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Billy And The Cloneasaurus door Stephen…
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Billy And The Cloneasaurus (editie 2014)

door Stephen Kozeniewski (Auteur)

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Six billion identical clones make up the entire population of Earth, and William 790-6 (57th Iteration) is exactly like everybody else. In his one year of life he will toil in suburban mediocrity and spend as much cash as possible in order to please his corporate masters. When 790's first birthday (and scheduled execution) finally rolls around, a freak accident spares his life. Living past his expiration date changes 790 profoundly. Unlike other clones he becomes capable of questioning the futility of his own existence. Seeking answers in the wilderness, he discovers a windmill with some very strange occupants, including a freakish, dinosaur-like monstrosity. Which is especially strange since every animal on earth is supposed to be extinct... Dark, haunting, and blisteringly satirical, BILLY AND THE CLONEASAURUS is the story of one "man's" attempt to finally become an individual in a world of copies.… (meer)
Lid:aj_cotton
Titel:Billy And The Cloneasaurus
Auteurs:Stephen Kozeniewski (Auteur)
Info:Severed Press (2014), Edition: First, 164 pages
Verzamelingen:Audiobooks
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Trefwoorden:Geen

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Billy And The Cloneasaurus door Stephen Kozeniewski

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While the title might seem silly and the story starts off light, this book really touches on several topics and does so in an intelligent manner. It really is a deeper satire on life than I expected. Hell, I was expecting some fun entertainment similar to Kozeniewski's BRAINEATER JONES; instead I got some fun entertainment with a commentary and emotion.

William 790-6 (57th iteration) is a clone; one of the billions of clones that make up the population of Earth. All identical. All following the same patterns of life. Normally on a William's first year anniversary of their birth, they are recycled back into the system so that the next iteration can come along. Due to a freak set of circumstances, William 790-6 (57th iteration) survives while the 58th iteration is recycled. The 57th iteration starts to learn and grow. He begins to question his life and want more. He questions his job and the futility it provides. And then he discovers a windmill with some occupants who encourage his growth. Occupants who want more from him and which he is happy to provide.

As I mentioned above, the story starts off light and comical. In addition to the freak events that allow the 57th iteration to live being humorous, the simple logistics of every character being named William is pretty fun. But as I kept reading, the satire elements crept in. Here was someone of the world that simply wanted to be an individual, to be special, to not be one of the mindless masses. And isn't that what most of us want? To feel special and unique. Here was someone who questioned why everyone acted the same even if it ended up with negative effects. For example, everyone leaving work at the same time just to sit in traffic when leaving 20 minutes later would avoid the problem. And isn't that what most of us think? That if everyone was logical instead of a mindless drone, that things would work better. And then William 790-6 (57th iteration) questions the company where he works and the crass consumerism that it creates. Again, something most of us have probably wondered as we yearn for that electric car, Dyson fan, newest iPhone, or whatever object of the moment is cool. And finally, the ending. I'm not sure if satires usually end in this manner but the ending is where I was slapped in the face that this is still a horror story. A horror story where a happy ending was never guaranteed. Any time that you feel liked you were slapped in the face by a book, you know that it had an impact. It touched something inside. You want others to feel that impact too. So, go out, buy and read this book. Revel in being an individual. If everybody ends up buying and reading the book, then at least you can feel secure in knowing that you are the 1st iteration. ( )
  dagon12 | Jun 13, 2019 |
William 790 (later known as Billy) is a good clone. He goes to work every day in his boring insurance sales job, has the same thing to eat every night, catches the ball game with the other clones, sleeps, and gets up and does it all over again. Each clone gets 1 year of life and then he gets slurried. It’s a world of monotony, Williams as far as you can see. Yet Billy manages to avoid getting slurried due to a freak accident. He then starts questioning his life and this entire existence.

I initially tried to read the ebook but then switched over to the audiobook. The beginning reminded me of that movie Ground Hog Day. Billy does the same routine again and again, even after the freak accident because that’s what his replacement would have done. So it was a little slow for me as I kept waiting for something more to happen. When I switched over to the audiobook, things moved along more quickly for me.

