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serendipitysbooks's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? A mix
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
The Appliance reads like an interconnected collection of short stories. The one thing they have in common is the appliance, a machine that can transport matter from place to place. The first story involves a prototype of the the machine being trialled. It’s clunky, slow, noisy and somewhat underwhelming. But as the novel progresses so does the technology, until every home has it’s own transporter unit and people use them for routine travel and all sorts of other purposes. It reaches into people’s lives in ways that would have been unimaginable at the beginning. This was a sobering look at the trust we put in technology and the large corporations that own and operate it, the power that it (and they) exerts over our lives and what that may be costing us. As I read it was all too easy to draw parallels between what was happening in the story and technologies, companies and events of the real world. However the storytelling and its message was subtle, not heavy handed which I appreciated.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault
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