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Book Review of The Oblivion Society

The Oblivion Society
quackers avatar reviewed on + 45 more book reviews
Helpful Score: 2


Loved this book! Light and funny reading. It's 1999 and the world is blown to smithereens thanks to a series of coincidental goof-ups and the president's rendezvous with his dark-haired, moon-faced intern (Yes, it is Clinton and Lewinsky. Many of the people and places in the book are so obvious who/where they are meant to be, it's kind of a joke in itself.) The only ones to survive are a group of nerdy, offbeat friends who each manage to blunder into safe refuge from the nuclear bombing. But they are not unscathed as they soon find themselves changed...I don't want to ruin it so I'll just say that the book really seems like it should have/could have been a graphic novel--look at the cover and you may get some idea what I mean.

There is precious little realism in the story, but it's really comedy/fantasy/horror, so lighten up. Also, it is loaded with so many scifi, pop culture references, it is actually a good gauge of your nerdiness how many movie/tv/comic references you recognize. As my only criticism, I did feel like the supporting characters you meet at the beginning of the book were a little too 2 dimensional. For that matter, they were all a little stereotyped, but with the main characters at least, it is done affectionately by an author who celebrates their personalities (i.e. geekdom). A thumbs up for anyone who is a nerd and proud of it.