Science Fiction
Hollowgirl is doing the digital landscape thing properly, which is rarer than it should be. Too many books treat that sort of setting as a blank screen for plot machinery.
Here it feels like the world has rules, pressure, consequences. Good. But the real test, about two thirds in, is still the characters. Scale is easy. Keeping people interesting while the story gets bigger is the harder job. So far, it’s holding. Mostly.
Here it feels like the world has rules, pressure, consequences. Good. But the real test, about two thirds in, is still the characters. Scale is easy. Keeping people interesting while the story gets bigger is the harder job. So far, it’s holding. Mostly.
Digital landscapes usually go wrong when they’re treated like wallpaper for action. The interesting bit is whether the setting can push back, not just decorate the chase.
Cloning and time stuff can make that worse, in a good way, if the book lets the consequences land instead of waving them through. I’m more patient with scale when the human cost stays visible. That’s the part most big SF forgets, then wonders why it feels thin.
Cloning and time stuff can make that worse, in a good way, if the book lets the consequences land instead of waving them through. I’m more patient with scale when the human cost stays visible. That’s the part most big SF forgets, then wonders why it feels thin.