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Welcome!! My name is Paul Lappen. I am in my early 60s, single, and live in Connecticut USA. This blog will consist of book reviews, written by me, on a wide variety of subjects. I specialize, as much as possible, in small press and self-published books, to give them whatever tiny bit of publicity help that I can. Other than that, I am willing to review nearly any genre, except poetry, romance, elementary-school children's books and (really bloody) horror.

I have another 800 reviews at my archive blog: http://www.deadtreesreviewarchive.blogspot.com (please visit).

I post my reviews to:

booklore.co.uk
midwestbookreview.com
Amazon and B&N (of course)
Librarything.com
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Reviewcentre.com
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I am always looking for more places to post my reviews.

Friday, June 27, 2014

The Factory World

The Factory World, Joseph Edward Ryan, Steam Press, 2013

This post-apocalyptic novel is about two people who find themselves in a very strange place.

Simon is a young boy who wakes up in a drain pipe, with no memory of home. He is wearing a Cowardly Lion costume, because he is a fan of the Wizard of Oz. Simon is met by an older man, who also doesn't know where he came from, or even his own name. Simon calls him the Tin Man.

They start walking along abandoned railroad tracks through a desolate landscape. They pass huge, deserted factories. There are a number of what look like mannequins made out of black rubber (later in the book, a way is found to make them come alive). They meet a couple of other humans who, in various ways, are not very friendly. Occasional shooting stars plow holes in the earth which show a series of pipes underground, like the planet is a giant factory. Do they find a way back home?

This is a pretty "quiet"novel, with only two main characters, so it will take some patience on the part of the reader. That patience will be rewarded, because this is a good story. My only criticism is that the ending felt a little too easy, or cop out-ish. It is still well worth reading.

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