illegible_scribble
10/31/2019
When Dorothy Parker said, "This is not a book to be tossed aside lightly", she was talking about this book.
The premise -- evidence of intelligent life on Earth five million years ago -- is really interesting, and it is only for that reason that I actually made it 50% of the way through this 324-page book before finally giving up and throwing it aside with great force.
The sexism... dear gods, the sexism is so bad that by the time I quit, I was uttering "OH FFS!" every other page. The author (a 72-year-old man) is just clued-in enough to realize that he shouldn't have his male characters engaging in a bunch of male-gaze monologuing, so -- I KID YOU NOT -- he gets his ostensibly-intelligent main female scientist character to do the male gaze on behalf of the male characters, repeatedly, and at great length. This is in addition to having her weeping periodically -- then apologizing to the Big Strong Man for being "such a girl" -- and obsessing over her sexual prospects with the men, then having her and one of the male characters declaring their passion for each other after they've known each other for a handful of days.
I haven't read such a badly-written female main character since Hominids (a book which should also be hurled with great force).
Not Recommended, Rated 17+ OH FFS.