Reviews

Immortality Inc. by Robert Sheckley

leovonahn's review against another edition

adventurous dark mysterious reflective fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

andgineer's review against another edition

2.0

У Шекли есть великолепные рассказы, но эта повесть ужасна по качеству - как сюжет дешевого фильма.
Все выглядит очень слабо продуманным, схематичным.
До ужаса плоское и картонное.

cosmicrusalka's review against another edition

4.0

Definitely dated, but had some Futurama vibes and that was fun.

ogreart's review against another edition

4.0

Good, old-fashioned sci-fi classic. What would happen if man could scientifically prove life after death? Interesting look at a future society where this has happened.

aimlesssatellite's review against another edition

adventurous funny hopeful inspiring mysterious reflective medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? N/A
• Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.5

I'm not giving it 5 stars because it was so short! Robert was a genius. I could read him describing a pear and it would be mind-blowing 

bobpony's review against another edition

2.0

This is a relic of another time. It's from 1959, but it reads as though it were written in the 30's or early 40's. The plot is convoluted - one moment you're flying in an air-car equipped with flight sticks and 'vanes', the next you're being chased by zombies. And then you're a hunter straight out of 'The Most Dangerous Game'. Then hanging out with gangster types. Or raiding a crypt. Or sailing the south sea islands. The story just ping pongs here, there, and everywhere, never in depth, leaving the feeling of an old serial chapter play. It's kind of Buck Rogers mixed with The Crimson Ghost (maybe...I just had to google 'a spooky chapter play', lol). There's that swerving story with lots of cliffhangers. The characters are no better. Extremely shallow, barely described, with motivations that spin on a dime. "Oh, I couldn't possibly hunt and kill a man, my character won't allow it...but then again, you did make a good point there, so, ok, I'm in". Dialog like that. Ugh. Too much of the story is told via exposition, often in the form of the main character's internal dialog. It's boring. Can you tell that I didn't like this book? It's just so...flat and basic. A bad effort. It actually put me off reading for a couple of days, I had a hard time coming back to finish this, but I knew that I was 2/3's of the way through and had to do it. Blah. There are some interesting twists and ideas here. But none of them are presented in anything resembling a thoughtful or cohesive manner. I really did think it was written in the 40's, and was stunned when I finished and saw it was from 1959. Avoid this one.

wannabekingpin's review against another edition

4.0

This was very strange. In a good way, tho. It seemed intense and at times you couldn't understand so what it all means then, why it seems so mundane and normal, but then you notice you got barely 20 pages left and yet you're at the highest peak in the book so far.
The ideas of what is a person are amazing.

bkoser's review against another edition

3.0

A fun run through a future where the afterlife has been scientifically proven to exist. The characters are flat and the plot isn’t especially deep, but it’s interesting to see how a widespread belief in immortality could change society.

xor's review against another edition

3.0

This book isn't good, but it IS fun to talk about everything that's wrong with this book in your book club.

kb_208's review against another edition

3.0

A fun sci fi romp into one of the possible worlds envisioned by Sheckley. The best part of this book is realizing some of the ideas from this story appear in Futurama, mainly the suicide booths and arriving in a future you're not quite prepared for. A good read and worth checking out.