Reviews

Neon Lotus by Marc Laidlaw

roytoo's review

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adventurous hopeful informative 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

Neon Lotus was an interesting story about future Tibet. I know very little about Tibetian Buddhism so I have no idea how accurate some of the plot might be.

annaswan's review

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3.0

That was odd! Quite a different quest narrative than I'm used to. Fun, though.

sciencefair200's review

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4.0

A really promising book, but some iffy writing choices soured it.

While this book was probably ahead of its time, the main character should have been Tibetan; there's really no reason for her to have been a white girl from California by way of Switzerland. It makes some of the imagery really creepy. There was also one erotic scene that came right out of nowhere and felt ridiculously fanfic-y, and not in the good way.

But the psychadelic imagery, the fascinating mix of Tibetan tradition and far-future technology, and the interesting handling of death and reincarnation make it worth a look, despite the iffy elements. I can believe this is a future that could happen, which is a big compliment for a book from the 80s.

Four stars.
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