An interesting tale of alternative-dimensions-time-travel, weird science and plenty of gore (both human and not-so-much) flying around. It's not a bad novel per se, it just didn't quite grab my attention. I'm not too sure why, but I found myself skipping some passages around the middle part and just trying to reach the end so I could review it and advance towards the next book in my digital pile. Some parts (omited because of spoilers and laziness of recalling them perfectly) didn't made much sense to me and resulted in a jarring reading experience: when the characters discussed some things which had already been made perfectly clear before, for example, or when their present actions didn't quite resonate with their previous undertakings. The characters themselves were well-constructed, though. Perhaps I found these things annoying because I wasn't too involved in the narration. Some mechanics I liked (the merging of memories as a way to present the character's backgrounds is brilliant), and others, not so much (the ending didn't quite make so much sense to me).All in all, it was ok, I guess. After reading "The Beautiful Land", the book just seemed to me to be a stereotypical science fiction book with a story about parallel dimensions. The story followed Tak, a character who seemed to have no character but to be the her of the book, and have appropriately misogynistic thoughts throughout the novel. I always think that a book in which the characters are well developed cannot fall too far. In "The Beautiful Land" the heroine of the book, Sam, seemed to have no other personality than that of a PTSD afflicted war victim. The character that I found most interesting was Yeats, the 'Mad Scientist' stereotype of the book, who I thought would have had an interesting personality, had it been developed, however it wasn't even touched upon. There were very few chapters written from his perspective, and he stuck with the same basic and stereotypical personality throughout.
What do You think about Piękny Kraj (2013)?
Excellent spin on time-travel...life possibilities...appreciating what you have!
—fuchengjun
I really enjoyed this book. The concept was very interesting.
—deettaddg
Read my on-line review at Toasted Cheese Literary Journal.
—3awditEroo7
