From Bad to Worse

So, one of the reasons I began writing book reviews and eventually started this blog was so that I could let folks know about those Sturgeon's Law rejects before they invested either time or money in poorly written books. Unfortunately, I fell into the trap, myself, when I failed to consult this blog about an author whom I'd previously panned, before picking up another book he'd written. I could pretend that I was just giving the guy a second chance, but...that would be a lie. For some reason I remembered enjoying his work; must have confused him with someone else.

See my previous review of Lightpaths for all you really need to know about Hendrix, but I'll elaborate slightly here on his more recent disappointment, Better Angels. Hendrix' story is filled with the sort of things you'd find uttered in the dorm lounge of any generic college campus in America, fueled by the consumption of mind-altering substances, and passing for great discovered wisdom for its giggling sycophants. The premise seems to be that some ancient starfaring or galaxyfaring ark once seeded our planet with hallucinogenic mushrooms which would eventually bring on the singularity (a la Kurzweil) and reunite us with the truly enlightened center of the Universe. It is filled with caricatures of the Left's demons, such as big business, the shadow government and organized religion, rather than fully developed real heroes or villains. I kept hoping for the best, but had to give up at the end...of my patience, not the book.

Dang, three out of four books from my library trip, wasted time!