I was primed to really dig this; the subject is right up my alley. But I have to say, man, was I underwhelmed.
For one thing, the characters are not particularly engaging nor memorable. And the frame within which they reside feels like an attempt to create a narrative based on a dissertation entitled “Possible Technological & Social Responses to Climate Change in the Context of International Treaties & Agencies.” It’s very invested in plausibility, but then you have…
SPOILER ALERT:
Successfully kidnapping & then releasing everyone at Davos, without getting caught? Are you kidding?
END SPOILER.
Overall, it feels a lot like watching a PowerPoint. To my mind, this guy is just not a storyteller.
Also, and I hate saying this, but a couple of the readers, especially the Irish woman, I found distractingly overwrought. It’s like she was trying to add drama to something that lacked it. In her defense, there may have been no captivating way to read this.
So yeah, I don’t like leaving negative reviews, but for me, this was a real dud. I only finished it out of sheer obstinacy, because I hate not finishing things.