/lit/ - Literature

>>19313664
Echogenesis - Gary Gibson (2021)
This was recommended to me as a "Top Pick" by Goodreads. The author notes that his first ten novels were traditionally published. This one however was self-published. The premise is that a group of fifteen people wake up on an unknown world with no memory of how or why they're there. Having little other choice, they begin exploring. The sole reason I read this was because of the premise, and once again, just because it's an idea I like doesn't mean I'll enjoy it. Fortunately, this was a rather quick and simple read. Even so, it probably should've been a novella rather than a novel. The main problem is how insubstantial it is.The majority of the book is spend exploring, but it doesn't have the slightest bit of the wonder that should come with discovery. This would've worked much better as a visual medium because it's rather difficult to have many characters involved in the same scene. Because of this, most of the characters have little to no development, though if it were visual at least they would've been seen. I don't think I can really call it survival horror either because there isn't really any sense of dread. When something happens, it just sort of happens, and that's how it is. The same can be said of the sex scenes which literally last a couple of short sentences. There isn't really anything to recommend about this other than to say it wasn't anything worse than being insipid.
Rating: 2/5