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Posted by ibobev 7 hours ago

Book review: There is no antimemetics division(www.stephendiehl.com)
141 points | 92 commentspage 2
mjg2 2 hours ago|
I just finished this book and complained about it the whole time. The prose is amateur and peppered with cliches (e.g. you should be fined for publishing the phrase "their suit was so sharp it could cut"). His attempt to write about the inner thoughts of the characters was pretty simple. The descriptions of violence and horror also felt child-like, especially the dialogue during those moments (e.g. Redd's introduction). The landscapes are bland, with lots of repetition. Personally, the redaction technique got boring fast when he would take up entire pages of the book to convey absent memories. He could use his words to convey this instead of black-boxes.

I will give the author credit on how they deal with their characters' memories and the re-development of their thoughts, and the usage of time-jumping was reasonable (some books jump around too much, as if these time-skips improve a boring plot). Also the convention for how they solve their dilemma was enjoyable.

Overall, I think the author relies too much on a vocal fandom around the SCP Foundation to glorify the book. I think there is potential for a saga of books but there needs to be more effort in the drafting and editing process to raise the quality of the books to the level the universe deserves.

AnotherGoodName 6 hours ago||
I wonder if this is for the rewrite or the first version.

I read the first version and thought the first half was good and that the second half felt clunky. To the point where i don’t recommend it to anyone (not a huge negative, there’s just better books out there).

Philpax 5 hours ago||
It seems to be for the first version, judging by the use of the original names, which is odd because the review's from this year.

The rewrite definitely improves on the ending and its delivery, but it's still largely the same plot, so it may not address all of your issues.

chroma 5 hours ago|||
The author’s other stories like Ra and Fine Structure have the same issue, in my opinion. He has interesting ideas, but cannot seem to write an ending.
mentalpagefault 4 hours ago|||
This review appears to be of the first version despite the recent date. (The rewrite filed the serial numbers off the SCP references and changed character names both for copyright reasons and to provide a degree of separation from the original.)

I read both versions and agree that the second half of the first version was very abstract and difficult to follow. While I would consider the first half of the new version more edited than rewritten, the second half got a significant overhaul which fixed almost all of my issues with it and made for (in my opinion) a much more satisfying ending. I would recommend giving the new version another chance, though those who read the first version may find the new character names distracting. (Most didn't bother me, but Marion Wheeler -> Marie Quinn never felt quite right.)

FabHK 4 hours ago||
The article says:

"And at the top of the food chain sits SCP-3125 (renamed in the published edition, but the designation is so perfect I am using it anyway) ..."

threethirtytwo 6 hours ago|||
I had the opposite reaction. The second half was garbage, but the first half was so good and original I'd recommend it just for that.
Insanity 5 hours ago|||
Same! I just finished the book a few days ago. The first half is really good, a cool premise and interesting story. The second half just got a bit too weird for me and by the final chapter I was happy it was finished lol.
k__ 5 hours ago||
I liked piecing the story together in the SCP wiki.

Later I read the first version of the book and it was okay, but the vibes were a bit lost.

The new version of the book I didn't even finish.

yellottyellott 5 hours ago||||
> the first half was good and that the second half felt clunky

> The second half was garbage, but the first half was so good

so you had the same reaction?

cwillu 5 hours ago||
> To the point where i don’t recommend it to anyone

> but the first half was so good and original I'd recommend it just for that

Attension span so short you couldn't even make it to the second half of the sentence before dismissing it

moss_dog 4 hours ago|||
I think this comment is unnecessarily harsh.

