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Title: A plodding journey through a formulaic plot.
Review: The plot and premise were interesting and they probably made a great magazine article, which is where the author started his 'journey.' He should have stayed there. The author uses map and travel metaphors over and over again in this tale. We are on a journey. He is charting territory. He is trying to fill in the blank areas. He is Columbus. He is Humboldt. He is Fremont. He is tired and boring. The analogies become predictable and tedious to the point where they feel contrived and formulaic. Every chapter followed the same cartographic format. Why the predictable repetition? Lack of imagination perhaps. Perhaps this is what comes naturally when you try to stretch a thin magazine article into a novel.
