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HellSans by Ever Dundas is a very weird book.
It's about a near-future world where the government uses a font that provokes a bliss response in those who read it to keep the population compliant. But there are those who are allergic to the font and those who oppose its use.
The book has two protagonists - Dr Ichorel Smith, who is working on a cure for the allergy, and Jane Ward, CEO of the company that manufacturers the robot helpers that are necessary for people to function in society.
There's a gimmick whereby you can supposedly read either the first 130 pages first, or the second 130 pages first, depending on which character you want to read about. But that's all it is - a gimmick - and it doesn't actually add anything to the reading experience. If you read it as the book is printed, you read it as the book is printed. If you read the second section first, it's just as if the book was printed that way, so what purpose does it serve?
I actually found it detrimental to the story, as 130 is a very long time to spend with one character, if the book is split across two different viewpoints. Also, as both sections cover the same time period, a lot of events are repeated (without much additional information given) and you already know where the story ends up. I think it would have been much more effective to intercut both sections throughout, so as to keep up with the story in both timelines simultaneously.
That said, I'm glad I read the book the was it was printed, as I don't think I would have carried on if I'd read Jane's story first - because she's a very unpleasant character and an awful lot of very unpleasant things happen in her section as well.
I quite enjoyed Icho's section, even though it was very violent in places and not much was explained about the world. I would have been very confused by everything if I hadn't read the blurb on the back of the book, which isn't great for good world-building.
But the ick factor tipped over the edge a bit for me in Jane's section - and, as I said, she was really unpleasant. The development of the relationship between Jane and Icho didn't make any sense, given the way Jane treated Icho (and everyone else), and I wasn't invested in finding out what was going to happen to her.
And then the second half pretty much lost me completely. It got very meta (and not in a way I found appealing), even more unpleasant, and very complicated. So, I'm afraid, after a pretty good start, the book went steadily downhill for me and I ended up not really enjoying it at all.
It's about a near-future world where the government uses a font that provokes a bliss response in those who read it to keep the population compliant. But there are those who are allergic to the font and those who oppose its use.
The book has two protagonists - Dr Ichorel Smith, who is working on a cure for the allergy, and Jane Ward, CEO of the company that manufacturers the robot helpers that are necessary for people to function in society.
There's a gimmick whereby you can supposedly read either the first 130 pages first, or the second 130 pages first, depending on which character you want to read about. But that's all it is - a gimmick - and it doesn't actually add anything to the reading experience. If you read it as the book is printed, you read it as the book is printed. If you read the second section first, it's just as if the book was printed that way, so what purpose does it serve?
I actually found it detrimental to the story, as 130 is a very long time to spend with one character, if the book is split across two different viewpoints. Also, as both sections cover the same time period, a lot of events are repeated (without much additional information given) and you already know where the story ends up. I think it would have been much more effective to intercut both sections throughout, so as to keep up with the story in both timelines simultaneously.
That said, I'm glad I read the book the was it was printed, as I don't think I would have carried on if I'd read Jane's story first - because she's a very unpleasant character and an awful lot of very unpleasant things happen in her section as well.
I quite enjoyed Icho's section, even though it was very violent in places and not much was explained about the world. I would have been very confused by everything if I hadn't read the blurb on the back of the book, which isn't great for good world-building.
But the ick factor tipped over the edge a bit for me in Jane's section - and, as I said, she was really unpleasant. The development of the relationship between Jane and Icho didn't make any sense, given the way Jane treated Icho (and everyone else), and I wasn't invested in finding out what was going to happen to her.
And then the second half pretty much lost me completely. It got very meta (and not in a way I found appealing), even more unpleasant, and very complicated. So, I'm afraid, after a pretty good start, the book went steadily downhill for me and I ended up not really enjoying it at all.
