Order from a Major Online Bookstore
Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine
Save Your Time And Money
| AnyBook4Less.com | Order from a Major Online Bookstore |
|
| Home | Store List | FAQ | Contact Us | | ||
| Ultimate Book Price Comparison Engine Save Your Time And Money |
||
 |
Title: Realtime Interrupt by James P. Hogan ISBN: 0-671-57884-7 Publisher: Baen Pub. Date: 01 August, 2000 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.08 (13 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: Who says Hard SF has no character?
Comment: It's a bleeding shame that the moment I bought this book, it seemed to drop out of print. A shame, I say, because this is the book I would throw into the face of anyone who says that Mr. Hogan (or Hard SF writers in general) don't care about their characters, only about technology.
The beginning is slow going, if only because the main character hasn't figured out what is so painfully obvious from the title. But what seems boring and unnecessary in the first half becomes, suddenly (like a baseball bat SMACK! in the back of your head), completely necessary, integral, and absolutely fascinating.
REALTIME INTERRUPT is many things -- cyberpunk (kind of), mystery, thriller, puzzle-story. But at its center, it is a tale of being able to go back again and fix your mistakes. And the message is, quite simply, you can't go back again, even if you can -- but you can start over, and that's almost as good.
This book requires patience in the beginning, but once you're halfway through, you'll wish it was twice as long just so the author can infuriate you some more. If you can find it, read it.
Rating: 3
Summary: An O.K. Hard Science Fiction Story
Comment: Mr. Hogan always does a good job with the science in his novels, but this one just wasn't a very interesting story. It's an enjoyable enough read, but it's not one I'll ever read again. Mr. Hoagn has written several novels that I've read 3 or 4 times, this just won't be one of them.
In this story Joe Corrigan finds himslef a misfit/outcast in a humorless world filled with identity-less humans. Eventually he realizes that he is inside a computer-simulated world that he helped create. He spends the rest of the novel trying to figure out what went wrong, can he leave, and should he leave. He finally solves the puzzle at the end of the novel, but the problem and the key/solution were obvious even before the author revealed that it was a simulation.
If you have a lot of time on your hands, then go ahead and get the book. But if you only have time to read a certain number of books this month, skip this one. (Sorry Mr. Hogan)
Rating: 4
Summary: Realtime Interrupt
Comment: All in all, this is sort of a low-key approach to the "man trapped in a false reality" motif. But it certainly has a frightening, paranoiac quality to it. which is sustained the whole way through, despite the author's insistence on avoiding splashy action or behind-the-scenes megalomaniacs. This is a "thinking person's" virtual-reality nightmare scenario, that achieves a kind of creepy near-future edginess, without deathduels, superhero action sequences, or virtual wars breaking out.
Our protagonist, Joe Corrigan, just doesn't fit in with the rest of the world. He has: memory problems, marriage problems, psychological problems, and compatibility problems...in fact, he doesn't feel compatible with the rest of the human race. He's coming off a nervous breakdown, and doesn't feel fully recovered; he's pretty much accepted the fact that HE must be the problem, not everyone else. Yet, it's troubling, the way other people ask him probing questions about his apparently odd behaviour, the way people always seem to wonder why he goes against the norm all the time. It seems Joe Corrigan just can't fit in anywhere, or else why does the world find him so odd? The only thing he knows for sure is that he was once a more important fellow, with a more important job--and now he is content to be a bartender (actually, that's an important job!, but I digress from the review) with no desire to climb a corporate ladder or change the world.
But then, Joe Corrigan starts to see things a bit differently. Things that seemed to indicate that something wasn't right with him start to look more like hints that he's just fine--and that something is not right with the world. Holes in reality, a certain blandness or sameness to those around him, everyone's inability to develop a sense of humour, and that, uh Leprechaun, that won't go away...and why can Joe take a trip to Japan, but nowhere else.
After Joe meets Lilly, who's figured out more than he has, he really learns some startling facts. The world he knows is a big illusion. In fact, he may be responsible for creating it, which makes him wonder who took it over and put him inside?
And how can he escape, before the rules get changed?
If it all sounds big-concept...well, it is. But, as mentioned, the author insists on playing it cool, not using the plot as an excuse to insert flashy fight scenes, or change 3D characters into 2D warriors who must save the world or die. Instead, we get a scenario that feels like it could happen one day. My only quibble is over an ending that perhaps could have revved it up a notch. The sinister mood is so unsettling throughout, even as the pieces fall into place, that perhaps, yes, the only thing that might have made it better is a stronger ending. Not flashier, mind you, just stronger, scarier. Nevertheless, it's still a winner in my world.
 |
Title: Paths to Otherwhere by James P. Hogan ISBN: 0671877674 Publisher: Baen Pub. Date: 01 January, 1997 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
 |
Title: Rockets, Redheads & Revolution by James P. Hogan ISBN: 0671578073 Publisher: Baen Pub. Date: 01 April, 1999 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
 |
Title: Minds Machines & Evolution by James P. Hogan ISBN: 067157843X Publisher: Baen Pub. Date: 01 December, 1999 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
 |
Title: The Legend That Was Earth by James P. Hogan ISBN: 0671318403 Publisher: Baen Pub. Date: 01 October, 2001 List Price(USD): $7.99 |
 |
Title: Thrice Upon A Time by James P. Hogan ISBN: 0671319485 Publisher: Baen Pub. Date: 31 October, 2000 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
Thank you for visiting www.AnyBook4Less.com and enjoy your savings!
Copyright� 2001-2021 Send your comments
