Author: A. Lee Martinez
Year: 2012
Type: novel
Genre: science fiction, fantasy, humor
Page Count: 293, medium hardback
ISBN: 978-0316-09352-1
Last Read: February 3-4, 2014
Link to Synopsis:
http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/10979852-emperor-mollusk-versus-the-sinister-brain
Thoughts:
I believe that a good life is one that has the full spectrum of experience, from sad to happy, joy to despair, absurdity to seriousness, love to conflict, lighthearted to ponderous. I also think the same of a good book.
This book is mainly meant to be funny, adventurous, ridiculous and entertaining - and it is in spades! And yet it also has some beautiful moments pondering the larger questions of existence, like why we do what we do, what is morality, what's the meaning of it all, and how much control to we ever really have over our own destiny.
Furthermore, it's a really enjoyable break from tradition to have a protagonist who isn't the good guy ... but maybe isn't the bad guy either. Who is pragmatic to a fault but still capable of contemplating the broader consequences of his actions. A tyrant I can admire and maybe even sympathize with a little.
On top of everything else, Martinez' writing was extremely enjoyable for me. He writes naturally and humorously - I feel like I just had a long, delightful, thoroughly enthralling conversation with a really interesting friend. He has just enough description so that I didn't feel lost, without ever getting bogged down in it. It's really one of the funnest books I've read in a long time.
Favorite Quotes:
... but what it lacked in speed, it made up for in inevitability. It was significantly faster than a glacier and far less forgiving. (pg. 55)
"Your curiosity is going to be the death of you yet, Emperor."...
"There are worse character flaws to die for" I said. (pg, 184)
