The Reviews Are Split. And I'm of Two Minds.

Special Deliverance by Clifford D. Simak
My rating: 4 of 5 stars

I love Clifford Simak, but on reread I didn't love this novel. Hmm.

I really didn't remember what it was about, and as I reread it very little struck a chord. I enjoy his style, his language, his themes, so I always like it, but I have to admit that I was kinda bored this time. (Still, I can't bring myself to give it less than a 4. That would be insulting.)

Too little happens. The conflict to start out is amazing--several humans from different versions of earth are plopped on a planet (another version of earth?) and sent out walking, where they encounter inexplicable buildings and beings. The premise is sort of like a scaled-down Riverworld, which is cool, but most of the book feels like aimless wandering. It was a mystery without clues, a game without rules. It reads fast, as always, so it's easy to fly through it, but it's not very filling, to mix my metaphors. :)

I actually like the end. The very very end. But TBH--this could have been an episode of Star Trek or something. A tight 60 minutes. TNG did have a story kind of like this--but the Simak novel came first.

Anyway, still a pleasure for the Simak fans. For the non-fans, don't start them with this one. Send them over to City or Werewolf Principle or Time is The Simplest thing.

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