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Killing Time

Killing Time

List Price: $32.00
Your Price: $32.00
Product Info Reviews

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Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Impressive
Review: I agree with the review that compares the style of this thought provoking novel with Jules Verne and H.G. Wells. In light of 9/11, the proliferation of misinformation on the internet, and the entertainment/news via 24/7 cable, Carr is right on target.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Shifting gears to kill time
Review: When manually shifting gears its always helpful to use the clutch. It allows you to move to a different speed with relative grace. Caleb Carr has done the equivalent of forgetting to use the clutch when he shifted from the mystery/history pieces of the Alienist/Angel of Darkness novels.
The result? Roughly 325 pages of grinding noise. A story that tried to go forwards (and backwards) and did neither fully but made a hell of alot of noise trying.

The characters were poorly developed, you had the knockout, the general, the mad scientist, the comic relief guy, a set of twins, and of course a doctor. It was an amalgam of pat characters thrown together in a contrived future with just enough of today's news thrown in as "history" to make it seem plausible. The plot was too fast, if that can be believed, since most of the narration was spent explaining events and action rather than descriptive passages about the characters.

I must admit the undertaking of a "near future novel" leaves you open to huge criticism. Attempting to portray, not just the locale in which you live, but the world itself 20 or 30 years in advance is tricky. I will give authors artistic license to use whatever tools they need to paint the picture they have in their head, however when authors use the same tool over and over and do not explain the tool they are using it gets annoying. Carr referenced most of the world's woes to the "global economic collpase of '07". Fully half of the future based ideas/events come from this supposed economic bust of mythic proportions. Yet no more than half a page (spread over 10 chapters) is spent actually discussing what the hell happened to help the reader along.

I'm really disappointed. Not only in the book, but in myself for trying to convey "what's wrong with this book" in a 1000 words or less. I try to be even handed in reviewing and point out the good and the bad, but there simply isn't enough room.

If this is your first book by caleb, give him another chance, pick up the alienist. If, however, you are like me and have gone threw his other novels... well... here's hoping he'll put an apology in the forward of his next book, for this one.

Rating: 3 stars
Summary: A Perilous Undertaking
Review: Writing fiction is a dangerous enterprise, even for the gifted and already successful. Especially risky is the path taken by those intrepid novelists who try to write in a genre new to them. One thinks of Ursula LeGuin's stab at historical fiction (quite universally regarded as dreadful). Or P.D. James's foray into science fiction (mixed reviews). Or Dan Simmons's attempt at the contemporary thriller (which I rather liked, but many did not). Or Caleb Carr's take on the near future novel (generally despised, if this site is any indication).

Is there some kind of lesson here? Perhaps. Maybe that if you try a new genre, you'd better have your act together.

Sadly, Carr doesn't. Nor does he have control of his materials. He can't seem to make up his mind about what kind of book he wants to write. Doesn't work as a cartoon--too plodding. Nor as a novel of ideas--too intellectually flacid. Nor as an SF epic--too slight.

What went wrong here? There seems to have been no shortage of persons Carr had read the manuscript, or at least bounced ideas off of, if the Acknowledgments at the end of the book are to be believed (and there's no reason not to). Could all these people have been so off on their judgments as to lavish praise on this ungainly book?

Probably most annoying is Carr's Luddite Environmentalism. Also his laughable attempts at high-tech weaponry. Killing Time's not as bad as most reviewers say, but it's not very good either. All in all, it's rather silly--but in a not unenjoyable way. Hence, the three stars.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Aptly Named
Review: Ladies and Gentlemen, I beg of you, please don't read this book. It reminds me of a sophomore Writing Studio project. I seldom consider not finishing a book, but I was tempted often here. There is a nugget of a concept for an essay on our dependence on information and the importance of peer review, but the book went on and on. The ending, oh my, how frustrating! I have to agree with my fellow reviewers here, it's probably better to stop the chapter before the last, at least it would leave you thinking as opposed to needing a cranial jump start.

Okay, that was emotional, but here's the facts: Character development, in particular protagonist was very weak and shallow. Plot was very strange, disjointed, and ragged. Writing style was at times confusing and, well, poor.

If it's supposed to be sci-fi- it's lacking. Alt history- shallow on cause/effect. Drama- slow. I don't know what it is. Trust me, you don't want to end up killing time on Killing Time. Sorry Caleb.

Rating: 2 stars
Summary: Doesn't live up to the hype.
Review: Killing Time was my first introduction to Caleb Carr's work. Having heard good things about his previous works--especially the Alienist--and being a science-fiction fan, I decided to give his latest novel a try.

And I've got to admit I was wholly disappointed with Kiling Time. The novel starts off with an interesting hook and tries to build on it for the first 50 or so pages. But it completely derails throughtout by a lack of focus and the fact that the plot needlessly jumps from storyline to storyline with little regard for the characters. Indeed, outside of the first person narrator and the token female, Larissa, the rest of the characters are wholly forgettable.

