Another great work by Simon Stålenhag
4 stars
I have all of Simon Stålenhags earlier books and this one certainly also excites me with its retro-futuristic aesthetics and sci-fi’ish plot. Where I found the earliest books to have a less coherent narrative and the previous one, The Labyrinth to have a very sinister plot and characters we don’t get to know so well, the characters in Swedish Machines get more personal and the plot is more about the characters and their development than the weird abandoned machinery and aftermath of a technological disaster. I am not so much into the queer aspect of the story and I would personally have liked more focus on the weird technology.
I have all of Simon Stålenhags earlier books and this one certainly also excites me with its retro-futuristic aesthetics and sci-fi’ish plot. Where I found the earliest books to have a less coherent narrative and the previous one, The Labyrinth to have a very sinister plot and characters we don’t get to know so well, the characters in Swedish Machines get more personal and the plot is more about the characters and their development than the weird abandoned machinery and aftermath of a technological disaster. I am not so much into the queer aspect of the story and I would personally have liked more focus on the weird technology.