Russell Boyd

I suppose there will be an audience out there for this book. It's trying very hard to be Douglas Adams-like and plenty of people (myself included) love Douglas Adams' quirky humor. IMHO, this doesn't quite make it though, as a Douglas Adam's clone or on it's own.

On a positive note, it's well written and surprisingly well edited for a self-published book. There are some interesting, odd-ball characters and had the whole thing been a set up for Katie and Chintz's last moment's, I'd have called it a success. But it's about 1/3 too long (if not more) for that to be the case.

If I had to condense this review to a few carefully chosen words, they would be presumptuous and self-indulgent. The author's constant breaking of the fourth wall especially. As if the book wasn't quite quirky enough the author/narrator had to stick his two cents in too. It was annoying and broke up the story.

It was this over the top quirkiness that eventually ruined the book for me. You have characters who speak in mixed up, nonsense for no apparent reason at all. You have POVs from the perspective of a cat. You have a narrative style dedicated to pointing out the absurd over the expected, which could have been great if not quite so over played. You have philosophy passed off as science and science of the hard-core hand waving variety. It was all too much for me.

And that is a shame; because Boyd's descriptive ability is wonderful. I appreciated the distinct lack of alpha hero and the success of the socially anxious, nerd heroes. I liked that there was a strong female character (though I'm borderline on the fact that her sexuality caused such ruptions. I think the book skirted the cliché, but JUST BARELY). But there was just too much else crowding these good things out. In the end, I bored and just hoping to finish.… (meer)

I received a copy of Russell Boyd's book "The Chorus Effect" in return for an honest review. This book is what I would call deep science fiction. Which for readers who love to read the science fiction genre and can't seem to get enough, this book is for you. I found it to be a very good read and would recommend it to anyone who would want to read a book that will keep your mind turning. At moments I even found myself laughing.

This book had my imagination running and I didn't want to put it down so as I could see what would happen next. If you don't like science fiction, or don't like to read it then this book isn't for you. But if you love anything and everything science fiction then I think you should grab yourself a copy today. If you haven't read "The Chorus Effect" then you are missing out. Russell Boyd is a gifted writer and has an imagination unlike any other.… (meer)