Damocles

Oh, this book is one of those that would get five stars for concept and ... well, this is rated for execution. And how much it depressed me. Even beyond that, though, the book fails at pretty much everything I was personally looking for. The story feels dated (to, like the nineties) even if it's only five years old, because of the concepts. And, I'm no linguist. Maybe I would have liked it more if I had been, because all the time spent talking in circles confused me and - it must be admitted - left me slightly impressed that ANYONE could understand the confusing mess of words they were using. (Of course, to say that they progressed that far in seven-ten days...As I said, I'm no linguist, but it seems improbable.)

Turns out that I should have paid a little more attention to the synopsis, especially where it said ‘surprisingly similar society'. Now, me, I read sci-fi and fantasy both for the exploration, getting the chance to see another world, seeing people that are vastly different than myself, all that stuff. Well, the topical view that we get on this new world - very topical - it appears to be structurally the same as ours. But, here's the big thing, we spend so long talking over food, what they can eat and can't, apparently reading comics, and yet we know nothing about these ‘aliens' world. Not really. Not the important stuff that all anthropologists look for. All we really know is they talk loud, have bad hearing and tough skin/teeth. And, we spend so long without a real description on their physical appearance that, when we finally do, it's too late and they will always look like pygmies in my mind. (Okay, in truth, even after the ‘descriptions', that's still what they sound like to me.)

Did I mention the last 20% depressed me? I mean, humans really are bastards. (And the ending was just plain depressing for me.) I'd better stop, now, otherwise the rating'll drop to one star.