Very gripping in parts, but overall far too long and drawn out. ( )

First off: I read it in German and not English. Based on complaints regarding the grammar and style of the English version, it seems to have been a good thing. The book starts slowly and switches between parallel stories. As can be expected, they grow together toward the end.

However, the (anti)climax of the book is a disappointment; it is reminiscent of the many Hollywood movies that have a great premise and build up well, then cheat themselves and the audience at the end with a lame finale. What also bothered was the many references by the characters in stressful situations that "this is not Hollywood" - well, yes, that's true because of the length of the story and the author's penchant for killing off almost all the protagonists (as well as all of the antagonists), but otherwise the reference was bothersome, as it yanks the engrossed reader out and turns him into an observer again.

The science is interesting but at times long-winded and out of place. I ended up skimming some of that and still read on, because I liked the basic pretext and was curious. ( )

It's taken me awhile to form a coherent response to this book as the possibilities it presents overwhelmed me when I first finished it. Unlike many of the other books on the 1001 list, this is very much in the here and now. It could be read as a response to the environmental crises the world has thrown itself into, but I don't think that was really the point. After great thought I believe the author just has seen too many movies, especially of the disaster genre.

That should not be taken as a reason not to read it however, because this book had one major thing that I love to see in books: a multitude of well-researched and explained scientific factoids that are actually pertinent to the plot. This was chock full of them and while most were about biology (not my favorite), they were still fascinating. If you don't give a hoot about science, this is probably not going to be your favorite...

The back of this book calls it a successful amalgamation of The Day After Tomorrow and The Abyss, which I found to be a surprisingly accurate description. The action, while it took a bit to get started, was well described and enthralling when it occurred and there's enough time between bouts to catch your breath and get a sense of what's going on. It's appalling how real it seems and how easy he makes it sound to end the world.

While I agree with the other reviews on the book page that the characterizations could have used some work and the whole "disaster concept" is a bit trite (although the actual reason behind it seemed new to me), all in all, it was all good enough to support the real baby behind this book: the plot.

Any complaints I had about wording and punctuation would be unfair to the author because this is translated, however, I think the publisher needs to have an editor go over this one some more. Many of the proofs I've read have had fewer errors.

Me lo prestó Olivier ( )

Wow, this book took a long time to get going, and The end left a lot to be desired. Some decent carnage from about page 400 to 800, but overall only average ( )