science fiction
Harold and Edie have lived in their home for 40
years. Once, their daughter Kate lived there. But she left after an
incident in her youth and hasn't been back for many years. Harold
collects and repairs first edition books and reads aloud to his dying
wife, surrounded by the sentient appliances in their smart home who
quietly tend to the many needs of their humans. The appliances, Harold,
Kate and a young neighbor, Adrian, must come together to save themselves from the
all-controlling Grid, or lose everything they've ever know.
The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances was an interesting story, but I
couldn't shake the feeling that this would have benefited from some
serious editing. I loved the appliances -- their earnestness, their
interactions and their faithfulness to each other and their humans. It
was the humans who I had a tough time caring about. With the exception
of young Adrian, I didn't really find much to grab onto with Glenn Dixon's human characters. I never really understood who Harold or Kate
were or why I should care about either of them other than, you know, people good / Grid bad.
I also felt that the Grid was never
well defined as the bad guy. I understood what Dixon was trying to
accomplish, and what the message was with the Grid, but it was never
quite as menacing as it could have been. Lots of telling, very little
showing. So overall, I felt like this story had loads of potential, but I
was left unsatisfied in the end.
The Infinite Sadness of Small Appliances will publish on April 7, 2026.
Thanks to Atria Books, NetGalley and Glenn Dixon for the advanced copy.
No comments:
Post a Comment