6.27.2005
The Holy Land
by Robert Zubrin, 298 pgs, paperback
Amazon site
Official Grade: D+
This book really sucked. I wouldn't have even bothered reading it except for two things. 1) I've heard of Zubrin before because he's the head of the Mars Society and 2) most of the book takes place in Kennewick, WA, which is where I originally hail from. So I thought I would give it a try. As for yourself, don't bother, there's a lot of better books to spend your time on. Not only are the details of Kennewick slim-to-none (do I detect a lack of research here? did he just like the name? has he ever seen Kennewick?) but the writing is terrible. His characters are downright annoying and this blatant social commentary is sickening. I know its supposed to be a social commentary, but it should be witty and thought provoking. Hitting people over the head with a point-for-point allegory isn't going to change their political views, just make them angrier. Anyway, what passes for a plot in this book is that this race of Minervans return to their ancestral home in Kennewick after being interstellar refugees. However the messed-up US gov decides that it will declare a holy war and reclaim the land instead of accepting the Minervans' offer of help and advanced technology. Throw in some annoying, poorly written interspecies love story and you summarized about all of this incredibly bad book.
Amazon site
Official Grade: D+
This book really sucked. I wouldn't have even bothered reading it except for two things. 1) I've heard of Zubrin before because he's the head of the Mars Society and 2) most of the book takes place in Kennewick, WA, which is where I originally hail from. So I thought I would give it a try. As for yourself, don't bother, there's a lot of better books to spend your time on. Not only are the details of Kennewick slim-to-none (do I detect a lack of research here? did he just like the name? has he ever seen Kennewick?) but the writing is terrible. His characters are downright annoying and this blatant social commentary is sickening. I know its supposed to be a social commentary, but it should be witty and thought provoking. Hitting people over the head with a point-for-point allegory isn't going to change their political views, just make them angrier. Anyway, what passes for a plot in this book is that this race of Minervans return to their ancestral home in Kennewick after being interstellar refugees. However the messed-up US gov decides that it will declare a holy war and reclaim the land instead of accepting the Minervans' offer of help and advanced technology. Throw in some annoying, poorly written interspecies love story and you summarized about all of this incredibly bad book.
Labels: genre: fiction, media: book
