Genesis

Disappointed.

Not a particularly long novel, Genesis might have been better had it been shorter. The shorterness in itself would have been an improvement. Anderson spends way too much time in description, explanation, and story building. In the early parts of the book, much time is spent getting to know the characters and their motivations in a rivalrous clan society, with which the main characters never have any interaction. This culture has absolutly no bearing on the plot, what there is of one, that is, and plays absolutely no role later in the book. It's as if we took a little vacation to some out-of-the-way monarchy and later rejoined our hero on his way to the end of the book, instead of spending that time getting to know him a little better. The premise has great promise, but Anderson leaves that fruit on the tree. As I trudged through the words, as I neared the end of the book, I was looking forward to, hoping for, a strong finish. The story does improve towards the end but finally it just sort of peters out. I wish we could have gotten there without having to slog through all that middle part. This should have been a short story. It is a failed novel.