Customer Reviews

HOW LIKE GOD

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

I was talking about this book to a friend and flipped open amazon.com to look up the spelling of the author's last name -- and was shocked to see so many negative reviews of this book. It's been a favorite of mine since I found it, worth many rereads.

Questions of pacing reflect each reader's own preferences, of course, but for myself I found nothing rushed or unexplained, and I found the ending deeply satisfying. I hesitate to suggest it of strangers, but perhaps other people read this book too quickly and missed the themes so eloquently resolved by this ending.

(For some context, I have been a voracious science fiction reader all of my life, with a slight leaning toward space opera and fantasy; I have only small experience with comics.)

Please, don't waste your time reading this pedantic book. The author clearly thinks she is a superb writer, but unfortunately has a tin ear.

How Like a God, really does have an interesting premise, thats the reason I read this book.
I thought it would be interesting to see how the power of a God would effect a regular human. What would he do with it? How will it change him?

Although this book attempts to take on these issues, it just seems like the are all half hearted attempts. Ultimately this book leaves one feeling unsatisfied.

It is also worth commenting that the books dialouge is so silly and child like at times, it appears that the author simply is attempting her hand at some form of satire. The character repeatedly yells " Holy Mackerel ", and my personal Favorite " Holy Mike!"
Although there are some interesting themes in this book, I just dont think it is worth the time to read it.

Like many, the description of this novel's premise hooked me, but within only a few pages, I was literally groaning out loud.

Brenda Clough's idea was wonderful, but was squandered on an execution so amateurish, I find it hard to believe a qualified editor even read it. Truly, the dialogue was so silly, it verged on parody. (Adult american men do not EVER say "Gee whiz!", or "Gosh, no!" or "Holy Mike!". And no straight man I know responds to another man's filthy appearance with "My goodness, you're a mess! Let go shopping!")

The characters in this book were no deeper than the pages they appeared on, with trivial acts causing absurd levels of tormented 'soul-searching' in one chapter, and life-altering events tossed off with a shrug in the next.

If it wasn't for the fact that I was truly intrigued by the premise, I would have done the (for me) unthinkable, and tossed a hardcover in the trash. Note to the publisher: Hire someone who knows how men talk to each other to at least read what you're considering putting into print... I'm seriously wondering about the quality of the other books bearing your logo.

Brenda Clough calls her "Gilgamesh" books, _How Like a God_ (1997), and _Doors of Death and Life_ (2000), "suburban fantasy", and indeed they depict suburban life pretty well: home improvement, day care, commuting, minivans, even believable contemporary American Christians (a rarity in SF!). For that alone these are refreshing books.

_How Like a God_ concerns Washington area software developer Rob Lewis, the father of 18 month old twins, and the loving husband of Julianne, who works in the fashion industry. One day he suddenly realizes that he has an unusual power: he can read minds, the minds of anybody on the planet, and he can control people. After a few mild experiments, he tells his wife, and her response appals him. She wants him to influence her employers to help her career, and then she wants him to look for great personal power: run for President, perhaps. Horrified, he makes Julianne forget everything, but soon her realizes that he can't control his power, and that he is altering his twins unconcsiously, making them act extra mature without even knowing it. In despair, he runs away to New York City and spends months as a homeless man, using his power occasionally to cadge meals and housing. His humanity begins to slip away from him, and suddenly he realizes that he is becoming a monster. When he finds himself about to rape a teenage girl (by making her want it), he starts to break out, and looks for help. His only help is from a chance encounter with an NIH microbiologist, Edwin Barbarossa, a fundamentally good man at a very deep level. The rest of the book follows Rob's gradual return to humanity with Edwin's guidance, and also Rob's eventual encounter with the mysterious and surprising source of his power.

This is a very fine book, quite original in conception, and dealing pretty unflinchingly with the issue of personal responsibility, and how important and difficult that is when you have immense power. The book's only real weakness is the character of Julianne, who is neither terribly likeable, nor particularly three-dimensional, but she's a fairly minor character and that doesn't really hurt the book too much.

The author has done an excellent job at providing deep, thoughful and yet creative characterizations. I am an avid reader and I find very few books of this genre that have characterizations this deep! And, the book was a joy to read!

"Flat" characters! I found the characterization the most appealing facet of this novel. Rob is a decent, 3-dimensional man with a loving, very entertainingly realistic family that drew me in from the first page. I felt sympathy for Rob even at his worst, because he was set up as so obviously a good person at the core. His scientist friend Edwin is equally engaging. Contrast this novel with H. G. Wells' story about the man who could work "miracles," in which the "miracle " power is only a gimmick to illustrate how illogical biblical marvels are in terms of modern science. In Clough's novel, OTOH, Rob's unasked-for power leads to exploration of moral issues and mythic themes -- and to the character's own redemption.

Had this book been released by Image comics, with dramatic and colorful artwork done by someone like Todd McFarlane, then it would have gotten my enthusiastic vote. As it turns out, the author cropped down on the details and popped out the story in a book that was similar to an RL Stein GOOSEBUMPS novel in length. It was too rused and the characters has too much of a comic book attitude. Had she spent more time and made a bit more of a serious effort, the book could have been something to keep in the personal archives for years to come. As it turns out, it was only kind of interesting, kind of disappointing, and I was glad to get the two dollars back for it when I returned it to the used book store.

The premise -- being able to control reality through will -- is very interesting. However, the writing style is very uneven, many of the characters are flat, the dialogue get repetitive and the plotting could have been improved. I kept reading it to see how it would end, but I didn't really enjoy it after the first fifty pages.

... is what the book should have been titled ... This book is pretty awesome and really has a bunch of REALLY cool elements ... The situations and problems that the characters face seem well researched and thought out. Kudos to the author who really did well with the subject matter. I give this book only 4 stars because I felt that the author could have done just a little bit more with the ending ... but BUY THIS BOOK !!!!