To anyone confused (like me), the commenters above had opposite recommendations despite having similar opinions of the book.

cwillu 3 hours ago||
They were being snarky about a comment when they literally didn't read the entire sentences they were being snarky about. No, I don't think I was unnecessarily harsh.
yellottyellott 1 hour ago|||
fair enough, i guess my brain got stuck on reconciling the first thing that i whiffed on the differing recommendations lol
thinkingtoilet 5 hours ago|||
The first few chapters of that book are some of the coolest I've ever read. I agree it really drops off in the second half, but would still recommend it to people.
awestroke 5 hours ago||
The rewrite is excellent
HardwareLust 6 hours ago||
Good timing, the Kindle version is $1.99 right now.
mooxie 5 hours ago||
I think the dynamic pricing algo is on to us - I see $13.99 at Amazon and clicked on a Google Play Books link for $1.99 that then became $13.99 magically, same for Apple Books.
maximinus_thrax 5 hours ago||
Please don't 'buy' digital items from Amazon, because you won't actually own them. Pay extra, support your local bookshop and get a physical copy which you will actually own.
layer8 3 hours ago|||
I really appreciate that sentiment, but on the other hand 98% of the books I buy I won’t read a second time (because reading a new book will almost always trump rereading an old one), so I’m actually fine with not owning most of them, especially at $1.99 prices. The few that I deeply care about I buy a physical copy of.
hectdev 5 hours ago||||
This disregards the benefit of a single device that is easy to carry. Love where this is come from so maybe do both if you can.
caconym_ 5 hours ago|||
It's a trade-off. I love the convenience of ebooks, but not owning my books is just categorically unacceptable to me. I want my daughter and anyone else coming after me to have free access to them, not to have to jump through Amazon's hoops (if such hoops even exist) for access.

I have a Kobo that I use to read the non-DRM ebooks I'm able to acquire. One such source is downloads from the Kobo store, when publishers make the non-DRM file available.

shimman 5 hours ago|||
I use a kindle but I have never bought a book on the kindle store ever (been using it for 10 years). Totally doable and not hard to avoid... especially since the smaller stores not only have better sales but the author typically gets more money too.
tantalor 5 hours ago||||
I borrowed it from the library.

Support your local library!

root_axis 5 hours ago||||
I basically always start with digital, if the book is good I always buy a physical copy for my shelf.
Insanity 5 hours ago||
I do something similar - but I'm quite picky with books I buy due to limited physical space.
sublinear 5 hours ago||||
Amazon allows EPUB downloads for publishers that have chosen to go DRM-free.
presbyterian 5 hours ago|||
They used to allow downloads of all books, which you could then rip the DRM from, but they got rid of that last year. Huge disappointment, and is why I don't buy books on Kindle anymore.
Semaphor 5 hours ago|||
First I'm hearing of that, is there an easy way to tell that's available?
gh02t 5 hours ago||
It usually says somewhere in the description I think. E.g. this one (good series, btw): https://www.amazon.com/Shattering-Peace-Old-Mans-Book-ebook/...

> At the Publisher's request, this title is being sold without Digital Rights Management Software (DRM) applied.

Not sure how universal that is, but I've seen similar language on several other books.

Semaphor 5 hours ago||
Oh wow, that's hidden. Thanks.

Wait, OMW book 7? Wtf? Thank you even more! That'll be up next after my Hyperion re-read (RIP Dan)

gh02t 4 hours ago||
It's an enjoyable read, hopefully it's the start of a whole new arc in the series with more to come. My only real complaint is it's short and I want more. If you never read his other Interdependency series, it's also great.
Semaphor 4 hours ago||
I think I read all of his series, yeah. Interdependency was great.
renewiltord 5 hours ago|||
I'm more interested in rewarding utility because that gives me better things.
gmuslera 3 hours ago||
It was a great book, but this review of it have its own value.
Schmerika 6 hours ago||
Nice review; covers all the best points of the book, and its place in the world, without too many spoilers.
dinkleberg 6 hours ago||
It’s a fun book. Definitely worth a read.
yakattak 6 hours ago||
Crazy timing. My copy of this is being delivered today from the local bookshop. Great review.
jmgimeno 4 hours ago||
Couldn't finish it. I suppose it was not for me.
gostsamo 5 hours ago|
TBH, the ending of Ra was a big letdown for me and though I like the small stories, I have the feeling that the author has issue building larger arcs. Still curious about this one and might read it just for the premise.
k__ 5 hours ago|
Writing good endings is hard.

I liked Ra, but I liked Fine Structures more.

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