued from parallel Earths that have suffered a catastrophe leaving them the sole survivors. Nicely plotted, with some well thought out settings and characters.
vinayvasan's review
3.0
Post apocalyptic fare, multiverses, and conspiracies keep this book chugging along as an interesting premise plays its part in a what is a fast paced thriller with a great case, right from the lead to his support. Theres a fair bit of hand waving around and a few open threads which prevent this book from being rated higher
wordsofapaige's review
4.0
Jerry Beche is rescued from his own extinct universe by a group of people known only as ‘The Authority’, he soon discovers that he is in a parallel universe, and has been recruited as a pathfinder. The pathfinders are a group of people who explore apocalyptic parallel universes,however there is something about the Authority that isn’t quite right.
This book throws you into the action, and left me reeling at the first chapter, I struggled to initially get my head around what was happening, but as information is given to the reader things became clearer. This meant I was able to actually get into the book. After that I was unable to put it down. Extinction Game takes the overworked dystopian genre and gives it an exciting twist. There are many apocalyptic parallel universes, all with imaginative reasons for their demise. The characters are well fleshed out and interesting.
The only negative point I have about this novel is that perhaps it ended too quickly. The last quarter of the book is a race to get information and move the plot along, and everything is resolved pretty quickly. But then, it didn’t leave the reader wanting more, as the main plot lines were resolved, and the story is explained thoroughly.
I would recommend this book to others, as it is such an interesting take on such a popular genre at the moment.
This book throws you into the action, and left me reeling at the first chapter, I struggled to initially get my head around what was happening, but as information is given to the reader things became clearer. This meant I was able to actually get into the book. After that I was unable to put it down. Extinction Game takes the overworked dystopian genre and gives it an exciting twist. There are many apocalyptic parallel universes, all with imaginative reasons for their demise. The characters are well fleshed out and interesting.
The only negative point I have about this novel is that perhaps it ended too quickly. The last quarter of the book is a race to get information and move the plot along, and everything is resolved pretty quickly. But then, it didn’t leave the reader wanting more, as the main plot lines were resolved, and the story is explained thoroughly.
I would recommend this book to others, as it is such an interesting take on such a popular genre at the moment.
lordofthemoon's review
3.0
Jerry Beche is, he believes, the last person left alive, after a doomsday cult engineered a virus which wiped out humanity. So he's, to say the least, surprised, when a groups appears out of nowhere and plucks him away to an island paradise where he joins other end of the world survivors in the hunt for more people and technology. The snag: they're not people from his world, but other last (or almost last) survivors of their own parallel worlds, all brought together by the mysterious Authority for an equally mysterious purpose.
Although Jerry seems like your out and out survivalist type to start with, we also see his fragility and the (failing) coping mechanisms that he used to keep going in a world where he believed he was utterly alone. His fellow "pathfinders" don't get as much in-depth treatment, but are still fleshed out fairly well. I wasn't entirely convinced by Chloe,I'm not convinced that having been in love with one version of Jerry, she would fall so quickly into the embrace of the second, but that's a reasonably minor gripe.
The mystery of the Authority, and the trustworthiness of the other pathfinders is intriguing and kept me going through the book, and Jerry is a likeable first person narrator with just enough unreliability to keep things interesting, without being frustrating. The ending was self-contained so you don't need to run away and read the second book in the series, and, to be honest, I'm happy with the way it ended, so I probably won't.
Although Jerry seems like your out and out survivalist type to start with, we also see his fragility and the (failing) coping mechanisms that he used to keep going in a world where he believed he was utterly alone. His fellow "pathfinders" don't get as much in-depth treatment, but are still fleshed out fairly well. I wasn't entirely convinced by Chloe,
The mystery of the Authority, and the trustworthiness of the other pathfinders is intriguing and kept me going through the book, and Jerry is a likeable first person narrator with just enough unreliability to keep things interesting, without being frustrating. The ending was self-contained so you don't need to run away and read the second book in the series, and, to be honest, I'm happy with the way it ended, so I probably won't.
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