Vic goes on a quest with his friends to save his father in this science fiction novel.
Klune has been really hit or miss for me. While I loved Wolfsong and The House by the Cerulean Sea, I could not finish Under the Whispering Door (either in print or audio format). Unfortunately, this fell in the latter category. It was too slow and melancholy for my taste. The beginning held some promise, especially as Vic began to uncover the secrets of his origins. Most of my interest stopped around the 30% mark and I was hate reading it around 60%. I wanted to finish it on the off chance it contained an excellent ending, but, alas, it did nothing to my cold, dead heart.
My biggest issue was by far the lack of connection I had toward the characters. Despite Vic’s remarkable circumstances, I found him to be dull and entitled. I literally wanted to kill Rambo (he wasn’t cute or quirky to me, but entirely f*cking annoying). Gio was, well, there I guess. Hap never manifested into more than an idea despite all the time invested in him becoming his own person. Nurse Ratchet was the only one I cared about at the end of the story, but even my love for her had limits.
While the City of Electric Dreams was a big part of the novel, I didn’t find it all that immersive. The locations flited around as quickly as Vic’s butterflies. The romance was tepid and barely formed to be interesting or integral to the story. And the ending, well, it just didn’t feel like a fully realized novel. Probably the most interesting part of the story was Klune’s acknowledgment section. He stated the novel was the most he edited one of his works, and I think it shows. I’d be curious what he meant by writing a book people were not ready to read.
My biggest issue was by far the lack of connection I had toward the characters. Despite Vic’s remarkable circumstances, I found him to be dull and entitled. I literally wanted to kill Rambo (he wasn’t cute or quirky to me, but entirely f*cking annoying). Gio was, well, there I guess. Hap never manifested into more than an idea despite all the time invested in him becoming his own person. Nurse Ratchet was the only one I cared about at the end of the story, but even my love for her had limits.
While the City of Electric Dreams was a big part of the novel, I didn’t find it all that immersive. The locations flited around as quickly as Vic’s butterflies. The romance was tepid and barely formed to be interesting or integral to the story. And the ending, well, it just didn’t feel like a fully realized novel. Probably the most interesting part of the story was Klune’s acknowledgment section. He stated the novel was the most he edited one of his works, and I think it shows. I’d be curious what he meant by writing a book people were not ready to read.
Rating: ⭐⭐
Read if you like: ๐งช Science Fiction | ๐ค AI Discourse | ๐จ๐จ๐ฆ Found Families
Read if you like: ๐งช Science Fiction | ๐ค AI Discourse | ๐จ๐จ๐ฆ Found Families
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