Billy has to get sneaky, something he isn’t programmed for. He learns about an odd building somewhere in the wilds in between two Williamsport cities. Yep. All the cities have ‘William’ in their name and everyone lives in the glorious country of Williamerica. Privately, this was all rather amusing to me since my husband is Bill. Ha!

OK, so Billy starts showing some initiative and the story gets more interesting. He stops to pee by the road and he happens to see this weird building (a windmill) and as he goes to investigate he finally comes across the cloneasaurus! Yes! Since this little guy is on the cover and in the title I really wanted to meet it. This reptile understandably freaks Billy out, since all animal life has been extinct for several generations of Williams. From there, Billy meets the William that made the cloneasaurus and then we finally get our one and only female, Willa.

The second half of the book was way more interesting than the first. Billy starts looking at the top of the hierarchy and how he can go on living. He’s also fascinated with Willa and some awkward conversations occur which are amusing to the reader but rather embarrassing for Billy. He’s never used his personal equipment for self gratification so he’s in the dark about natural procreation.

I was a little disappointed that Willa didn’t get a bigger role. She’s well read, educated in a biochemistry lab, raised by a man with radical political ideas. She has a lot of potential to be a force to change things. But then nothing other than being the romantic interest of the tale ensues for her. Sigh…

The ending was down right creepy. I loved the ending. It really made the book for me. Things don’t go as Billy had hoped nor how I expected things to go.

The Narration: Steve Rimpici was a really good fit for this book. He sounds just like a mild mannered boring accountant. He makes a really good William 790…. along with all the other Williams in this world. Honestly, it was probably a real challenge to come up with nuanced voices that all sound very similar and yet can remain distinct in a conversation. He did this with capturing each characters emotions. I found the conversations between multiple Williams easy to follow. He had a believable female voice for Willa. ( )
  DabOfDarkness | Jul 31, 2017 |
Billy and the Cloneasaurus
By Stephen Kozeniewski
Severed Press
Reviewed by Karl Wolff

With its title based on a throwaway gag from The Simpsons and cover art reminiscent of Chuck Tingle's more outre selections, I didn't expect Billy and the Cloneasaurus by Stephen Kozeniewski to be such a thoughtful meditation on the meaning of life.

The novel is set in world populated by billions of identical clones. William 790-6 (57th Iteration) endures an existential crisis when he survives his expiration date and his replacement gets turned into slurry instead. In order to come to terms with his mortality, he ventures into the wasteland where he meets a mad scientist and his dinosaur-like creatures.

I enjoyed this novel for the sheer outrageousness of its premise. What held me back involved its overuse of passive voice. There's a fine line between informal writing and sloppy writing. I wouldn't make an issue out of it if it didn't distract me so much. One more editorial pass to tighten up the writing would have done wonders. It also took quite a while for the novel to pick up steam. Billy doesn't meet the eponymous cloneasaurus until at least a quarter of the way through. Technical quibbles aside, the existential crisis of William 790-6 feels genuine and real. That's not an easy thing to pull off, especially when the clone's individuality would be seen as suspect. He just wants to be a unique human being ... like everybody else!

Out of 10/7.0

http://www.cclapcenter.com/2016/10/book_review_billy_and_the_clon.html ( )
  kswolff | Oct 21, 2016 |
*I received a copy of this book from the author for an honest review.

It's William 790-6's birthday and like all clones, he's to be slurred today. Next in line for termination and the machine breaks. William 64-6 doesn't know what to do when the machine won't start, and it's almost quitting time, so he lets William 790 go home with his replacement. One more night to live... Past his 365 day limit, 790 starts to realize he is different, questioning things he never questioned before and going out of town. 790 learns there is more out in the world and what the Corporation running Williamsport-6 is up to.

That first sentence is a doozy! But I kept reading. And even though it sounds harsh in that moment, we see what the world is like here.

