Here we can talk about last months book. I believe there was talk of a Google hangout or similar to discuss it also? Until then we can keep the discussion here. I will post news on any other discussions around this book when I know more.
I will add my comments about it shortly.
Okay let's just get this party started.
I enjoyed Influx overall. The idea of one group hoarding all the big technological events and withholding those from the general public "in the interest of the people" is interesting and just plausible enough. Our society has changed so much over the past 50-100 years, but in so many ways is still the same. It sometimes seems bizarre that we don't have cures for a plethora of illnesses etc, so maybe someone is keeping those a secret to keep control of the size of Earth's population.
However the story itself seemed pretty thin. The main character is likeable but also slightly obnoxious. Events are very random. Storylines were not always worked out well imo. Why do they give the guy like a year to change his mind about helping the organisation when they could have just extracted all the info? Surely if they can build machines to do it slowly, they can build machines or drugs that do it instantly?
I felt it was written while watching a whole bunch of Mission Impossible/space battle movies, especially that action sequence in the rising tower building where they're hanging on to bits of furniture to move around. Not my favourite style of writing, especially when the rest of the story is too flimsy to support it.
The thing with the girl was too easy, and then that bit at the end with the kid.. barf. Hate it when writers do that (I'm looking at you, JK Rowling). All in all it seemed like it was written to be an enjoyable but forgettable action movie.
But I did enjoy it. It was an easy, quick read, to take your mind off of real life for a few hours, with a good idea at its heart. So I'm giving it 3 out of 5.
Here are my 2 cents:
Pros:
- Easy to read
- On an abstract level an interesting idea
- Technically seems sound (albeit bordering on too much) as well as interesting concepts all around
Cons:
- Poor execution
- As said above, gets too technical for its own good at times
- The way the idea plays out is... like watching a Hollywood movie taking on the a grand idea. It comes down to shallow characters and all action "then he did x. then she did y. then it blew up."
- Not a very satisfactory ending for me
So:
I had hoped it was more of a Philip K. Dick-type execution of a plot with ideas from The Man in the White Suit (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0044876/combined) and They Live (http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0096256/combined). It was none of that. But as you, I did enjoy it. Very easy to read which meant i could pick up right where I left it and read 5-10 min. at a time when traveling etc. without having to go back pages and catch up. In total, 3 out of 5 stars.
I feel the same as you two really. It certainly felt like an action movie in the form of a book. It started off like it was going to have more depth but towards the end it was just the traditional block buster fight scenes which didn't really lend itself to the first part of the book. The way Morrison talks about his clones and how you can't just copy people and we are more than just genetics gave me the impression it might be a little more serious than it turned out. The end as well, this was really quite terrible, it would have been fine to end it without the love story tie up, it was completely unnecessary and didn't add anything to it.
I did really enjoy the premise though, the idea of an organisation that has so much power and control and can influence the world so massively and keep it to themselves to fight a war between other breakout organisations and to basically become so powerful they shrug off the threat of American government who are completely clueless to divisions within itself. Also how releasing this technology which on the face of it could make the world such a better place for everyone but also destroy entire industries and livelihoods over night, not everything is as simple as it seems.
Some of the torture scenes seemed quite strong in this as well, not just the physical aspect of them but the ability of the machines to inflict so much mental torture as well. Completely wiping out childhood memories and his family was quite grim!
Overall, easy to read and enjoyable but it didn't really live up to the first half. Some bits I did enjoy though:
The idea of a reverse Turin test
"Anything before the age of 35 is new and exciting and anything after is proof the world is going to hell" made me chuckle
Should we have spoiler warning in topic?
Maybe I guess but should assume it has spoilers as its last months book
Quote from: uni;405357Maybe I guess but should assume it has spoilers as its last months book
I just noticed ppl looking at the post who are not part of the #deadmen book club. Would be nice for them to know there might be spoilers about.