fforde, Jasper: Early Riser
tl;dr: interesting but a bit too much for my taste.
The writing is good, the alternate universe worldbuilding has some real subtlety, the plot is entertainingly twisty, the concepts are mind-bending, but eventually it just got to be a bit much. Almost exactly halfway through I began skimming - glancing at a page to note that somebody died, or maybe didn't die, or froze, or was suddenly helpful, or wounded, etc. There are many twists, and that last one was a doozie, but I no longer wanted to bother to keep close track. I will say that it has a happy ending in-universe. I wish it had been shorter.
Specific world-building criticism: I don't think the physical changes are likely to have evolved fast enough, for even the distorted history to have survived, if it is supposed to be in our universe. That's why I say it is alternate universe.
Recommended with reservations. Some body horror.
tl;dr: interesting but a bit too much for my taste.
The writing is good, the alternate universe worldbuilding has some real subtlety, the plot is entertainingly twisty, the concepts are mind-bending, but eventually it just got to be a bit much. Almost exactly halfway through I began skimming - glancing at a page to note that somebody died, or maybe didn't die, or froze, or was suddenly helpful, or wounded, etc. There are many twists, and that last one was a doozie, but I no longer wanted to bother to keep close track. I will say that it has a happy ending in-universe. I wish it had been shorter.
Specific world-building criticism: I don't think the physical changes are likely to have evolved fast enough, for even the distorted history to have survived, if it is supposed to be in our universe. That's why I say it is alternate universe.
Recommended with reservations. Some body horror.