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chillcox15's review against another edition
4.0
The reaction to this book on here is pretty wild! But I get it. It's a book about the internet and Trump (much more about the internet than it actually is about Trump, and titling it Trump Sky Alpha is a bit thirsty), and it uses the language of the meme internet, which will most likely age like an avocado left behind during a vacation. I went into the novel extremely skeptical, thinking it would so easily miss the miniscule target that writing this kind of novel calls for. But, to my surprise, the way that Doten conjures the last tweets before the end of the world actually strikes me as quite sorrowful and touching. What else can we do when we are being vaporized by nuclear bombs but say 'TFW the apocalypse hits'? The notion of a fantasia of dead memes parading through our digital dreamscape as the president elected by the internet kills us all feels right in its own pathetic, horrid way. I cared a bit less for the way the novel ends in its last two sections, but I don't necessarily agree that it does a disservice to the protagonist to have her go through the rather long torture sequence-- in fact, more media would benefit from not treating its heroes as invulnerable to danger at that degree.
chloe_truby's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
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? No
2.25
otterno11's review
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
tense
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? No
3.25
All in all, I think it's pretty well established that Trump and his administration are beyond parody. Novelist Mark Doten’s Trump Sky Alpha is, I think, the most successful such work I’ve seen, but how successful it is may be a little bit subjective. Dense and difficult, there is a lot going on in this dark, tangled vision of a world devastated by Trump’s instigation of global nuclear war after an attack shut the internet down for days, making it a thought-provoking but muddled work.
In the confused aftermath of the war, a journalist holed up in the Foshay Tower in a Minneapolis under the nominal administration of some military authority is tasked by the surviving editor of the NYT (now based out of Modesto) to report on internet humor at the end of the world, in exchange for passage to the place her wife and daughter died. Doten utilizes a variety of writing style choices to tackle the absurdity of Trump, making the choices, for instance, to begin the novel with something like 20 pages of stream-of-consciousness type narration broken up by only four or so periods and a smattering of commas, a grueling passage depicting Trump’s great zeppelin from which he issues his televised messages and ushers in atomic war. Even more than Trump himself, Doten aims much of his scathing ire towards the internet culture that birthed the Trump administration in the first place, which brings to mind the subject of my last entry. As the journalist tracks down those responsible for the apocalyptic online humor that some are convinced led to the war itself, she is dogged by memories of the before times, grief for her family, and for a world lost to a breakdown of reality.
I discuss this and other works of post-apocalyptic literature focusing on our current US political climate at Harris' Tome Corner
In the confused aftermath of the war, a journalist holed up in the Foshay Tower in a Minneapolis under the nominal administration of some military authority is tasked by the surviving editor of the NYT (now based out of Modesto) to report on internet humor at the end of the world, in exchange for passage to the place her wife and daughter died. Doten utilizes a variety of writing style choices to tackle the absurdity of Trump, making the choices, for instance, to begin the novel with something like 20 pages of stream-of-consciousness type narration broken up by only four or so periods and a smattering of commas, a grueling passage depicting Trump’s great zeppelin from which he issues his televised messages and ushers in atomic war. Even more than Trump himself, Doten aims much of his scathing ire towards the internet culture that birthed the Trump administration in the first place, which brings to mind the subject of my last entry. As the journalist tracks down those responsible for the apocalyptic online humor that some are convinced led to the war itself, she is dogged by memories of the before times, grief for her family, and for a world lost to a breakdown of reality.
I discuss this and other works of post-apocalyptic literature focusing on our current US political climate at Harris' Tome Corner
servemethesky's review against another edition
1.0
This was the worst book I’ve read in 2019 by a long shot. It was recommended to me by my brother-in-law because he has a connection to the author, so he definitely got some angry texts about it 😂
While the author nails Trump’s voice, it’s interesting at first then gets dull as dirt towards the end of the book- it all sounds the same and drags on for far too long.
The first 1/3 of the book had me intrigued. A post apocalyptic world and a need to rebuild? Fascinating!
Then we roll into the Birdcrash compound and are treated to 80 pages of a sociopath drilling holes in a woman’s skull and pouring acid inside to rewire her brain and I wanted to throw the book at a damn wall.
I hoped the book would somehow tie it all together in the end, but there was nothing to redeem the gruesome madness we endured as readers. The book is purposeless. Big swing and a miss, Mark Doten.
While the author nails Trump’s voice, it’s interesting at first then gets dull as dirt towards the end of the book- it all sounds the same and drags on for far too long.
The first 1/3 of the book had me intrigued. A post apocalyptic world and a need to rebuild? Fascinating!
Then we roll into the Birdcrash compound and are treated to 80 pages of a sociopath drilling holes in a woman’s skull and pouring acid inside to rewire her brain and I wanted to throw the book at a damn wall.
I hoped the book would somehow tie it all together in the end, but there was nothing to redeem the gruesome madness we endured as readers. The book is purposeless. Big swing and a miss, Mark Doten.
dancpharmd's review against another edition
1.0
This book is a mess. It's a gigantic run-on sentence and nearly impossible to read. The author is not as witty as he thinks he is.
cortreads's review against another edition
4.0
3.75 stars
This was really good. There were just a few glaring flaws that prevented it from getting more stars. I saw one review say that this book was a rambling mess and I agree, however that kind of worked for me in this case. I think it worked because the internet is a rambling mess and Trump is a rambling mess. I highly recommend the audiobook. The narrator, Christina Delaine is amazing. I hope to listen to many more books narrated by her. She did a great Trump impersonation. You won’t like this book if you are a Trump supporter. Trump Sky Alpha is about the fear of WWIII and the internet and resisting the government and oppression, but it doesn’t go much deeper than that. All of it’s themes are said outright, which is something I don’t particularly like. It does have an open ending, but it works for the novel and won’t leave you upset. I mentioned that Christina Delaine does a Trump impression and that was great at the beginning, but in the middle there was a 40 minute rambling Trump speech that didn’t need to be there or it didn’t need to be as long. I get what Mark Doten was going for with this specific speech, but it was unnecessary and bogged down the story.
This was really good. There were just a few glaring flaws that prevented it from getting more stars. I saw one review say that this book was a rambling mess and I agree, however that kind of worked for me in this case. I think it worked because the internet is a rambling mess and Trump is a rambling mess. I highly recommend the audiobook. The narrator, Christina Delaine is amazing. I hope to listen to many more books narrated by her. She did a great Trump impersonation. You won’t like this book if you are a Trump supporter. Trump Sky Alpha is about the fear of WWIII and the internet and resisting the government and oppression, but it doesn’t go much deeper than that. All of it’s themes are said outright, which is something I don’t particularly like. It does have an open ending, but it works for the novel and won’t leave you upset. I mentioned that Christina Delaine does a Trump impression and that was great at the beginning, but in the middle there was a 40 minute rambling Trump speech that didn’t need to be there or it didn’t need to be as long. I get what Mark Doten was going for with this specific speech, but it was unnecessary and bogged down the story.
kmk182's review against another edition
1.0
I'm going one star here because I think this is a love or hate book. Your mileage will vary depending on your political leanings; but beyond that I just found a rambling mess. The book is basically a s---post come to life.
margheritabruttini's review against another edition
mysterious
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
starburns's review against another edition
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.75