Bedlam
by Christopher Brookmyre
science fiction
copyright 2013
read in November 2013
rated 7/10: well worth reading
There is one major fault with this book: on the cover it says, "One of the funniest writers in Britain". So I started reading and expected this book to be funny.
This book is not funny.
Perhaps the creepy manager is supposed to be funny ? But I have met -- worked with -- that manager. He is not funny. Perhaps the brain-scanning scientist in his cluttered lab is supposed to be funny ? He is not. He is just an exaggerated character. Perhaps the pathos of the lost accountant is supposed to be funny ? It is not.
The IT Crowd takes a crowded "lab" and makes it funny. Hitchhiker's Guide takes almost believable characters and makes them funny. Brookmyre takes potentially funny characters and situations -- and fails to add the overlay of humour.
There are some good jokes scattered throughout the book. A couple of laugh-out-loud jokes. It is not a funny book. My expectations were unmet and this spoilt my initial enjoyment of Bedlam.
As science fiction this is an enjoyable book.
Better than enjoyable... Bedlam is a good book with a good SF theme. And it did encourage me to read up on Bostrom's simulation argument... Interesting...
The language is... appropriate. In a previous review of a book based around computer games, I wondered if the author had ever played a computer game. Brookmyre makes me wonder, has he diligently researched gamer slang but failed to listen in on actual conversations ? Or -- highly likely -- do he and I play different games.
Finally, a minor incident which places this book well above the potboiler level: Hero-alt-A says, How dare you do this to me! Hero-alt-B says, But you are me and you would have done exactly the same. To which Hero-alt-A can only reply, Oh, bugger off.
An enjoyable book, well worth reading. But it's science fiction with some humour. Not humour.
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Problems ? Solved
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