Debatable Space, Philip Palmer
Originally reviewed July 5th, 2012
Randomly selected in the library. the narrative is annoying — very fragmentary, many different narrators and time periods, rapid POV switching — and the typography makes me roll my eyes (I don’t need a page of the letters d o o o o o w n dripping down the page to get that she’s falling). The characters are universally unlikeable; the main female character egotistical and self-justifying, the main male character smug and unprincipled. There’s a lot of sex and drugs and rock ‘n’ roll. None of this is my thing.
And yet. I loved it. I gulped it down practically whole. I was on the edge of my seat. The book has an undeniable energy and joy which swept me up despite myself. It made me root for the characters despite the fact that they are all incredibly flawed. There are sciency infodumps and I do not mind. There’s a deus ex machina and it just made me whoop.
I’m sure it has other flaws, but while reading it, I couldn’t care less. That, in my view, is a good book — and I’m very glad I picked up two more books by Philip Palmer on the same whim.
I kinda like it when a book goes meta, where the words literally pop-out from the pages or just go crazy. This looks like one crazy book though, I wish the flaws you mentioned won’t stop me from enjoying it. Thanks for the review~
It can be fun, but usually it just gets in the way of reading, for me. I’m not a visual person! I did enjoy the book.