Customer Reviews

This Rage of Echoes

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

 

 

I was intrigued by the title and premise of this book. I opened it and read a few random paragraphs and the writing was solid and engaging. I purchased the book.

The book starts randomly with a bit too many elements than are needed. The author seems in love with his ability to add random, "creative" elements to the story. While this skill allowed the action to change directions rapidly, it did not make for a story. I often lost my ability to suspend disbelief as he piled on non-sequiturs

The main characters make huge personality changes due to transitory pressures upon them. The main character invents a wild belief of what is happening and it (the belief) transitions through hypothesis to fact without alteration. He states rules by which the antagonists must engage, but none of the rules are followed, most were not followed before the protagonist creates them.

I will say I read the book to its bitter end. I cannot say why. Perhaps I should have titled this review "So bad, you can't put it down." I do not think I will read another of this author's works. This should have never made it past the editor.

I love Simon Clark. I devour his books in mere hours instead of days. This novel, while no exception, was not one of his best. He stays true to his frenetic writing style and he builds the tension quite well, but at some point, it seems as if he lost his way. I love the idea of echoes - replicas of people that are basically violent and crazy. The idea of hundred and hundreds of the main character moving like a flock of sheep towards unsuspecting people is a frightening image. But the ending seems...phoned in. Please Simon Clark--write another Blood Crazy!

3 AND 1/2 STARS

The first three chapters of Simon Clark's new book had my jaw on the floor. It's a wonderful premise -- a twist on the bodysnatcher concept -- that I dove head-first into reading. The interaction between characters was smooth and organic, and I really liked most of the twists throughout. However, the last third seemed like Simon was randomly coming up with things as he wrote them. Many things didn't feel crafted or well planned out, with revelations seeming quite silly. However, Echoes is still worth a read simply for it's originality, but it's one of Simon Clark's weaker efforts.

I have read Simon Clark before and enjoyed his intense imagination but this book is almost unreadable. Painful and confusing it starts in the middle of the action without any prior knowledge about the main character, making it hard to even try and like him and care for his future in this story. Mason Kantner's life has been flipped upside down; he's being chased by creatures that strongly resemble him, down to a matching "y" shaped scar on his hand...The story opens with him staying in an abandoned home with four other people, trying to keep the intruders that seem to change into whoever they are trying to catch and kill. Ordinary people are turning into ghostly copies of Mason and his friends, somehow programmed to kill of the original subject they are turning into. Now imagine that scenario repeated for about 340 plus pages, random people turning into Mason, chasing him, going crazy in public places, not to mention Mason's imaginary friend from his childhood, an ancient Egyptian mummy following him through his ordeals, keeping him company in a sense...crating some of the most boring reading material on the face of this planet, yawnnnnnn.... Faced with danger instead of trying to figure out the cause of the problem he runs home to his mother and sister, bringing the plague with him. More insane behaviors follows him until he's imprisoned by the people he's running from and the story starts to reach out for an answer that any wise reader can now tell will be totally made up.

When I say this was painful to read, I mean it. The first seventy pages or so I was getting though okay but the rest was like getting teeth pulled, this was some really obnoxiously lousy material that made me feel like I was wasting my time reading it. I even looked this book up online, trying to see if other people felt this way about it and most reviews on other sites pretty much say that Clark has missed the mark with this one. I wasn't even curious of the answer in the end; it was somehow just thrown in there without really making much sense, some sci-fi mumbo jumbo that would fit perfectly in a bad horror movie, the part where everyone starts to laugh because the reasons are that ridiculous. I got this from the library and even though it was free, I still felt annoyed for even bothering to read it through, I found someone's abandoned book mark half way through...some poor soul before me must have given up, rather smart solution...wish I followed, this is really not a good book, in fact it's one of the worst I have ever read. The characters make stupid decisions, they can't make up their mind who to fight and overall I couldn't care less if they survived and everything was repeated over and over, yes we get it, the copies are chasing the good guy, that's about it...be prepared for a doozy!

- Kasia S.

OK SC's writing is sometimes a bit sloppy but I forgave the plotholes in 'Darkness Demands' because he created such an eerie atmosphere and such a tense plot. ROE on the other hand was a major disappointment - it was a great idea but handled as badly as it could possibly be. First mistake SC makes is to start the book sometime after the action begins - for me it would have worked better if we had gotten more insight into the character and his life BEFORE the 'echomen' stuff started. There are some past incidents described which sound interesting but they are never fully developed and the book basically consists of a number of characters going round killing others in increasingly bloody ways - by the end I couldn't give a toss.

Why on earth does Mason risk going home and infecting his family? How does the 'Echo man' phenomenon work - why do some people end up being copied and others become copies - isn't it really Mason and his kind who are the infected ones and who should be hunted down and destroyed by the government instead of their poor victims? What on earth is the point of the character of Madeleine and why does she never turn evil? How does Mason know that the 'echoes' killed by his four friends aren't just innocent people since he doesn't see them change? I kept waiting for a really interesting explanation of the whole thing but no - another page another bloody death and so it goes on. I thought at one point the whole thing was building up to a really interesting scientific explanation involving dominant genes (something like the theory in King Blood) but no chance - instead it becomes painfully obvious SC is just churning out another novel and making it up as he goes along.

Worst of all is the deux ex machina device for ending the novel - the Eygptian mummy/alien/invisible friend who made me cringe the whole way through the novel. This was no way worthy of a writer with SC's ability.

I rarely say this but this book should actually have been twice the length, should have started at the beginning instead of half way through, should have filled in more of the details of Mason's childhood traumas and most of all the central concept should have been fully worked out before being committed on paper. A decent ending also would have helped.

This won't stop me buying other SC books but I really hope they are better than this. Can't recommend it sorry, though I really hoped I would love it ...

This book is really weird. That must be said, but it's great and any Clark fan will dig it.

I LOVE LIESURE HORROR AND WAS SHOCKED TO FIND MYSELF SO DISAPPOINTED IN THIS BOOK. I MADE IT TO PAGE 50 JUST BARELY. I WAS SO ANNOYED W/THE CRAZY IDEA OF HIM TT A MUMMY???? WHY? AND I DIDNT HAVE THE PATIENCE TO FIND OUT WHY. IF IM NOT INTERESTED BY PAGE 50 ITS A WASTE OF TIME. I FOUND IT A CHORE TO READ AND WAS LAUGHING OUT LOUD AT HOW REDICULOUS IT WAS? MY FIRST BOOK BY CLARK, I AM OPEN TO TRYING HIM AGAIN. BUT THIS ONE JUST NOT GOOD AT ALL.

I have yet to read a Simon Clark novel I didn't enjoy. Well written, good character development and an overall good story. I felt the ending was a little weak and not well planned out, but don't let that stop you from picking this book up. It's still worth the trip to the bookstore.

This book was another good one by Simon Clark. The reason for the "Echoes" defeat was a little disappointing. I guess I wanted something different?, but overall it was a good read!