InterWorld by Neil Gaiman Summary and Reviews
|
List Price: Our Price: $7.08 You Save: $9.91 (58%) Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days Buy Used: from $2.85 (click here) Category: Book See more book details and other editions |
|---|
Book Reviews of InterWorld
Book Review: Not just for kids...
Summary: 5 Stars
I wasn't aware that this was a "young adult" book until I received it. No problem, since, as always, Neil Gaiman delights with clever story-telling and memorable characters. It is, perhaps, a somewhat quicker read due to being geared toward a younger, somewhat more distractable audience, but certainly not a disappointment by any means, and I would love to see futher adventures of the young Joey in his parallel worlds.
Book Review: Waiting for the movie
Summary: 4 Stars
I was introduced to Gaiman with the Sandman series, have read others of his books, follow his tweets on Twitter, and found Caroline to be one of the creepiest movies I've seen in a loonnnggg time. Ok, so I am a fan. Of Interworld, I'll say that while it didn't blow me away, I found it so likable that at its end I came here to add my voices to any saying that it should be made into a movie. It's got an unlikely hero, big good versus big evil, classic defeats, and an outrageous win. In this respect it is, perhaps, a bit formulaic. Don't read this if you're looking for a groundbreaking work or high literary merit. However, that's nothing to keep it from being a pleasurable read and (I hope) a deeply satisfying I'm-glad-I-paid-for-that-ticket summer movie.Book Review: Well-constructed story
Summary: 5 Stars
This is a light, easy-to-read, and skillfully constructed tale. Arc is customary for the genre, the ordinary kid discovering special powers and that he's crucial for some larger battle. Prose is far superior to most other efforts in the genre, vocabulary is much richer and more interestingly chosen than the overwhelming majority of putative adult novels.
Imagery characterized by strong reliance both implicitly and explicitly on popular movies and TV shows. Implicitly, authors describe an image (for example, a grin turning over on itself) that directly evokes a particular famous image (the T1000's demise in T2); more notably, the narrative is full of express comparisons to various contemporary movies and TV shows.
Although the plot gets very ambitious, if not convoluted, as is customary with Gaiman's works he maintains a clear over-arching logic to the various special powers and plot developments. It is as a matter of fact quite impressive how seamlessly and effortlessly so many plot complications are handled.
This does lack, of course, the depth of characterization, the believability of characters, or the luminous prose of Gaiman's best work. But it does not aspire to be more than what it is, a light tale well-told.
Book Review: marvelous science fiction, but lackluster characters
Summary: 3 Stars
I'm a fan of Niel Gaiman specifically and of science fiction generally, so _Interworld_ was a natural choice. The premise is brilliant: each decision made creates an alternate universe, like tributaries off a river. These multiple universes create a spectrum like a bow: at one end are universes dominated primarily by science (where the universe wants you to act a certain way); at the other end, those dominated by magic (where you can will the universe to act a certain way.) Most universes fall somewhere along the bulgy middle somewhere between the two extremes. Amongst these multiple universes is a struggle between two powers at either end of the spectrum, each seeking to dominate the entire "altiverse" (as Gaiman refers to the infinite number of alternate universes.)
Helping to maintain the balance across the "altiverse" is Joey Harker - and an infinite number of variations of him from the infinite number of other universes - an individual with the unique ability to cross between universes, and thereby thwart the efforts of one side ("Hex" from the magical end of the spectrum) or the other ("Binary" from the scientific end of the spectrum.) To compliate matters, both Hex and the Binaries want and use Joeys (or Jay, or Jai or whatever he may be called from whatever other universe he is from) to power their crafts to similarly cross between universes and thereby conquor them and bring them under their dominion.
A pity, then, that with such a wonderful premise the protagonist is such a dud. Time and again young Joey Harker shows himself to be selfish, silly, short-sighted and generally a knuckle-head that I had a difficult time not only relating to, but having any shred of sympathy for. In this respect, I echo what many other reviewers have written: this is very much unlike Gaiman. To be fair, the book is marketed (and perhaps targeted towards?) a younger set of readers; in this respect, perhaps, Joey may be much more like the teens the book is aimed at than myself. This would certainly explain my lukewarm feelings about the book. Nonetheless, I am sure that Gaiman fans will overlook these misgivings and enjoy his storytelling nonetheless.