somewhat overblown child genius as new race after bio warfare holocaust

I don't usually write reviews but this was such a confusing book that I needed to explain, if only to myself, how I arrived at 3 1/2 stars. The book was such a mixture of bad things, (the impossible earthquake in California and the utterly yucky relationship of Candy and Rollo and a good many more) and good things (the joyful madness that is Terry Dactyl Foster, the very clever way he makes us believe in both the genius and childish limitations of Candidia and a good many more). By the way, I don't think Palmer was making fun of Robert A. Heinlein in the character of Rollo but giving a serious, plausible interpretation of his public and authorial persona and what might lie behind it. Anyway for the bad parts, 2 stars and for the good parts, 5 stars. Average them and you get 3 1/2.

Am I aware that this barely makes any sense? Yes, yes I am.

After I wrote the above, I read the other reviews and thought that I would note that it is back in print through Eric Flint's Ring of Fire Press. I bought it through Amazon (and the type is very readable). ( )

What a blast. A sci-fi novel loaded with action, but that doesn't even begin to describe it. If they made a movie of it—and they should, I suppose—it would look like a mix of Hunger Games, Harry Potter, Star Wars, Karate Kid, The Road, and Gravity. It's narrated by an 11-year old girl. It's written in shorthand.

Sadly, 'Emergence' is out of print, hard to find, and Palmer hasn't written much since. This is the funnest book I've read in a long while. ( )

An eleven year old girl survives nuclear war in a fallout shelter. Candy writes her story for posterity, in shorthand in a series of journals. Extraneous words like pronouns and conjunctions are mostly left out. I had no issues with the style, because that is pretty much how I read anyway, and it perfectly matches Candy's personality. There is just the right amount of humour, and the plot gains momentum until I found myself reading at 1:30am, squinting as the letters got blurrier and blurrier. Despite Candy's age, the book is aimed at an adult audience. There were a couple of plot points that I had issues with, but enjoyed the rest of the book immensely. I'll buy a copy if it ever comes out for Kindle, but I won't buy a 1984 paperback version because the font is too hard on my eyes. ( )

Had not heard of this little gem before and am very glad to have experienced a difficult-to-get copy via ILL. Returned to library today. Sorry to see it go.

Pros:
- Fast-paced
- Very distinctive writing style
- Interesting protagonist
- Journal-based narrative allows limited head-hopping
- Plot takes unexpected turns resulting in expanded view of world, (moves from extremely limited environment to fully expanded viewpoints).

Cons, (not many but...):
-Aforementioned head-hopping. Handled reasonably well but remained mild irritant when deployed.
-Several semi-squicky scenes sexualizing 11-year old girl as relates to middle-aged men. Hard to tell if this is simple wish-fulfillment by author or sly poke at Heinlein, et al. Thankfully, scenes are short and not overtly dwelled upon.

Deducted half a star from my rating for the 'squicky' aspect as it was the one element that keeps this book from attaining a spot on my all-time-faves list. Likely I might buy a copy for my own library at some point if...

#1) Comes back into print or...
#2) Used-copy prices revert to reasonable levels.

If you can find this book, it's well worth reading as it deserves a wider audience. There is apparently a sequel but it is even more difficult to acquire since it was only released in serial form via Analog Magazine. Off to do some googling... ( )