What do you think?
Rate this book
Softland
Matthew Catt is a young man tormented by many irrational fears. On his way to attend a funeral hundreds of miles from home, he is stricken with a crippling panic attack that causes the ground beneath him to swallow him whole. Matthew finds himself in a dark new world where his fears manifest into creatures. As he attempts to make his way home, he finds that maybe the worst thing in life, is to remain afraid.
Nook
First published March 2, 2011
13 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 of 1 review
April 2, 2025
Audible edition review
I'm not sure how I stumbled across this book but it wasn't a happy accident. The book has a very unstructured plot set in a world that is never really explained very well. I believe that was meant to be confusing to mirror the main character's confusion but it just felt like a jumbled mess.
The world is one heavy on concepts and ideas, a bit like The Wizard of Oz on LSD. They are assisted by a Prince of Cats, a librarian and two law enforcers of some sort. Initially they are on the run for a crime they didn't commit but everyone realises they were innocent somehow.
The two main characters fall in love for no discernible reason. The passage of time is screwy and I don't really know why we are supposed to care. It's a bit like the old Dungeons and Dragons TV show except the main character isn't trapped in a fair ground ride.
The writing has description issues as well as pacing problems. It meanders until the final third when the characters have a definitive goal and everything starts to pick up a bit and form a proper narrative. The dialogue isn't spectacular either and the character interactions were often bizarre.
The narration was unusually poor both from the narrator who speaks in a dull monotone (I believe her voice must have been slowed down) and the production who left in multiple repeated sentences throughout.
Overall, I would not recommend this book. Fish has talent, as demonstrated by the competent final third of this book, but the Alice-In-Wonderland-on-crack style world was not his forte.
I'm not sure how I stumbled across this book but it wasn't a happy accident. The book has a very unstructured plot set in a world that is never really explained very well. I believe that was meant to be confusing to mirror the main character's confusion but it just felt like a jumbled mess.
The world is one heavy on concepts and ideas, a bit like The Wizard of Oz on LSD. They are assisted by a Prince of Cats, a librarian and two law enforcers of some sort. Initially they are on the run for a crime they didn't commit but everyone realises they were innocent somehow.
The two main characters fall in love for no discernible reason. The passage of time is screwy and I don't really know why we are supposed to care. It's a bit like the old Dungeons and Dragons TV show except the main character isn't trapped in a fair ground ride.
The writing has description issues as well as pacing problems. It meanders until the final third when the characters have a definitive goal and everything starts to pick up a bit and form a proper narrative. The dialogue isn't spectacular either and the character interactions were often bizarre.
The narration was unusually poor both from the narrator who speaks in a dull monotone (I believe her voice must have been slowed down) and the production who left in multiple repeated sentences throughout.
Overall, I would not recommend this book. Fish has talent, as demonstrated by the competent final third of this book, but the Alice-In-Wonderland-on-crack style world was not his forte.
Displaying 1 of 1 review