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352 pages, Hardcover
First published June 19, 2018
Another thing was the pace. Like I mentioned before, three quarters of the book in, and still nothing much was moving! I can see a lot of less patient readers just dropping it altogether. When things happened, they stopped happening several pages after they started, and never picked up. The book is largerly about people wandering dark cave corridors. And that's it.
That would also be okay if there was a big secret and mythologies involved. But there barely is. Another thing that upset me about the story was the lack of smart, viable explanation. Things just happen and are a little too easy to explain, and very conveniently. Explanations are simplified: "for some reason it's doing that." At first an inexplicable catastrophe starts, and then it reverses itself just as inexplicably. I am gullible, but not this much. I understand that the characters don't know squat about what's going on, but please, have you watched Stargate or Doctor Who, or even the said Indiana Jones? For people to buy sciencey or magical mumbo jumbo, you need a lot of detail, and if the characters don't know anything about it – they must at least try guessing and surmising. There have to be clues found. They can't just go "well this happened. For some reason." That does not make a compelling story. The Anomaly fell very short in this regard, as there were barely any explanations or theories on the whole 'big thing' that is happening.
And yet, despite all these shortcomings, the book was interesting to read and I didn't want to drop it. That's why I'm giving it three stars. It's an interesting evening read, as long as you're not looking for it to be 'gripping and terrifying', despite it claiming to be so.
I thank Bonnier Zaffre for giving me a free copy of the book in exchange to my honest opinion. Receiving the book for free does not affect my opinion.
More reviews like this and a longer version of this review can be found on the blog.
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