Jessy's Books

Further Complications has the honor of being one of the few books that made me laugh out loud while reading it. The plot follows Marty, a disgruntled theater employee, through a night of hijinks that gets more messed up by the minute. The events of the evening become even more hilarious when viewed through the lens of Marty’s neurotic imagination. He calls his stoner friend Jerry (my favorite character by the way) for his drug-induced wisdom, but things get much worse before they get better, possibly because of the wildcard that is Jerry. It seems Jerry can’t resist pushing Marty’s buttons, and who could when there are so many buttons to push? This book is hilarious, exciting, and definitely worth checking out!

If this book were broken into two books I would’ve given I Am Legend 4 stars and Other Stories 2. So average 3.

I Am Legend was an interesting story, though extremely mopey at times, particularly in the first half. I liked the slow reveal of the world and Neville’s back-story; the element of mystery was very captivating to me.

The other stories left much to be desired for me, though full disclosure, I listened to the audiobook version of this and the second narrator’s nasally voice was very annoying to me, thus probably detracted from my enjoyment.

I would say read I Am Legend and skip the rest.

This was just wonderful.  I was completely sucked in from beginning to end.

I wanted to like this book.  It seemed like it contained the type of weirdness that is right up my alley. I expected to enjoy it, but it was a total let down. The characters in this book are utterly forgettable, and the plot was confusing (possibly because I couldn't be bothered to care about what happened to the characters or possibly because the pacing was erratic). I couldn't even get a sense for how the world worked.  This was the first time I have read something by China Mieville and based on this experience I don't think I will him again.