A review by chris_davies
Twenty Trillion Leagues Under The Sea by Adam Roberts
3.0
I found this a serviceable romp, although it never really hits the heights that Adam Roberts is capable of. The writing is rather plain, which made me wonder if his heart was really in it. Maybe it was an attempt to echo the style of Jules Verne, but it didn't work for me.
However, it does move along at a decent pace, and the premise was good enough to keep me reading in order to find out what on (or off) earth was going on. There's a sort of twist near the end regarding the name of one of the characters, which I saw coming a mile off. The ending also left me disappointed.
I wonder if I might have enjoyed this more if I'd read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea immediately beforehand? I did feel as though there might have been nods and winks to the earlier novel that I was completely missing. Fans of Jules Verne may have a completely different experience.
There is an illustration at the end of each chapter. I like this idea and it was one of the things that drew me to this book. The illustrations are okay, but nothing special and they did little to elevate the book in the way I'd hoped. Certainly not in the same class as the likes of Brian Selznick. Finally, the proof reading of this book (I have the hardback version) is atrocious. There are many typos, some of which are very significant (at one point a 'dead' character appears to get involved again!) Very sloppy work by the publishers.
Overall, this is not a bad book, and it might even be a good one for fans of Verne. But Adam Roberts is capable of much, much better.
However, it does move along at a decent pace, and the premise was good enough to keep me reading in order to find out what on (or off) earth was going on. There's a sort of twist near the end regarding the name of one of the characters, which I saw coming a mile off. The ending also left me disappointed.
I wonder if I might have enjoyed this more if I'd read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea immediately beforehand? I did feel as though there might have been nods and winks to the earlier novel that I was completely missing. Fans of Jules Verne may have a completely different experience.
There is an illustration at the end of each chapter. I like this idea and it was one of the things that drew me to this book. The illustrations are okay, but nothing special and they did little to elevate the book in the way I'd hoped. Certainly not in the same class as the likes of Brian Selznick. Finally, the proof reading of this book (I have the hardback version) is atrocious. There are many typos, some of which are very significant (at one point a 'dead' character appears to get involved again!) Very sloppy work by the publishers.
Overall, this is not a bad book, and it might even be a good one for fans of Verne. But Adam Roberts is capable of much, much better.