Customer Reviews

Reboot

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

 

 

First, let me say I really enjoyed this book. The concept was great, the reason for the demise of civilization original, the entire premise of the book was refreshing in a genre that can get old easily, or worse bogged down in the ever present survival tech speak and/or the evil governemnt scenarios.
The characters were intriguing though occasionally a bit over the top. Particularly the religous characters that were "zealously anti tech". That seemed to play to a stereotype of relgious people as backwards idiots that didn't sit well with me as a reader and distracted fromn the story a bit I thought. Not enough to put teh book down, just enough to annoy. On those points alone I would give it five stars. it truly is a unique story and quite good.

Unfortunately those aren't the only points that make up a story and while I applaud the story itself, the execution left a little to be desired: the grammer was choppy at times making it difficult to follow. the obvious cut and paste with out deleting words from the previous structure happened far too frequently, once or twice, even three times I can overlook, but it was almost constant at times. So on general need for editing and proofing I have to take away two stars (it really was that bad). I would gladly read a sequel, poor editing and all, but would be dissapointed if the author didn't take an opportunity to have his work edited better the next time around.

"The Great and Powerful Oz" is a wonderful charcter, complete with flaws, and I would love to hear about his previous adventures or his later ones and maybe even his buddy Darius as well.

I really enjoyed this book. Even though it's not a genre I usually read, but found myself fascinated by the concept of the pulse, and thought the author treated it in a believable, and frightening way. The characters are well-developed, and I found myself caring about what happened to them. I stayed up way too late several nights in a row reading to see how it ended. I recommend this book and look forward to more from this author!

From the beginning, it was obvious the author put a lot of thought and consideration into creating a nearly post-apocalyptic world where basic items taken for granted today could mean life or death in the future frontier. Such descriptions and details abounded throughout the book, though sometimes I felt a little less would have been better.

From the book description, I thought the view would be primarily from the main character Oscar Riddell, but instead, much of it is from the perspective of a girl child named Rabbit, who he met in the isolated town, whose inhabitants saved him from his bandit inflicted wounds. I wanted more of an adult, gritty view expected of a seriously distressed world and to learn the heavy topics, darker secrets and realities after the "Pulse", not someone's fondness for a particular toy.

That being said, overall I thought "Reboot" was a thought-provoking, very well planned work of sci-fi/fantasy that compelled me forward through it's plausible story and made me want to keep reading. It's a truly chilling "what-if." If electronic device reliant cultures were actually faced with little or no capability for their hugely computer interactive worlds? Carl Rauscher built a very visual, believable world with characters I could imagine easily. I highly recommend this book.

[...]

I wasn't sure what to expect from Reboot, but when I started reading I got sucked into the story right away and only put it down under duress. I agree with the other reviewers who want to know both what happened before and what happens after this episode. (What happened in the immediate aftermath of the Pulse? What will Oz do next?) The story is original, and Rauscher doesn't overexplain what's going on, leaving intriguing questions for readers to ponder. We are just dropped into the middle of a situation that seems kind of realistic, given the premise. This is also a very warm and human story, so even readers who don't usually enjoy science fiction should really like it.

I enjoyed this book more than many books I've read, and I've recommended it to friends.

This is one of the best books of its kind that I have read. It has a totally original approach to the common "What happens after the end of civilization as we know it" theme. Placed in a small mid-western town, the book is filled with adventure, mystery, and humor. The descriptions are so vivid that at the end of the book I felt at home in the town and didn't want to leave! Clear, Hemingway-like prose. I hope there is a sequel.