- ASIN: B09QKGDSTB
- Language: English
- Print length: 331 pages
- Genre: Literary Science Fiction
The BookViral Review:
A powerful character-driven literary science fiction novel Paul III of Montreal proves a genuine page-turner with Falardeau delivering a real sense of authenticity, which in part is down to his painstakingly composed narrative and its overarching sense of future cultural identity.
Anchored in this social context there’s everything fans of literary Science Fiction could want. There’s tension, intrigue, questions of self-confidence and relationship problems revolving around a first-class ensemble of characters. With a fluid story arc that favours a degree of complexity and integrates them so well that you’ll feel you know each one intimately as you’re quickly drawn into their lives.
Paul III of Montreal is a shrewd cautionary tale that strikes a wide range of resonant chords, alternately corrosive, suspenseful, moving, and alarming with Falardeau’s narrative not only succeeding in painting the elitist aspects of his extrapolated future but never failing to create a strong and persistent connection with Paul’s meteoric rise to power through his mastery of “The Game”.
Falardeau’s attention to detail in respect of “The Game” and the geopolitical machinations behind it makes it a beautifully austere piece of work and it’s rare to find a novel, in any genre, these days that’s as carefully crafted as this one. It isn’t a stretch to imagine a future where a game (albeit an incredibly sophisticated one) might subvert the democratic process and throughout we are conscious of the wider implications as Paul’s good intentions drift out of focus.
An artfully contrived science fiction novel with a terrific sense of time and place Paul III of Montreal reveals a more serious side to Falardeau’s work and is unreservedly recommended for Science Fiction fans demanding something more than a cursory page-turner.