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Type: fiction
Status: —
Author: Octavia E. Butler
Description: While this book's main story line is somewhat interesting, this book is not a "mustWhile this book's main story line is somewhat interesting, this book is not a "must read;" in fact, it barely acheives "adequate/worth the effort." It is a very easy read, and is not horribly written, but it's not great either. My main gripe with the book is that the whole thing doesn't feel like a novel. It seems like Butler was just writting a text-based role playing game, where she could make what she wanted to happen, happen, and her little fantasies stay put, etc, no matter how stilted or false they sounded, or how unexplained their prescence. Lauren, the protagonist, creates this new religion called "Earthseed." The book would be much better without this useless distraction, for the author keeps coming back to that. I don't know why; even the religious verses she has Lauren "write" are stilted and uninspiring, even painful, to read. It was like the author had this little fantasy idea in her head that she liked, and she wanted to put it somewhere, so she forced it upon the book. It doesn't feel like it fit, and it became such a big part of the book, that it seems the author didn't have the self control to cut it out or reduce it. Good writing though, sometimes involved cutting out hours of your time. Butler would be much better if she knew that. ...
2006-01-15
