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4.4 out of 5 stars
4.4 out of 5
8 global ratings
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2 star
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A. McLaren
5.0 out of 5 stars I was laughing out loud by page four.
Reviewed in the United States on July 30, 2011
Verified Purchase
Easy to read, funny and as usual with Rudy Rucker, packed full of interesting ideas.

Some critics say "when anything and everything is possible, nothing is interesting",
but Rudy Rucker truly goes beyond "anything and everything",
this a rich and hugely enjoyable journey to places no writer has ever been before.
That said, I do realise this intense richness of ideas may be a challenge for some readers,
so open your mind and enjoy the trip!

Charles Howard Hinton makes a brief appearance,
which is a nice touch if your familiar with his work.
Also features a very clever and original way to find the "mystic portal" and
the method of closing the same portal is also very clever.
Somewhat similar themes to his book 'White Light', so if you enjoyed that, you'll love this.
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Genconn
5.0 out of 5 stars Page Turner!
Reviewed in the United States on November 23, 2012
Verified Purchase
The story drew me in and didn't let go. I haven't had much time lately to read but "Jim and the Flims" kept me coming back to grab a few minutes of time just to see how it would all work out. If surreal doesn't bother you and you like slightly goofy reads you'll enjoy this book.
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Jayson
5.0 out of 5 stars Rucker is beyond titles
Reviewed in the United States on January 19, 2012
Okay, here is my review "Wow!" ... I am just not sure how to write about this book, or that I even grasp all that there is to the story, but I loved it. Yiou really have to like Rudy Rucker's work to get into this, I am pretty sure, but if you are so inclined, it is a great work. Before buying this book, I saw reviews here that turned out to be very off base. It is as if those people read a different book. The story is not wandering all over, and strange things are not randomly popping in and out of the story. There are some strange concepts and things in there, don't get me wrong, but it is all very calculated and refined, and the story is solid. This is actually a very quick read; the story is an action adventure and it moves along at a good fast pace.

As I get older I am finding myself reading books about being old, dying, or after that, like Old Man's War for instance (one that lets us old farts fantasize about what it would be like if we could continue to live in our prime). This one presents an afterlife that is attractive and exciting. I could be quite happy as a Flim I think.
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And It Spoke
2.0 out of 5 stars Clever and promising, but ultimately paper thin.
Reviewed in the United States on April 2, 2013
If drug culture, meta-physics and whimsy are your thing, than maybe this one is for you. The tale of a stoner challenging the status quo of the afterlife due to an accident with a molecular mapper her created in his garage has tons of potential...

However, potential is the only thing we really get. Plain and simple, the narrative reads like a rattled off semi-fever dream with characters that have no depth. Things start out promising, then go into a stream of consciousness story, only coming back to life for the last couple of chapters.

The metaphysics of the book are charming, the fact that the author seems to know both science and spirituality is refreshing... but ultimately, the plot and characters fail to provide the good
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Aquiferman
3.0 out of 5 stars Much enjoyed ... but needs an editor
Reviewed in the United States on February 7, 2013
Being a long-time Rucker fan, I really enjoyed "Jim and the Flims." Although I have "never inhaled," I felt that this must be what it is like. However, the editing was quite poor ... punctuation problems, names substituted for other characters, words left out, and so on. Buy it, but have patience ... it was like the editor was inhabited by a jiva.
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Josh Vogt
2.0 out of 5 stars Tried hard to enjoy it
Reviewed in the United States on June 24, 2011
One of the blurbs on the cover of this book states: "Like lucid dreaming, only funny." This is fitting in some ways. Not so in others--mostly in the aspect of actually being funny.

The issue with trying to relay a dream in an entertaining fashion, is that often enough, the actual events and elements of a dream aren't nearly as entertaining or funny to the person being told as they were to the dreamer. Now, individual aspects of a dream, such as an alligator rowing a canoe on the back of an elephant while being chased by a horde of robots, might seem humorous at first glance. However, if you try to hammer that element into an overarching plot that is more of these same semi-nonsensical images and fuzzy logic, it quickly turns into a random number of scenes that don't really hold together.

Such is the dreamlike flaw of Jim and the Flims.

Continue reading on Examiner.com Review: Jim and the Flims, by Rudy Rucker - National speculative fiction | Examiner.com [...]
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Top reviews from other countries

Tim A
5.0 out of 5 stars Another wonderful book from Rucker
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on March 24, 2013
Verified Purchase
Jim and the Flims is the kind of mind boggling book I expect from Rudy Rucker. A quest novel for slackers with his concept of circular scale making a welcome return.
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