"Six Wakes" by Mur Lafferty, 2017
A bunch of clones of criminals is put in a generational starship headed to a new world to colonize. They find their memories wipe as they wake amidst a murder mystery- their own.
The book was prefaced with the seven laws governing the existence of clones, reminiscent of Isaac Asimov's famous Three Laws of Robotics. And the novel starts interestingly enough; a bloody, gory murder scene in a starship. That got me on the hook fast. As the story progresses and characters' backgrounds build, and the plot thickens, I found myself wanting to get off this "mystery train."
For me, there were plenty of areas where the novel stalled; some jarring transitions from scene to scene. But the fact that I put the story down and had to force myself to finish it by speeding through speaks how little I liked the novel. Some attempted humor is sprinkled throughout to balance the artificial tension produced from the combination of the murderer's identity not being known while buried secrets rise to the surface.
In the end, I can understand why Six Wakes is seen as an impressive novel by others, probably young adult readers. I found myself uncaring for any of the characters and trudging along by the "interesting-enough" pull of the plot as the tension ratcheted up towards the climax.
No comments:
Post a Comment