As simple and interesting as that may sound, I found the book to be a total bore. I personally could not connect to the characters at any level; even though the dialogue is colorful enough, I never got a good sense of who these people were, what their motivations were, and what they were even doing. Considering that there are multiple characters being tracked in multiple eras, between the late 1800s to the distant 2050s, I found the story to be (perhaps unnecessarily) convoluted and disjointed. Unable to draw the connections between the past, present, and future, I found myself not really caring for the book overall, and going through it became a chore.
In addition to being unable to connect to the bland characters and mixed-up plot, I also found the language and settings lacking. Very little of each era is actually described, so I never felt immersed in the different places these characters went (which included historic Europe, the Vietnam war, and the future). A little more detail would have definitely been welcome, to help us understand where the characters were at any given time. The only thing that really constitutes this book is the dialogue, which may dig up enough to help readers understand where the characters are. Context, and the information in the chapter headings, prove to be frustrating at times, making the book even less readable to me personally.
The actual writing is okay: I think the author captures the language well, even if he doesn't spend much time on setting. Exposition can be heavy at times, and it makes for a really dry read. It is a trim and to-the-point book, even if the point seems elusive.
I really didn't like this book much, as I found the characters and plot uninteresting. Chances are that other sci-fi fans may enjoy it more, but there are certainly better titles out there to pick from.
2/5 (Entertainment: Awful | Story: Marginal | Book: Average)
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