A review by w0rmonastring
Venomous Lumpsucker by Ned Beauman

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

2.75

every part of this novel was either unlikable characters having alien sounding dialogue in a stilted attempt at comedy OR a technical aspect of this near-future universe being over explained in dragging detail. 

with that being said, the story did hook me and a lot of the commentary is very timely and made me reconsider my role in the climate crisis and the future of a neoliberal, globalized world. 

while i wish the prose was different so that i could have been more entranced with the novel, it was an overall enjoyable read with some very poignant speculations about the future of not just the human species, but those who have shared the planet with us for generations

<i> “Yet the reason she found this so hard to accept was not because of the improbability that it could all just peter out after a quadrillion rounds, but because of the improbability that it should ever have happened in the first place.
Evolution was a monstrous maker, a blind heedless thing inching along in no particular direction, the whole disaster fueled by spilled blood and wasted effort, Amazon rivers of both.” </i>
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