kstaff's review against another edition
1.0
DNF. I could barely get started. I was expecting a dystopian satire, not terrorism and holy wars.
thekarpuk's review against another edition
2.0
Pop Apocalypse reads like the treatment for a much bigger, more exciting book. The dystopia-lite setup involves a near future where you can essentially copyright your identity and charge people for its use in any context, aided by a search system that basically can tag an identity based on existing information. They even have a human reputation stock exchange so people can buy shares in a person's standing, fame, and success.
When it comes to books I buy on impulse, it starts with the cover. This book has a wonderful cover, it just jumps out at you. My next step is to read the first page. Not the back, the back is sales pitch. If I don't find their prose comfortable it's a no go, and I'm very picky. THEN I flip to the blurb explaining the story.
So we have solid prose, cool concept, spiffy cover. Should have been smooth sailing. But the protagonist and the plot are both lumps just sitting there letting every other element of the story do all the hard work.
The main character is supposed to come off as an oversexed jack ass son of a billionaire trying to straighten himself out. Unfortunately the author wants to have it both ways, trying to underscore his sexual escapades and misbehavior while trying to get us to relate to his flimsy moral issues. Eliot Vanderthorpe Jr. just comes off as boring, most of the plot arising from his impulsive behavior rather than any interesting growth or decisions.
As for the plot, it involves an doppleganger trying to steal his identity. Yes, all the creativity just oozing off of the setting and we get a plot device so tired it normally only crops up ironically or in soap operas. There's lots of great set up, including a hip hop ruler of the middle east and the possibility that someone can own the rights to the apocalypse, but the way Eliot moves through the story is really uninspired.
This book reminded me pretty readily of Jon Armstrong's "Grey". Both deal with whiny, unlikeable sons of very powerful men, both are set in a near-future dystopia with strong pop culture influences, both are trying to be funny but really only succeeding in being mildly zany, and both feel like awkward novels indicative of an authors who may some day right really amazing fiction.
Yes, he's getting a two for this one, but I'll probably pick up the next one he puts out.
When it comes to books I buy on impulse, it starts with the cover. This book has a wonderful cover, it just jumps out at you. My next step is to read the first page. Not the back, the back is sales pitch. If I don't find their prose comfortable it's a no go, and I'm very picky. THEN I flip to the blurb explaining the story.
So we have solid prose, cool concept, spiffy cover. Should have been smooth sailing. But the protagonist and the plot are both lumps just sitting there letting every other element of the story do all the hard work.
The main character is supposed to come off as an oversexed jack ass son of a billionaire trying to straighten himself out. Unfortunately the author wants to have it both ways, trying to underscore his sexual escapades and misbehavior while trying to get us to relate to his flimsy moral issues. Eliot Vanderthorpe Jr. just comes off as boring, most of the plot arising from his impulsive behavior rather than any interesting growth or decisions.
As for the plot, it involves an doppleganger trying to steal his identity. Yes, all the creativity just oozing off of the setting and we get a plot device so tired it normally only crops up ironically or in soap operas. There's lots of great set up, including a hip hop ruler of the middle east and the possibility that someone can own the rights to the apocalypse, but the way Eliot moves through the story is really uninspired.
This book reminded me pretty readily of Jon Armstrong's "Grey". Both deal with whiny, unlikeable sons of very powerful men, both are set in a near-future dystopia with strong pop culture influences, both are trying to be funny but really only succeeding in being mildly zany, and both feel like awkward novels indicative of an authors who may some day right really amazing fiction.
Yes, he's getting a two for this one, but I'll probably pick up the next one he puts out.
alhara's review against another edition
5.0
I picked up this book because it has apocalypse in the title, and a crazy cover with a cow. Cows and the apocalpse? How could I resist!
Then I read the book jacket. Uh... what? This sounds like some crazy crap. You know, when authors write REALLY bizarre stuff, and they're probably on drugs, and a lot of people like the book even though it's almost impossible for people to follow and it's just a bunch of shit (*coughHunterSThompsoncough*)? That's what it sounds like. Eh.
But I ran out of the type of apocalyptic books I usually read (zombies! explosions! survival!) so I started trying to get into this one.
Hmm... weird, yes, but cleverly so. And with a smart storyline.
I was going to give this 4 stars, but in light of all that I've given 4 stars, I think it's only fair to go with 5 on this. It's really a very amusing, clever, thought-provoking book. Even without zombies. And I think I have a crush on the author now. To write this, you must be a very hilarious person, although also, pretty weird.
Then I read the book jacket. Uh... what? This sounds like some crazy crap. You know, when authors write REALLY bizarre stuff, and they're probably on drugs, and a lot of people like the book even though it's almost impossible for people to follow and it's just a bunch of shit (*coughHunterSThompsoncough*)? That's what it sounds like. Eh.
But I ran out of the type of apocalyptic books I usually read (zombies! explosions! survival!) so I started trying to get into this one.
Hmm... weird, yes, but cleverly so. And with a smart storyline.
I was going to give this 4 stars, but in light of all that I've given 4 stars, I think it's only fair to go with 5 on this. It's really a very amusing, clever, thought-provoking book. Even without zombies. And I think I have a crush on the author now. To write this, you must be a very hilarious person, although also, pretty weird.
hollowspine's review
3.0
This book frightens me by just how realistically it forecasts the future. I could feel the wheels to create this world turning right here and now. It didn't help that at the time I was reading this I was at a wedding that felt at least somewhat peopled by those as vapid and image crazed as the characters in this book. I felt that the chapters leading to the real action of the novel were interesting in themselves, but when the author introduces the plot of the story it seemed a bit abrupt, one moment he's only concerned about getting away from his reality show, the next he's traveling into Riot Zones, risking his life and limbs to discover some strange conspiracy. That is my only real criticism of the novel. It had a lot of really funny moments, a lot of really frightening realizations that this could plausibly be the future, and uh...heart-rending drama that would engross the minds of reality television aficionados everywhere. The beginning starts out a little slowly, the only action seeming to take place elsewhere on television and doesn't seem to affect Eliot (the main character) at all, but the tension keeps growing until it's outside the character's door. His reaction to all of this is also hilarious. My favorite moment is when he gets rescued by the Eliot Vanderthorpe Brigade. Ohmygod!
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