Title: Not as much fun as you may be lead to believe....
Product review: I first read this about 10 years ago and enjoyed it. However, in revisiting it, I have found reading it to be a chore. For a novel that's supposed to be fun, there are a couple of major problems with it. The main character, Felix Nasmyth, is a rather self-absorbed, humorless and generally unlikable jerk. I found myself totally unable to sympathize with him. Also, there's such a pervasive sense of dread overshadowing the proceedings that it makes it hard to take as being very funny or enjoyable. Lastly, as another review mentioned, the book is way, way overshot with metaphor and entirely too showy. I am by and large a fan of Boyle's work, but he was trying way too hard here to prove how clever he can be, and as a result most of this comes off as overwrought. If I were to recommend reading something by Boyle to anyone, it would not be this. Go with World's End or Riven Rock first.
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