Hugo Award winning novels seem to be hit or miss. There are some truly great works that have won the Hugo Award, such as Dune, Rendezvous with Rama, Speaker for the Dead, and Hyperion. Then there are some which in my opinion are really nothing special, including The Moon Is a Harsh Mistress, The Left Hand of Darkness, and Ringworld. Finally, there are the real clunkers, such as Lord of Light and Neuromancer which I couldn’t even get through to the end.

The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. Dick falls into the second group described above. The story of an alternate history where the Allies lost World War II is interesting from an historical perspective, but the plot (what little of it there is) and the characters don’t really add anything to the book. When an author establishes seemingly interconnected plot lines and characters, I as a reader expect those aspects to come together at some point in the book (such as in Black Cross or Eye of the Needle). But while there is some interconnectedness between the characters and story lines, it wasn’t enough to satisfy expectations.

I kept expecting some sort of big bang at the end where everything came together. While big “reveal” at the end is interesting to think about, doesn’t quite pass the test of verisimilitude.

Rating: 5 out of 10.

I struggled for days to come up with the correct word to describe the tone of The Kite Runner by Khaled Hosseini. The word “sad” is too general to describe the book. Depressing doesn’t cover it, nor does down-beat convey the true feeling of the book. Towards the end of the book, one of the characters is described as solemn. It immediately hit me that “solemn” is the word I had been searching for to best describe this book.

When my wife first discovered I was reading The Kite Runner, her initial reaction was that it was not my kind of book. She’s right, it’s not. But it generated enough press, buzz, and positive word of mouth that I wanted to read it. I generally read fiction for pleasure and a little escapism. I cannot use the word “pleasurable” to describe The Kite Runner, and even though the story is fictional, the events seem so realistic that it can hardly be described as escapism. Nor can I say that reading this book was an enjoyable experience. Even knowing that fact after only maybe 50 pages into it, the book compels the reader to finish the book.

It is difficult to rate The Kite Runner, because normally I simply rate a book based on how much enjoyment I derived from reading it. I can’t really say I experienced enjoyment while reading this book, but that doesn’t make it a poorly written book by any means. The author draws the reader into this story of one man’s childhood experiences in Afghanistan and subsequent emigration to America without being political. The focus is instead on the family and social relationships of the main character and his struggles related to these relationships throughout his life.