Tough call with this one - I actually wavered between 3 and 4 stars. It's good, not always great, but good. I think it would be more fair to say it was inspired by Wells' Time Machine than as a direct reboot, but with honest focus that was more on the character and his place in a far future society than on the technology that got him there (a mistake too often made). There is rarely room to doubt in this novel as to which direction the lead character is going to jump, a fact that makes the story comfortable and familiar and occasionally predictable. Having read through most of the Riyria books, I know from experience the author takes some time to ramp to full throttle, which is I think the what left this book a bit lacking. Without the breadth of pages to gain full speed, the book fell a little short for me.

I'd still be happy to recommend the book, especially if you were looking for a fun quick read with a faintly science fiction bend. ( )

What can I say? I liked this reimagining of Well's Time Machine better than the original.

It's full of fully modern sensibilities and SF concepts and even brings about a cool 50's villainiazation among a populace that has miraculously found a post-scarcity paradise, true gender equality because sexual dimorphism has been eradicated (but not orgasms:), and an old school SF idea of making God through better tech.

In fact, there was a lot of good mirroring and exploration of ourselves, what we think about God, sexual identity, and especially love.

And for those of us that have to have a bit of murder and intrigue and nuclear blasts and teleportation into space and other galaxies, we have that, too, and it's cool.

It's not exactly popcorn fiction. It owes beyond that and it is serious, but for all that, it was also great fun.

What is it about predominantly fantasy authors producing even better SF, anyway? It seems to be happening more and more often, or maybe it's all my sampling error. ;)
( )

I-I don't think I ever came across a book that was quite this hard to rate! I kept going back and forth between 3 and 4 stars, yet 3.5 doesn't seem to quite do it justice either. So I'll just say that I "really liked" parts of it, and just "liked" others, and some others were "ok".

The pace was a bit strange, and I wasn't quite buying Warren, but I guess crazy is crazy and follows no logic. lol

In the end, I'm rounding it up to 4 because I love unexpected love stories and I love that he went with loving the genderless character (which I hope will remain genderless if there's any future books - or at least won't suddenly turn into a woman, lol). There's other reasons too, but I'll stick to that for the main one.

I do hope we get to see more of Sol if there's more books in the future - I don't think I would want to revisit the same characters, I like to leave well enough alone and I would only hope a fleeting mention of them still being well and together while moving on to other subjects/characters. I think there's a lot of potential there.

Also, that first kiss scene was lovely. ( )

“You’re unique—truly unique. You have hair—and it’s two colors. Your skin sags, and has all those great creases, like a beloved knapsack that has been taken everywhere and shows evidence of every mile. No one else has that.”



This is going to be a slightly biased review because I’ve read pretty much everything Michael has published and loved most of it. That combined with the fact that Michael is immensely approachable and a very straight-forward person makes for a mixture I can’t resist.

You might want to read another of Michael’s books first, though, to find out if you like his style. Hollow World, while definitely a Sullivan, is maybe not the best introduction. For that, I’d like to recommend his Riyria books to you.



That said, bias or not – this book was very interesting, exciting and entertaining. In “Hollow World”, Ellis Rogers, a 58-year old man with a difficult family history escapes his wife of 35 years and his best friend, Warren, when he receives the news that he’s terminally ill. Using a DIY time machine built in his garage, he jumps 2000 years into mankind’s future.



I have a few (minor) gripes with Hollow World: I’d certainly have enjoyed to get to “see” a bit more of the world itself. Yes, we get introduced to some individuals (voxes, wonderful!) but I know for a fact that Michael has a real knack for world building (read Legends of the First Empire if you don’t believe me) and I wish he’d used it more extensively.

When we reach the main part of the story (a bit too early), we’re strongly exposed to “god and country”, “Old West” and “Good old times” stuff. Again, yes, it’s intentional but it’s going slightly overboard for my taste.

Especially when Ellis Rogers – who seemed mostly sane till that point – picks up on the religious stuff I rolled my eyes.



I also wished for Michael to be a bit bolder about Ellis and Pax. There’s a lot to be said for not making things too easy and even at some key moments (“You recognised me!”) even the daftest old-fashioned guy should come around to see what’s happening.

On the other hand, the way Michael describes the relationship between Pax and Ellis is believable and – considering Ellis’ past experience – it's probably much to ask for him to embrace what’s going on.

Plus: The door is not closed to more stories from Hollow World, I think. It has a lot of potential yet and I'd like to read more of it, especially about Ellis and Pax and humanity at that point of its development because the philosophical issues beyond the shallow religious meandering are still to be explored more fully.

Maybe taking up just a little fewer major topics in one book would be good because, as Michael writes in the afterword, Hollow World encompasses “liberal versus conservative, gay rights, religion, and God” and it’s hard to do justice to all of those within the confines of a single novel.

And, honestly, there’s nothing to argue about equality (not “gay rights”, Michael). Trying to tell anyone whom they’re supposed (or not supposed) to love has nothing to do with “dualities” but is simply infringing on other people’s turf – just ask Pax.



Anyway, one conclusion still holds true after reading a less-typical Sullivan: When I look at my "Favourites" shelf on GoodReads, I see Paul Auster, Isabelle Allende, Thomas Mann, J. R. R. Tolkien and Michael J. Sullivan - it's just that only the last one never disappointed. ( )

2.5 stars (I'm unwilling to put it in the same company as some of my 2-star books, but I'm not sure it's strong enough for 3 stars).

A terminally ill man builds a time machine in his garage, throws caution to the wind, and travels to the future just in time to witness an incredibly rare murder. Murder in general is rare in the future, not just the means of this one. Actually, people seem remarkably unconcerned with this manner of death. Maybe that's de-centralized government for you? It's cute, but the tension lags in parts, and the social commentary is a bit heavy-handed.

The future is not only peaceful; it is also full of glitzy technology which must be described (I was afraid it was going to go Scalzi at a few points). There is a plot here, but you may be a little confused as to where it is partway through, and the mid-book motivations are a bit hazy. Plus Ellis Rogers may be a genius, but people kind of mystify him (including himself).

It amuses me that Ellis Rogers's calculations were off by an order of magnitude. ( )