Arun. D Ellis

What sounded like an interesting dystopian take on modern day politics in the blurb became 300 pages of testosterone-fuelled drivel on the page. Unless you like ranting about the 1%, or the ultra rich versus the plebs, and can't get to a pub, don't bother with this one, even if the Kindle version is going dirt cheap. Unconvincing, Hollywood-esque dialogue, too many (male) characters with names like Eric, Terry and Donald - I swear the only female character is a love interest who is actually sent to make the tea at one point - and more violence than plot. I can't tell if the author was blowing off steam about the current political climate or imagining a Hollywood blockbuster, but he fails on both counts. Dreadful.… (lisätietoja)

Very grateful for this recommendation - I enjoyed every part of the book. Some of them may have seemed less enticing, interesting or even unnecessary for the story as a whole but nevertheless, it was an amazing and fulfilling experience. I was not concerned about the size of the book - if I like a book, I only wish for more pages...
The arguments and ideas were clear, and the use of current topics refreshing. Put this in my Read Again collection on kindle, and it may well find its way into my Favourites, i.e. books I can read anytime and anywhere and would not want to part with.… (lisätietoja)

Corpalism is a science fiction political commentary that focuses a lot of the economic situation that we are currently dealing with and its repercussions. It is told through many view points and from different points in time.

First off, let me say that I like the message Ellis is trying to present. He puts out a lot of ideas and makes a lot of interesting points that are worth thinking about. However, the message overrides the story line. It is full of too much preaching and not enough character and plot development. As it reads now, I think Ellis should have written a non-fiction book and gave an overview of the current economic and political situation and what he thinks it may lead to. It's true that fiction has advantages, because people are more likely to accept new ideas, but then it should read like fiction. There are pages and pages of one character explaining their ideas and the situation. Honestly, it's thinly-veiled proselytizing.

This book does switch between different characters and time periods. There are some story lines that connect nicely with each other; however, for many of them, I felt that there should have been stronger connections drawn between the different characters and situations.

If you're interested in politics and worried about the direction our economic and political system is taking, Corpalism will naturally be of interest to you. And Ellis really does make good points, but don't expect a strong story or intricate developments.

*I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.*… (lisätietoja)

Everyone is entitled to their own opinion, and whether this author wrote the book on his own opinion, or thought it would make a great story, is up to him.

The majority of the book is how brainwashed society is by the government, the powers that be, and the 1% of the upper crust and rich. The remaining 99% are brought up to believe they are better than their ancestors were in numerous ways, even though they have less spare money, less free time to spend with family and less of everything. Instead, they have bigger mortgages, bigger bills, etc.

While I see nothing wrong with writing a story on that concept, I do have an issue with how LONG it is dragged out. On and on, over and over, by various groups of people, all trying to show others how to speak up and rebel against what you have been led to believe is how things are, based on the world today.

The book is also written in 2 different styles. The first half of the book is written more like three short stories, each is it’s own story, although some of the characters in the first volume appear later on. The second half is different groups of people and it juggles back and forth. In addition, one group of people is so irrelevant to the concept of the 99% vs. the 1%, it has nothing to do with the main concept.

Overall, it’s a unique point of view, but it should have been so much shorter. How many times and how many ways can you stress to stand up for yourself. After a while, you almost just skim the pages instead of actually reading the story.… (lisätietoja)