This is a story full of clones. Williamsport-6 is one of many cities around Williamerica that is strictly William clones. The city has 2,650 William's living in it, functioning as a city with all jobs filled by Williams. It's said that if clones live past their first birthday that they exhibit holes in their thinking, and the process of the clones.

The beginning was catching and the ending explained it all. But in the middle it was rather slow for me. Reading the book I realized it's really not the story for me. I'm more of an action type reader. This story is well put together but it's not the action I'm a fan of. I feel as we get a description of life though in a different setting. Billy is trapped in the same cycle as all the other clones, yet he's fighting to find a way out. The story has some great parts to it that I enjoyed, but for the most part I was bored. I know there are readers out there that this book will entertain and be interesting to them, sadly I'm not one of them.
  MelHay | Mar 13, 2016 |
In the future there are Six billion clones on earth. They are brought to life in a factory, they are fully grown and their purpose is to work, spend money and make profits for the corporate masters. At the end of one year the clone returns to the factory and is killed and another exact replica takes its place. Things start to change though when number 790-6 goes to be executed on his birthday and a strange occurrence spares his life.

No one knows that 790-6 survived, they all think that he has been replaced with 790-7. Thanks to this life changing event he starts to question his existence and why everyone lives to serve their corporate masters. He leaves his city to explore and finds a strange-looking windmill and a creature that looks like a dinosaur. Which is weird because all animals are supposed to be extinct. 790-6 meets a man who knows the truth about society. Then 790-6 changes his name to Billy and heads out to tell the other clones the truth about their lives.

Billy And The Cloneasaurus by Stephen Kozeniewski is a satire that takes a look at a society and how pointless it can be. This is the kind of book that you don’t read for the story as much as you would read it for the message that it’s trying to put forward. I found myself comparing myself to the clones in the story. The clones mindlessly work and consume products and they don’t look for a deeper meaning in life. The clones existence was a sad one and most people in our society are very similar to the clones in Billy And The Clonesaurus.

The thing I liked best about this book was how Billy changes in the story. Little by little you see him grow as a person and you see how he wants to help others to think the same things he thinks. At one point he meets a female and he doesn’t understand the feeling that he has towards her and he doesn’t know how to express himself. Because of this he feels a great hole in himself and he doesn’t know how to deal with it. At this point you see Billy as a kid in a man’s body and you root for him to become the person he wants to be. Another thing I liked about Billy is that he seems to care more about the people around him then he does himself. The whole time he is wanting to be a better person so he can help other people get better also. He shows this at one point when he sees a life form in pain and is horrified while the scientist he is with shows no emotion.

From the beginning I was hooked on the story in Billy And The Clonesaurus. There is a good mystery here because you don’t know how society got to be this way until the end. The ending of this book is both sad and funny at the same time. The most important thing I got from this book was that I started to look at how I’m like the people in this book and what I could do to change. This book has a deep meaning to it that will really leave you thinking. ( )
  dwatson2 | Dec 4, 2015 |
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AuteursnaamRolType auteurWerk?Status
Stephen Kozeniewskiprimaire auteuralle editiesberekend
Rimpici, SteveVertellerSecundaire auteursommige editiesbevestigd
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Six billion identical clones make up the entire population of Earth, and William 790-6 (57th Iteration) is exactly like everybody else. In his one year of life he will toil in suburban mediocrity and spend as much cash as possible in order to please his corporate masters. When 790's first birthday (and scheduled execution) finally rolls around, a freak accident spares his life. Living past his expiration date changes 790 profoundly. Unlike other clones he becomes capable of questioning the futility of his own existence. Seeking answers in the wilderness, he discovers a windmill with some very strange occupants, including a freakish, dinosaur-like monstrosity. Which is especially strange since every animal on earth is supposed to be extinct... Dark, haunting, and blisteringly satirical, BILLY AND THE CLONEASAURUS is the story of one "man's" attempt to finally become an individual in a world of copies.

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