Mercycle

Rating:
Summary: Better-than-average SF, with a few original ideas. Not bad.
Review: I found MerCycle to be one of the more interesting SF novels I have come across. The idea of a lost Minoan city was fascinating to me, as I am a history major in college. While I would not go as far as to say that this is Piers Anthony's best work, I do believe it is, at worst, better than average for him.

Rating:
Summary: I thought it was great!
Review: I thought Mercycle was a great book! I've never had a book just grab me like that and take me in along for the ride. From the first page to the last, I just couldn't get enough! Now I'm waiting for the next book after Mercycle. Hopefully there will be one! And let the next adventure begin!

Rating:
Summary: I thought it was great!
Review: I thought Mercycle was a great book! I've never had a book just grab me like that and take me in along for the ride. From the first page to the last, I just couldn't get enough! Now I'm waiting for the next book after Mercycle. Hopefully there will be one! And let the next adventure begin!

Rating:
Summary: Save your money
Review: This book had potential but somewhere it got lost. It has interesting characters and a reasonably good plot. Unfortunately, the sub-plots don't blend well in this story. The entire bit with the Chinese mer-people struck me as an overly complicated plug to test Don's ability to commit. The plot and sub-plots should flow like a melody and the harmonies. In Mercycle, the sub-plots were dischordant. They distracted rather than added to the story.

This story is not nearly as tight as other Anthony novels. I usually like his work. This book was a disappointment to me.

On the back flyleaf of my copy, Anthony tells the story of how this story was originally rejected by eight publishers and how its merits were miraculously discovered only after he was a popular author. I found myself instead thinking that the editors were right the first time and prostituted themselves once he was a popular author and that both of them are relying on the Anthony name to trick as many of us as possible into buying this book. Don't.

Rating:
Summary: Save your money
Review: This book had potential but somewhere it got lost. It has interesting characters and a reasonably good plot. Unfortunately, the sub-plots don't blend well in this story. The entire bit with the Chinese mer-people struck me as an overly complicated plug to test Don's ability to commit. The plot and sub-plots should flow like a melody and the harmonies. In Mercycle, the sub-plots were dischordant. They distracted rather than added to the story.

This story is not nearly as tight as other Anthony novels. I usually like his work. This book was a disappointment to me.

On the back flyleaf of my copy, Anthony tells the story of how this story was originally rejected by eight publishers and how its merits were miraculously discovered only after he was a popular author. I found myself instead thinking that the editors were right the first time and prostituted themselves once he was a popular author and that both of them are relying on the Anthony name to trick as many of us as possible into buying this book. Don't.