Carr has some interesting ideas--and indeed some of the events that play out in this book are especially haunting in the post-Sept. 11th climate. But Carr's future is too bleak--even novels that present bleak futures like Gibson's Neuromancer offer us some hope in the basic decency of humanity and the human condition. No such luck with Killing Time. Carr does some speculation on where the world might be in a few years, but it's too bleak to be believed.

Honestly, this book is just a disappointment. If you're looking for quality science-fiction, look elsewhere.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Provocative and Entertaining
Review: Caleb Carr has written a masterful novel: Killing Time chronicles the adventure of Dr. Gideon Wolfe who takes a flyer (literally) with a collection of brilliant and perhaps delusional social misfits who are constrained to make the world a better place by altering historical events. The method of alteration involves manipulation of information that appears on the Internet where it seems that mankind has basically adopted the worldview that if it is on the Internet then it must be true. The goal of course of our do-gooder crew is hopefully to wake the world from its slumber and have it realize how easy it is to be duped by "the manipulators" -translate: those in power. Unfortunately our merry bands' good intentions only fuel the fire of misinformation in the world and things continue to go "pear shape" as the British are fond of saying. Clearly, the novel is a polemic against the information age. It has pathos; it has passion; and it has an interesting denouement...but enough! It is a departure from both Carr's previous novels: The Alienist and The Angel Of Darkness both of which take place near the turn of the twentieth century; and while the events in Killing Time occur in 2023, I would not classify the novel strictly as "science fiction". This novel reminds me more of the great satirist, Jonathan Swifts' Gulliver's Travels. This is a novel not to be missed. Whether you like it or not it will make you think for some time to come. I suppose that if we must, we must sometimes judge a book's worth by its ability to provoke: Killing Time delivers.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: Fun Fantasy & Thought provoking
Review: This book was fun as its near future draws some possible conclusions that bring on lots of possible discussion. It also is a good at helping the reader question what they view in the media and how easy it could be to pass on non factual data to be accepted in the mass population as fact.

The protagonist was too informed, too all knowing as a psychologist who has to question morality as well as choices of the other characters.

The ending was disappointing as so many are with the 'fell swoop' to tie up all loose ends, and not satisfying in that way when you are told it is all just a dream, an alternate reality.

Still this book does linger and I hope the author continues to improve on this alternative future genre. A tighter editing could have helped the ending perhaps or encouraged more questions.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: where did this come from?
Review: I've read Carr's The Alienist and The Angel of Darkness and considered them two of the best works of fiction that I've ever read. They were intelligent and entertaining and it was easy to feel you were back walking the streets of turn-of-the century New York City. They were also thought-provoking and contained a liberal sprinkling of historical references.

I mention this because Killing Time bears absolutely no resemblance to those great works. I went so far as to wonder if this book was written by a completely different author. It would not surprise me if this were the case. The writing style is straight out of Creative Writing 101 in its attempts to slam the reader over the head with its points. I fully admit that I'm no writer myself which is exactly my point. If I set out to write a novel, this is how it would come out, which is why I'm not a writer

As an example, the story takes place in the future, which presents the problem of bringing the reader up to speed on what relevant changes have taken place. Carr chooses to spend the first chapter or so insisting that each character's dialogue include some reference to major events that obviously will have some impact on the story. Carr would have been better off including a forward or devoting the opening chapter to outlining what the reader will have to know. This left a bad first impression that was never improved.

Enough said about Killing Time. I still highly recommend Alienist and Angel and will consider reading Carr's next work of fiction but if the effort is no better than Killing Time I'm out for good.

Rating: 4 stars
Summary: challenging idea
Review: I think many readers are missing the point. The most pertinent and salient idea in the book is that people accept what they hear or read from the media as truth without question. When was the last time you entertained any skepticism upon hearing a news report or reading the lastest findings of some suddenly prominent researcher turned author? USA Today recently ran an article titled "Book: New evidence of IBM-holocaust ties", which gives the impression that IBM bore some responsiblity for the holocaust. There is nothing irrefutable in the article, yet I've already seen examples of people condeming IBM solely based on what they read in the article. It was Carr's book that opened my eyes to the blind trust everyone seems to have for the written word. If for no other reason, read this book to see how this idea plays out and the unforseen consequences.

Rating: 1 stars
Summary: Post-modernist or Pulp?
Review: With all the intellectual subtlety of the movie "The Matrix," Caleb Carr spins a "fast-paced" "action-packed" story about a psychiatrician banding up with a gang of super-powerful outlaw rebels. He takes the sister of the maniacal leader (who built a near-invincible super spaceship) to bed. It gets worse from there.

I really liked the two historical novels by Carr: The Alienist and The Angel Of Darkness. However, he should stay as far away from Sci-Fi as he can -- I'm prepared to write this one book off as a humorous hoax gone terribly wrong. But no more.

If you want grim futurism, Carr has nothing on leaders like Gibson, Sterling or Stephenson.
If you want romance, even Heinlein does it better (if you feel a need to stay in the Sci-Fi setting).
If you want amazing contraptions and massive social upheaval, may I suggest Ian Banks?

PS: The question in the title is answered "Pulp".
PPS: If you still buy this book, don't read the very last chapter. The book will be slightly less annoying if you don't.


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