read | The Gap of Time

The Gap of Time by Jeanette Winterson is a present day retelling of The Winter’s Tale, one of Shakespeare’s lesser-discussed works, but it doesn’t feel modern. The writing is beautiful and I look forward to reading more of Winterson’s work, and based on this story I’m sure her other novels won’t disappoint. I had fun reading this book until the end, when all the loose ends got tangled up in each other. I feel like it wrapped up too quickly. Just about the time I was settling into a few scenes of character development, the book jumped to the finale.

The beginning of the book gives a plot summary of The Winter’s Tale, I guess so you can see how Winterson adapts the elements of the story. At first I found this strange but it’s actually necessary because the story is pretty ridiculous without knowing where it comes from, even considering that several events have been toned down. I still think The Gap of Time adheres too strictly to the original to feel modern. It puts the story in a current setting but doesn’t effectively update the plot. That being said, it’s supposed to be melodramatic. It’s not like these were mundane occurrences in Shakespeare’s time. The Gap of Time includes some very meta references – one character’s resume includes starring in a Jeanette Winterson play, and Shakespeare is mentioned a couple of times, which threw me out of the story. The book is about the size of a play at a brief 273 5x8 pages, and it feels more like a pet project than a magnum opus. It seems like Winterson slightly twisted the original subject matter as a fun experiment, and I don’t love how it came together. However implausible, this story is an enjoyable read if you keep its context in mind.

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I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

read | Armada

This novel shows that Ernest Cline has found his writing formula and he's sticking to it. I wasn't going to compare Armada to Ready Player One since it's not a sequel, but here I go anyway. Much like his first novel, Armada is chock full of eighties pop culture references. And while this is new and fun and relevant in RP1, here it just feels like the only thing Cline knows how to do. The plot of RP1 revolved around retro trivia. In Armada, the references serve to build a strangely obsessive link between Zack Lightman (props on the solid sci-fi hero name) and his long-deceased father. Zack’s knowledge base is more accessible than the protagonist’s in RP1, though the Trek/Wars/Trek/Wars mentions feel repetitive fairly quickly. The Last Starfighter is included in these references, a smart move because omitting the film would, in light of the other references, seem to deny its similarities to Armada's plot.

Speaking of which... Armada is about a boy who gets really good at a video game. Turns out it's not just for entertainment! It's exactly the same interface as the hidden armies of drones that a secret branch of international military has stashed all over the world! And thus the action begins as Zack is recruited to fend off the invading alien species. This book throws you into intense action pretty quickly, but it still feels slow. I'm trying to think about the plot events, and there aren't a ton. Action? A smattering. Character development? A good amount, though once the characters are established you rarely see them again. I wish this book had been longer, not necessarily because it was so good but because it could have been. More missions, more of those characters we only got a glimpse at! When the story wraps up, I'm not sure what to expect in the future because I don't think Zack's story is done, but there's not a direct sequel setup. All that being said, if you love RP1's style and cast, this is definitely in the same vein. It draws from many elements of classic sci-fi and it checks the boxes I expected it to. I have some problems with its big picture, but page to page it kept me engaged.

3 stars out of 5
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I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.

read | The Martian

The Martian by Andy Weir is one of those stories you don’t come across very often. While we have been getting countless dystopian novels about futuristic alternative worlds, this novel is completely believable despite the fact that we’ve never sent anyone to Mars. Mark Watney is a member of a six-person crew that has been sent to explore Mars, though unexpected events cut their trip (and their crew) short. I don’t think it’s giving too much away to say that though the crew has, as far as they know, lost a member, Watney does survive. This book is the story of his fight to get back home.

The book is filled with scientific terminology and calculations and procedures, but it doesn’t feel overwhelming. The writing is very aware that the average person knows nothing about space physics and technology, and the author could very well have made all the science up but I’m in no position to refute it. The colloquial way the information is presented leaves the story informative yet understandable.

Just when I was getting a little sick of the continuous engineering in this book, it opened up a couple more perspectives. While it would have created a sense of isolation similar to Watney’s as he’s trapped on Mars, I’m glad we weren’t subjected to that. Weir does a good job of creating a large cast of likable characters even though most of them have only a few pages to convey their personalities. The sense of humor in this book is undeniably sarcastic, so if that’s not your thing—never mind. It’s everyone’s thing.

The Martian is a fantastic read – it was one of those books I missed while I had to do other things – and while I don’t have much else in its specific genre to compare, I think it’s safe to say it holds its own.

4 stars out of 5

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I received this book from Blogging for Books for this review.