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Ich war zunächst etwas skeptisch, ob Marc-Uwe Kling auch etwas anderes als das Känguru gut schreiben kann. Nach anfänglicher Gewöhnung an die Welt, die er mit Qualityland schafft, waren diese aber restlos ausgeräumt.

Viele beschreiben "Qualityland" als "The Circle - nur in gut" und das fasst es eigentlich gut zusammen. Marc-Uwe Kling schafft eine Welt, in der Google, Facebook und Amazon die Weltherrschaft haben. Dennoch gelingt ihm das Kunststück einer klugen und differenzierten Technik- und Gesellschaftskritik. Dem sich derzeit sehr trendigen Kulturpessimismus anzuschließen, ist ihm zu platt und das schätze ich sehr. Die Welt von Qualityland ist erschreckend, aber nicht einfach nur unrettbar schlimm. Und unter den Menschen, Robotern und AIs, die sie bevölkern, gibt es sehr liebenswerte und abgrundtief fiese Charaktere - sowie alles dazwischen.

Es ist eines dieser Bücher, das einfach immer nur weiter gehen könnte, auch ohne großartigen Plot, einfach nur um zu wissen, wie es den Protagonisten und Protagonistinnen jetzt geht und was sie tun. Und es ist genauso lustig, wie die Känguru-Bücher, aus denselben Gründen: Klings staubtrockener Humor und seine Gabe, Running Gags unaufdringlich auf lange Zeit hin zu planen.

Kalliope 7.3: Sie haben einen Fan!

P.S: Ein besonders skurriles Leseerlebnis ergibt sich übrigens, wenn man das Buch über die Audible-App per Android Auto laufen lässt und es dann ständig von Google Maps' Sprachansage unterbrochen wird - der man dann einfach nicht böse sein kann. Sie macht ja nur ihren Job.

When a blurb on a book says "The most shocking ending you will read all year" and "Read it before someone tells you the ending" I am hooked. I saw "Behind her eyes" browsing in a store, bought it and, being curious, finished it today. The hefty promise it makes can only be kept if you don't know anything at all about the book and that includes the genre.

As soon as it is clear where the journey goes, the possibility of shocking endings are very limited,, especially if you read your share of horror and supernatural novels. The second twist comes a bit more surprising but gets also strong hints a few pages before the end (and of course from the title of the book itself).

As such, "Behind her Eyes" is not a bad book. It's a fast paced, entertaining read with engaging characters and a strong "villain". The wrong advertising doesn't do it good, though. It is marketed and sold as a psychological thriller (and I should have been suspicious why such a book would have reviews by Neil Gaiman and Joe Hill quoted) and as that alone it is too weak. There are similiar books that manage to be dark, twisty and surprising without the help of supernatural elements, "Gone Girl" and "The Girl on the Train" come to mind.

As a horror story it's without any doubt very cleverly crafted and I for sure will at least browse it a second time with the ending in mind before throwing it in the "to be sold" box. But I was promised an innovative and shocking story and that falls flat if you are familiar with the plot device. Maybe readers who never read any horror or supernatural stories will genuinely be horrified. I felt rather cheated

Maybe it's because I read the two up so closely, but this book kind of felt like "The Handmaid's Tale" for the elderly mixed with "The Island" / "Jonas 7: Clone"

Dorrit lives in Sweden, in an undetermined future. Society sees the elderly only as a financial burden if they haven't shown their value in their past life, either by procreating or achieving great successes. Those who didn't manage after a certain age are marked "Dispensable" and brought to "The Unit" where they live the rest of their life. Dorrit, a writer without a family, is one of the Dispensables and the novel starts with her move. "The Unit" is a resort, where she and other "Dispensables" have access to all luxuries of life and no more duties - except participating in medical experiments and donating, bit by bit, their organs to people who are more valuable to society, until they die by giving their final donation.

Like in "The Handmaid's Tale" actually not much happens as such - Dorrit mostly remembers her previous life and settles in The Unit, finds friends and a new love. There is no much drama except what is expected - she becomes close to people only to see them waste away by sickness or being taken in for their last donations. But other than "The Handmaid's tale" the novel has a very passive protagonist in every respect. Dorrit does not more than observe and she does not make any progress by going through her story. In the end nothing is changed, nothing is learned. The horrors of The Unit are shown to us so that we may look at them shock, but nothing is made of it.

I still give three stars because it was an entertaining audibook with a very pleasant reading voice by Suzanne Toren. It just not left any big impression on me.

I had mixed experiences with Matt Ruff books before. The acclaimed "Fool on the Hill" completely left me unfazed and rather confused, I tried several times to end it and at last sold it without having even read half of it. "Set this House in order" was the opposite: it completely enthralled me and I finished it in the matter of a few hours, re-reading it several times afterwards. "Bad Monkeys" was something in between. The first three quarters or so it absolutely captivated me and I enjoyed the fast paced plot, the characters, the sillyness and the pop-cultural jokes. But then Matt Ruff somehow went all M. Night Shyamalan - looking for the big thrill he drowned the ending in a maze of twists.

While I found those in "Set this house in order" well crafted,genuinely surprising, touching and making me want to read the book again, here they just seem like cheap entertaining mechanisms anf finally just annoying. Oh, a thing is not like it seemed? Here, it is actually just right like it seemed! Or ist it? It's not! Or maybe...? In the end I constantly felt like a dog with a treat right in front of my nose that keeps being snagged away for amusement. That might be exciting for the first time, but keeps getting old fast. Paired with deus ex machina-devices that make the rather fantastic but still somehow believable setting completely ridiculous I found the end not very satisfying.

Because I enjoyed most of it so much that I finished it on the same day I started. I still give it three stars, but I mourn the book that could have been. Matt Ruff lost me on the few last pages and what I was sure would be a beloved favourite that I already looked forward to re-read again will now be thrown into the selling box.