I think it's impossible to really understand somebody, what they want, what they believe, and not love them the way they love themselves.
-Orson Scott Card, Ender's Game

"Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away."
-Phillip K. Dick

Friday, February 17, 2012

Errant Intern by Shawn Keenan



Genre: Dystopian/Medieval/Futuristic/Post-apocalyptic/Sci-Fi/Romance

This is a story about...well sometimes I'm unsure what it's about. Sometimes I felt like it was about being controlled, then fighting for freedom, but later I felt like it was all about love...

In this Dystopian, Medieval, Post-apocalyptic story Kip, a lowly intern goes on an adventure that makes him a champion. He helps lead a riot against the governments monsters: the Subjugators. Along the way he makes a few friends, falls in love and saves people, even those who seem completely unworthy of being saved. With his friends, can they defeat the Subjugators and become free in a world that wants them as slaves?

This books hard to get into. The themes really clash in this book, medieval, dystopian, futuristic, science fiction. I just felt like it didn't work. I was confused between Kip and Kian in the beginning, similar names. I also felt like some 'new' terms would have worked better if they would have been explained right from the git go, as an example: Generex. I tend to get bored if I'm not understanding words or terms. I find that it's best if they are right away defined. I'm not a fan of Kip, at all. Things that seem insignificant to the story get explained a lot more than things that seem important. I didn't realize what Generex even meant until almost near the end, it must have been subtly implied. The story is not very elaborate at times; there's a lot more that should be elaborated on, filler as it were, to make it feel more real; the story felt too rushed. Too many things didn't make sense to me as I read. The two main characters, Kip and Abbey constantly explode in each others faces; these are signs of an obvious emotionally abusive relationship. The ending felt inappropriate in my opinion.

So what did I actually like? The character Alabaster Siberius Winters talks a bit about the Generex history, he also has a really cool name so that doesn't hurt. I do like the card swipe idea, but it sounds like everyone can watch everything you're doing and control where you can go, so in a sense that would suck in reality. On the plus side, this book has some good quotes and I like the idea of the retractable weapons, though it felt a bit too much like lightsabers. The subjugators are interesting bad guys, but I'd like more details about them. Overall this book as potential, but I feel like it could be expanded on more thoroughly.

I leave you with some good quotes from the book, and at the bottom, my rating. This is the first book I've rated so low in a while. I was extremely harsh on this novel, but for what I saw as good reasons.

Quotes:
“If you’re looking to make a little money on the side like I do, you might want to apply somewhere else. You’d have to wax your legs to make this dress work on you." (Abbey to Kip)
- Shawn Keenan, Errant Intern

“It sounds like you aren't used to having something so powerful between your legs," Abbey said. "Maybe you should let me drive.” (Abbey to Kip)
- Shawn Keenan, Errant Intern

“You're going to be too busy being at my beck and call to worry about doing any driving.” (Kip to Abbey)
- Shawn Keenan, Errant Intern

“Don't mind her," Kip said to Nicki. "She's just crabby from the long ride." "Yeah, I've been riding with...I mean on...a horse's ass all day," Abbey quipped.
- Shawn Keenan, Errant Intern

Shame on anyone who thinks evil of this.


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