Kevin

I have read Dan Simmons Hyperion series and enjoyed it. I was going to listen to it again when I saw this book and purchased it instead. I couldn't finish it. This book is filled with Dan Simmons' political fantasies about how progressive policies in the U.S. caused the destruction of the world of the future. It turns out that Simmons is just another right wing tool who has decided to use the science fiction genre to blather on about his ridiculous right wing talking points. As well, he revels in using a variety of racial epithets that have no context in the world that he has created other than to give him an outlet for his demented belief system. Don't bother with this book.

It was an interesting concept, and the storyline was fine, but many of the characters were single-faceted and the plot was predictable. His other books are better reads.

Not a formulaic apocolyptic, big rock heading for the earth book. This is a very interesting read that takes some big topics on without hesitation. It is supposed to be the first book of a trilogy, but after doing some research on the authors, who are primarily screenwriters, the rights to the books have already been sold to movie production houses, so I am not sure that the other two will ever get written as books. Too bad, because I would love to read the entire series.

The book and the movie have virtually no similarities, so don't worry about having seen the movie. The book is a very intense and often depressing internal discussion by the main character regarding the terrible situation in which he finds himself. He is nothing like the character in the movie - he is not a military medical expert. He just happens to be one of the few persons in the world who has natural immunity to whatever is causing the plague, and that is one of the most interesting differences between the movie and the book. Definitely get this book. At the very least, you will finally have an explanation of the title.