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Search tags: green-and-pleasant-land
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review 2020-11-14 09:15
Cleverly conceived and well-considered dystopian fiction

 

The government of England is one of appeasement. Furigans, misfits who thrive on violence and anarchy are deemed not responsible for their criminal behavior because of being disadvantage and marginalize. Indeed, to condemn them is to commit an act of Nastiness, be harried by Compassion Stewards, and come under the scrutiny from the Commission for Fairness. All parties adhere to this Political Consensus. Debate is empty and meaningless.

 

Roger Tyson, a business magnate, is a solitary voice calling for a return to truth, justice, freedom of speech, and an end to mandated Niceness. He’s being vilified for it until his dire predictions of economic collapse begin to manifest.

 

But are Roger’s tough-love politics and bare-knuckle tactics enough to save England from the shadowy Muhonin who are preparing to violently overthrow the decaying, corrupt government and reinvent this Green and Pleasant Land by imposing their own violent and radical ideology?

 

Steve Shahbazian’s novel, Green and Pleasant Land, is cleverly conceived and well-considered dystopian fiction similar to George Orwell’s classic in that the government seeks to gain consensus not through violence but by influencing the cultural milieus of the masses. If you disagree with the policies of the government of the day they don’t make you disappear, they use their unwitting operatives to shame you into silence.

 

However, the strength of this novel is also its weakness. Replete with political machinations and characters launching into philosophical diatribes it is dense, plodding and much of the dialogue is didactic. Real action, the exciting kind that builds tension is scarce, and similar scenarios of debate, discussion, and ultimately indecision, are presented again and again with little or no consequences.

 

Well-developed characterization is also lacking with the host of characters only defined by their political affiliations.

 

The author has also chosen to use Japanese greetings and political terminology throughout the story. Perhaps it is a metaphor to indicate how far the birthplace of the Parliamentary system has drifted from its roots. If so, it’s an unnecessary impediment.

 

 

#amreading #readingcommunity #booklovers

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text 2014-05-18 00:06
BBA
Old World (The Green and Pleasant Land) - Oliver Kennedy

This twat sent me a message via Goodreads asking if I have any books online.

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text 2014-05-16 23:57
BBA Warning
Old World (The Green and Pleasant Land) - Oliver Kennedy

I just posted a review for an utter piece of crap I just read and then I went through the other reviews that people left.  

 

I found the comments the author makes to the reviewers far better than the short story he wrote...

 

http://www.amazon.com/review/RVCCVRG34YQFF/ref=cm_cr_pr_cmt?ie=UTF8&ASIN=B00DR0FNYI#wasThisHelpful

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review 2014-05-16 23:50
Review - Old World by Oliver Kennedy
Old World (The Green and Pleasant Land) - Oliver Kennedy

Grammar, spelling, punctuation, and formatting were all fine.  No complaints that I want to get into there.

 

The story started off decently too.  Typical zombie fare, but it drew me in and I continued reading.  Then the story veered off towards the paranormal.  Okay... I stayed with it.  I like paranormal.  Then the story went weird.

 

Gratuitous violence... descriptive gratuitous violence that didn't flow with the start of the story.  Zombie apocalypse or not.  Then, it just ended with another plea to review and purchase the next portion of the story to find out what exactly was going on.  

 

No.  Absolutely not.  It wasn't even a good story.  Do not recommend purchasing, but it was free, so if you want to waste an hour or so, go for it.

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