Book Review: Flit

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At a glance:

Flit is a story that blends several different formats and genres together to form a somewhat soft-medium science fiction that’s focus is on the invention and not so much on characters or their relationships. The book is told in a documentary fashion although it doesn’t usually feel like it is and covers a somewhat wide time period. Our main characters I would say are Joe, Ron, Irina, and Edward.

What I Liked:

I thought this was probably some of the most fascinating theory crafting I’ve read. How the world would react to a technology like FLIT was engrossing. I really enjoyed the slow burn we are given and the rules surrounding Flit. The four second snap back, the adaptations over the years, the cost and capitalistic side. It was really intriguing to see how it could potentially play out.

Similar to that, I thought the plot and the roadblocks faced were mostly good and was a good way to read through it. There isn’t really a center evil, the goal is just difficult to achieve because of bureaucracy but that means there is not an antagonist and that I enjoyed.

A lot of research also seems to have gone into this. The science seemed realistic to me, someone who knows next to nothing, and even some of the legal scenes (I am an attorney!) were well done even if far fetched.

What I Disliked:

I have three major main issues with the novel. First, the stereotypes used for the non-white characters. It just so happens that a guy named Deandre also happens to be a thief, have a baby momma, and end up in a crack house. It just so happens that another guy of Mexican descent has seven children and is undocumented. I’m not the affected parties so I can’t speak to it other than it made me uncomfortable. I would have been far more open to it if these characters had depth, but their value to the story was to show how jobs were impacted. That didn’t need these characters. There were also some jokes and lines I didn’t personally get bothered by, but, again, are off putting to a good portion of people.

Second, there is a lot of formatting and grammar mishaps on the Kindle edition for the early-middle portion of this book. At 25% into the book, there was a random series of “+” symbols. At other points, names would be incorrectly capitalized and there were issues with the overall consistency of the grammar. For example, for most of the novel, introductory phrases are not set off by commas. Fair enough, the same goes for names in a sentence of dialogue. What do you think, Beach? , for example, would not use a comma so it would read as: What do you think Beach? It’s not wrong to have style but the problem was the lack of consistency. It wasn’t so frequent it ruined my reading, but it did feel notable, especially in the middle.

Third, the first quarter of the book had a lot of deeply unnecessary sexual references that didn’t serve any purpose at all. An entire character’s storyline was about wanting to have sex and finding his wife’s dildo. There was a person who was actually having sex and seemed to only be focused on that. They didn’t add to the story, and were the weakest parts of the novel. Often I found myself groaning when these moments came up because they hid what the story excels in.

Lastly, I hated that there were so many plot lines that seemed to be set up and then abandoned. (The creature being the big one and possible alternate universes and running into yourself from the past).

Concluding Thoughts:

Overall, I really enjoyed Flit, but there were lots of issues I had. However, because I think it’s a good story, I can forgive it for its shortcomings and give a 3.5 rating, rounded to a 4. I liked it for what it was and I enjoyed it on the whole.

Recommended to:
Someone looking for a grounded sci fi story that has no real focus on individual characters but rather the effects on society and how society will react. I know that sounds odd but it was refreshing to read a novel that focused on the world’s reaction.