Customer Reviews

Rapture

5 star:		(4)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

The author's style reminded me of no-one so much as the late, lamented Philip K. Dick. It's dark, it's satirical, it's ever so slightly bitter, and it will stay with you for the rest of your life.

It's not the prostelytizing rag the title might imply -- thank Bob for that. This is modern sci-fi at its best; the kind with unreal situations, but very real characters. If there _were_ a disease that made people sprout wings, this is how society would react. And no, it's not always pretty.

Seriously - Snosnowski doesn't make a mistake. I read this after I read Vamped: A Novel, cautiously hopeful that it was 1/2 as good - and it was JUST as good. The chances you won't like this book are slim to none. Clever, fascinating, fast-paced and fatly fleshed out. My only problem is that you have to wait so long for the good writers to put out something new, while the bad ones can churn out new stuff every couple of months. Celebrate excellence! Buy this book AND Vamped: A Novel!
(And Amazon - put this on Kindle, please - my copy is worn out from so many readers!)

I read David Sosnowski's novel VAMPIRE before I read this, his first book. I liked it so well, that I looked for and purchased this one also.
It is not a story for anyone who is looking for sweet, heavenly beings. But if you want a good story, a human story, about people struggling in our world with being different - way different - this is for you. Funny, irreverant, and thoroughly enjoyable.
I can only hope that he will be writing more stories - and soon!

I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The angel virus was an innovative and fresh idea. I felt this book was more about being different; whether it be as an angel, a schizophrenic, or physically handi-capped. It's about coming to terms with what your are and moving forward. The romance near the end, said to me, when you accept yourself good things come your way.
I also enjoyed the commentaries on prejudice and how a cause and political correctness can be carried to far. Creating a whole new set of problems and discomfort. This is a great read!

I picked this book up while waiting for a dinner reservation one night, and was enraptured (no pun intended) by the lyricism of the opening chapter. After two pages, I knew I had to read this book and immediately purchased it. Exploring an AIDS-like virus which turns humans into winged creatures, and consequently how society deals with the transformation both as individual victims and witnesses, Sosnowski's observation on today's culture, including pop psychiatry, television talk shows, evangelicism, and more, is a sharp commentary on life in the 1990s.

This novel starts out with a wonderful idea: what if there were a communicable disease out there that, instead of ravaging your body and killing you, gave you the gift of flight? This is the best of fantasy: take something we fear and escape it by defeating it and giving it a happy outcome.

The book begins with what I must admit is my favorite fantasy story ever; who doesn't want to fly? But it departs from this with a half-hearted romantic theme. I think the subject would have been better served by further exploring the social, political, personal, and simple daily living ramifications of a person suddenly sprouting wings.

Just because I love to read sci-fi/fantasy doesn't mean that I need the token romantic element, and I'm sure many readers will agree with me - I felt that theme in this book was a bit out of place.

Still, the book is well worth a read!!!!

What I liked most about this book is "the what if factor". As you read it you can't help thinking what if I had wings? The story is simple. One day people get sick and develop wings. With the wings comes flight of course. However, most modern technology doesn't work well around you. So you're asked. Would you give up television, video games, etc. for flight? The characters are very interesting. We watch as they go through this change and how it affects them. This a very good story that begs for further visits to this world.

The concept of this story is amazing: an AIDS-like disease causes otherwise-normal folks to turn into modern, living and breathing angels. Sosnowski started off with a bang, but by the time the story wanes, my interest faded as well.

The characters are good, the writing crisp and witty (almost too witty in places), but I think it carried on a bit longer than it should've.

I would like to read more of his work, though, and I do recommend it as a paperback

This is the sort of 1st novel that makes all of us mere mortals who aspire to become novellists, hang our heads in shame and think 'God! if he can write like angel about angels on his first attempt, then what on earth am I trying to do.! A darkly-funny,warm novel, that is able to take a sideways glance at humanity from those finding themselves on the edge.

The basic idea of angelism spreading like a virus though humanity is a nifty one. But, in the end result, it is a gag that is milked for verything that comes to mind. And that is not good enough for 295 pages