A criticism of a book
Oct. 16th, 2019 11:54 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
conulyName withheld to protect the guilty.
I would say that the worldbuilding of this book leaves a little something to be desired, but that would suggest that I thought the author spent any time on worldbuilding at all. She really should have.
Instead, I'm left with questions such as: "When the evil technology hating cultists were taking over, was this one dude the ONLY guy with a plan?" and "Wow, this one dude's plan really lasted well despite the evil cult being the only worldwide power for the past several hundred years" and "Okay, so as near as I can tell the heroes have only been to a tiny corner of the world, and there's no mass communication because there's no technology. They've only overthrown this small portion of the cult, right? But everybody is dragging their centuries old tech out of hiding like they've won the whole war?" and "Seriously, I've heard of medieval stasis, but this is ridiculous! There is NO redeeming factor to the evil cult, they're deliberately cultivating dung ages motifs all over the place, and they have no dangerous weapons or mass communications. HOW are they staying in power worldwide? A corner of the world, maybe, but all of it!?" and "Good thing oral tradition is 100% and nobody ever changes the words or forgets the tune" and "How did they even take over if most people weren't evil tech hating cultists and, therefore, the existing power structures were the ones with all the people AND all the guns?" and "Seriously, nobody else had a plan? There are so many moving parts to this one, and it doesn't at all conflict with anybody else's plan?"
Honestly, a few minutes of thought would've made this all work together. But no. Instead it's NO WORLDBUILDING AT ALL! FULL SPEED AHEAD!
Bonus points for forgetting eclipses. Again, this is supposedly a worldwide evil cult. Even if there hasn't been an eclipse in this tiny corner of the world for several hundred years (and wow, that old pocketwatch works really well after all this time! those folks took good care of it!) don't they rule the whole world? There have been other eclipses in other places!
*********
Monocles Were Never Cool
Your Brain Chooses What to Let You See
How Much Commuting is Too Much?
From delicate teens to fierce women: Simone Biles’ athleticism and advocacy have changed gymnastics forever
How Photos of Your Kids Are Powering Surveillance Technology
How technology sabotaged public safety without us even noticing
When Medical Debt Collectors Decide Who Gets Arrested
‘I Know the Struggle’: Why a Pizza Mogul Left Pies at Memorials to 4 Homeless Men
The Catholic Church and Boy Scouts are lobbying against child abuse statutes. This is their playbook
How the Secretive “Discipline” Process for Federal Prosecutors Buries Misconduct Cases
A flimsy raft, more than 100 souls, and three teenage heroes—or are they pirates?
Inside the search for Africa’s carbon time bomb
Preying on Children: The Emerging Psychology of Pedophiles
I would say that the worldbuilding of this book leaves a little something to be desired, but that would suggest that I thought the author spent any time on worldbuilding at all. She really should have.
Instead, I'm left with questions such as: "When the evil technology hating cultists were taking over, was this one dude the ONLY guy with a plan?" and "Wow, this one dude's plan really lasted well despite the evil cult being the only worldwide power for the past several hundred years" and "Okay, so as near as I can tell the heroes have only been to a tiny corner of the world, and there's no mass communication because there's no technology. They've only overthrown this small portion of the cult, right? But everybody is dragging their centuries old tech out of hiding like they've won the whole war?" and "Seriously, I've heard of medieval stasis, but this is ridiculous! There is NO redeeming factor to the evil cult, they're deliberately cultivating dung ages motifs all over the place, and they have no dangerous weapons or mass communications. HOW are they staying in power worldwide? A corner of the world, maybe, but all of it!?" and "Good thing oral tradition is 100% and nobody ever changes the words or forgets the tune" and "How did they even take over if most people weren't evil tech hating cultists and, therefore, the existing power structures were the ones with all the people AND all the guns?" and "Seriously, nobody else had a plan? There are so many moving parts to this one, and it doesn't at all conflict with anybody else's plan?"
Honestly, a few minutes of thought would've made this all work together. But no. Instead it's NO WORLDBUILDING AT ALL! FULL SPEED AHEAD!
Bonus points for forgetting eclipses. Again, this is supposedly a worldwide evil cult. Even if there hasn't been an eclipse in this tiny corner of the world for several hundred years (and wow, that old pocketwatch works really well after all this time! those folks took good care of it!) don't they rule the whole world? There have been other eclipses in other places!
Monocles Were Never Cool
Your Brain Chooses What to Let You See
How Much Commuting is Too Much?
From delicate teens to fierce women: Simone Biles’ athleticism and advocacy have changed gymnastics forever
How Photos of Your Kids Are Powering Surveillance Technology
How technology sabotaged public safety without us even noticing
When Medical Debt Collectors Decide Who Gets Arrested
‘I Know the Struggle’: Why a Pizza Mogul Left Pies at Memorials to 4 Homeless Men
The Catholic Church and Boy Scouts are lobbying against child abuse statutes. This is their playbook
How the Secretive “Discipline” Process for Federal Prosecutors Buries Misconduct Cases
A flimsy raft, more than 100 souls, and three teenage heroes—or are they pirates?
Inside the search for Africa’s carbon time bomb
Preying on Children: The Emerging Psychology of Pedophiles
