tbr_tyrant's review
adventurous
dark
emotional
funny
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Plot
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.5
raincorbyn's review
3.0
An impulse pulp purchase I'm glad I made. Cooper is legitimately funny here, and his satire biting and prescient, while roasting both the pearl clutchers and flower children of the 70s in the way that absurd SF can at its best.
Kronk is as madcap as it is messy, though, and the "jaunty" sexual violence is intensely uncomfortable, even if the purpose is clearly using satire to point out one of many inevitable outcomes of state control over bodies.
Kronk is as madcap as it is messy, though, and the "jaunty" sexual violence is intensely uncomfortable, even if the purpose is clearly using satire to point out one of many inevitable outcomes of state control over bodies.
david611's review
4.0
Kronk!
This was a surprising good novel; an entertaining story in action-adventure style. And at the same time satirical, funny at times, becoming interesting in its later parts. Containing quite a high amount of carnal knowledge and also some ideas which I thought were weird indeed, it paid off for all that it made me think.
While I could have given the book a 3-stars, it was in its final-third that made me really like the book more.
A venereal disease becomes the cause of inhibition of aggression, and the story imparts in various ways as to what could be its repercussions.
This provides us to contemplate on how aggression, although which could be harmful can also be important and needful, without which a man could not quite be a man, and life could [maybe] become eventually boring.
At the same time, the story also calls for understanding the implications of bio-technologically, badly created 'germs'.
Having read this book, written by Edmund Cooper [and him being a Brit (I love British SF)], and also considering that his writing was neat and to the point, I would love to read more of his works. :)
This was a surprising good novel; an entertaining story in action-adventure style. And at the same time satirical, funny at times, becoming interesting in its later parts. Containing quite a high amount of carnal knowledge and also some ideas which I thought were weird indeed, it paid off for all that it made me think.
While I could have given the book a 3-stars, it was in its final-third that made me really like the book more.
A venereal disease becomes the cause of inhibition of aggression, and the story imparts in various ways as to what could be its repercussions.
This provides us to contemplate on how aggression, although which could be harmful can also be important and needful, without which a man could not quite be a man, and life could [maybe] become eventually boring.
At the same time, the story also calls for understanding the implications of bio-technologically, badly created 'germs'.
Having read this book, written by Edmund Cooper [and him being a Brit (I love British SF)], and also considering that his writing was neat and to the point, I would love to read more of his works. :)
sexton_blake's review
4.0
A laboratory-developed venereal disease causes three symptoms. First, you get horny. Second, you get hungry. Third, you become incapable of violence. Peace, love, and the munchies. This could only be a novel of the 1970s, and as such its ribald humour transgresses some contemporary standards (a woman being gang-raped would never today be recounted with a nod and a wink) but, if you can keep the socio-political context front of mind, you’ll find a great deal to enjoy here. The satire is biting, the writing is sharp, and the plot is entertainingly madcap. This has definitely put Edmund Cooper near the top of my “must read more of” list.
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