Michael Sypes > Recent Status Updates

Eon starts off really good, but gets progressively more confusing as you go so that the second half seems a twisted jumble where you kind of understand the broad scopes of what's happening, but you're unsure of the details and the characters' motivations as they pursue their own ends. Why "The Way" was created, how it's being used, and peoples' plans for it, are torturously obscure.

"The Mysterious Island" is a ridiculous version of "Robinson Crusoe ." The fantastic aspects are how the protagonists are able to continually do the work of ten men each – hunting, gathering, farming, carpentry, masonry, mining, metalworking, ship building, tailoring, animal training, etc. – beyond the realm of belief.

"Around the world ..." is by far the most readable/entertaining of the books so far. There's much less contrived examples of people delving casually into esoteric science principles or solving complex mathematical equations in the blink of an eye. Fogg, like the other books' primary characters is the same taciturn "brick" of a man, but Passepartout makes up for it.

While not quite as exciting as I remember reading it as a child, there are still a few great adventurous chapters here, although a lot of the book is taken up with "Traveled through an area, saw a lengthy list of organisms with these Linnean classifications, and them's good eatin'."

Around ... picks up right where you left off. Again, this reads less like a novel and more like a series of magazine articles, with a sudden shift at the end. Lots of exposition, little character development, other than descriptions of "intrepidness." While still fantastical and generally wrong, you have to admire Verne's dedication to the science of his time.

From The Earth To The Moon reads less like a novel and more like a third-rate newspaper reporter's missives from the field, or a history textbook trying to give you more than the facts by adding a human perspective. It's got some great passages about the technical aspects of the project, but almost zero characterization. It also ends rather abruptly, an obvious cliffhanger for the next book.

A Journey to the Center of the Earth is still good. Not great, but very good. Axel, the narrator, is very excitable, and perpetually amazed by his uncle and Hans. Ultimately, for me, the big disappointment is <spoiler>they don't actually get to the center</spoiler>

Five weeks isn't great. Starts off as some hard sci-fi (for the late 1800's), but is mostly interesting for understanding European attitudes toward Africa and Africans at that time. Otherwise just a travelogue and history lesson.