Mr. Reynolds' has never indulged in easy science fiction. His efforts always challenge, for, rather than go for our beliefs, our conventional moralities, he attacks the limits of our imaginations. If long-windedness is Mr. Reynolds' literary sin, then the expansiveness of his creativty is surely his greatest virtue. Century Rain is a turbulent tale alternating between an unrecognizable Paris of the 1950s and a desolate 23rd century Earth. Our characters and their schemes start out compartmentalized, but as the story develops, the individual skeins come together to form a rich tapestry of plots and dangers which culminate in quite the crescendo.
Mr. Reynolds can be difficult at times. His writing evokes a kind of despairing nihilism born of the fact that his characters are all too often aware of just how little control they have over their worlds. Events are always just a bit too big for them to grasp, much less manipulate to any great degree. This is, like much of Mr. Reynold's writing, intensely realistic, but the futility is both a blessing and a curse.Tiresome and depressing? Sometimes. But fascinating? Assuredly... (3/5 Stars)
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