The Domino Effect

Some highlights of the latest EDA I’ve read (The Domino Effect).

I took these screens while reading, along with my reactions. As usual, this is full of spoilers.

 

Good news, everyone! This one isn't as bad as Infinity Race.

Unfortunately that's where the good news stop. And yeah, it's also pretty bad, but in a completely different way than the previous book - it's slightly better written, but it's gratuitously edgy, the regulars are either bland, way too aggressive or too busy being tortured to be in or out of character, the plot is very thin and makes very little sense, and it ends in the most boring, predictable way possible. And it also has the most artificial conflict between the main characters that I've ever seen in these books.

Some parts are so-bad-it's-good, and I kinda liked one specific plot thread, but that's about it. I sincerely hope this is just a fluke? 2,5/10

 

Not a very interesting start, and yet that's already better than the previous book

Unfortunately for me I will forever associate Enya with that one scene in The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. If you've seen that movie, you know the one

 ASDFGHJKJHGFDFGH 10 out of 10 description of Fitz

Nothing to worry about surely

Is that in another one of the parallel worlds of the arc, or is this the same one?

This sounds like Fitz is still writing his diary like he used to in Time Zero but I doubt that's the case

Anji you know this is an alternate reality already, don't act like you don't know this isn't the world you come from

Also, unrelatedly I'm on my way to hit two fictional guys on the head with a hammer! brb

I mean to be fair to Anji it's not that far from the real England

Out like a light, literally

Notes. Intriguing. A police report maybe?

Sorry Anji you seem to have landed in 2023 England by accident

On one hand Anji please this isn't the England you know, where's your sense of self-preservation, you should know better!!

On the other hand holY FUCK THIS IS TURBO-RACIST ENGLAND ON STEROIDS

NO SHIT SHERLOCK

The bombing?

Eight, professional vagrant

sdfgfDGHFGHJHG GET HIM, FITZ

Good thing the bomb exploded before Anji could do the exact same thing

Even in parallel universes, people can't describe Eight's eyes accurately lol

Oh god it's the very first thing he says after regaining consciousness

I'm very normal about this

That doesn't sound suspicious at all, of course

Usually it's Eight who's in this kind of situation, how the turntables have uh turned

Of course they don't have Anji and of course they're lying to him to obtain a confession but still, it's having such a devastating effect on him it's also starting to affect me a little bit

That would look good on a red cap

Holy shit Eight sghjkjhgfdfghjklm

I would have been surprised if that society was "only" turbo racist and not also turbo sexist

Well this feels familiar

Oh so we're looking for the One Piece then, okay

At least there's some good people in this awful world

This book is pretty bad so this shouldn't affect me that much

And yet it does

Goddddddd

Yeah things are about to get slightly more complicated with your new friends, Eight

Also please save my boy Fitz

GET MY BOY OUT OF THIS PLACE

Oh come on, I thought you were nicer than this

I made a little worried noise in the back of my throat

This is genuinely distressing

Ohhh it's Babbage!

And also a dumb typo in French because otherwise this wouldn't be an EDA

This just in: mathematics are the devil

Wait so someone killed the inventor of computers and that's what changed the timeline? Surely that wouldn't be enough?

Dr MacLeod saves the day!

Not a bad strategy to avoid suspicion all things considered

QSDFGHJKJHGFDFGHJKLM

This is all very Brazil

This book might be crueler to Fitz than Revolution Man and Interference combined

Ok, but, like, even most Victorians weren't nearly as violently turbo-racist

This would look more absurd if I wasn't reading this post-2016

I like that description of the TARDIS

What a fucking mood

WHAT A FUCKING MOOD

Oof. Even in this subpar book, the Turing Test feelings are back with a vengeance

Still weird that killing two people can change history that much, but ok

Oh okay so that's how it works

Anji, the guy is being nice and not racist for once, I know this world sucks but can you please chill for 2 seconds

OH SHIT OH NO HE'S STILL ALIVE IN THE TOWER

I'm sorry but. Did you all walk into a cafe. In broad daylight. Even though you're wanted in the whole fucking country

What the hell

Fucking hell

Fitz's whole situation in this book is both horrible and very voyeuristic

MY HEART

I'm sorry ARE YOU ALL GOING TO THE PUB NOW EVEN THOUGH YOU'RE WANTED IN THE WHOLE COUNTRY WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU GUYS

So if you haven't noticed already, in this book, Eight is kinda generic and bland, and Anji is very aggressive. I guess the only reason Fitz is kind of in character is because he's too busy being tortured and degraded to be too out of character

This is so fucking stupid

And this is also stupid!

Seriously are we literally creating conflict out of nowhere just for drama points now

The only thing that I like in this book is "half-broken Fitz having bittersweet conversations with an alternate elderly Turing in prison" ngl

My brain decided to play "I still remember" while I was reading this part and it made things better

Never understood why this hadn't been a bigger hit btw

Oh so they want to torture the TARDIS too?

Godddd he's so relieved they're gonna save him he's literally having a nervous breakdown

Glad one of the few decent people in this story wasn't shot!

Alf is single-handedly saving this story one scene at a time!!

FUCK OFFFFFFFFFF FUCK OFF fuck off fuck offfffff

Ok no, now this means war

Here's an awkward but funny conversation for you

And here's an incredibly stupid policeman!

This is so bad it's almost good

Hurting the TARDIS hurts the doctor too, apparently?

Godddddd I've said this already but this conflict is so artificial and pointless

In fact it's so artificial and pointless it's enough for me to remove one whole point from my rating

Ace would love this plan

Come to think of it, this book feels more like a VNA than an EDA. I haven't read that many (only 5 of them with my friends' book club), but still, this feels very similar.

This is starting to look like a running gag

Ok congratulations, now this is so-bad-it's-good material!

You can have half a point back, I guess

Meanwhile this continues to be the only good thing in this story

GET REKT

Oh, a mediocre plot, mostly

 And now we're back to the stupid shit!

Wait that's Sabbath's backstory from Henrietta Street, isn't it

Was that necessary

EIGHT IS CHANNELING MY EXACT REACTION LMAO

This book is 50% betrayals and 50% edgy shit

OH COME ON, HER TOO?? This came out of nowhere

Ok so that's a slightly more interesting twist: this version of Sabbath isn't the one we know

This entire book has just been a massive headache for Eight

This is so brutal and unnecessary it's almost comical

How are you gonna solve this in ten pages

I'm bracing for even more disappointment

LMAO

Oh so we're doing the Trolley Problem thing again, uh?

Well this is dumb

This mess won't be solved in a clever way, will it

Knew it

Also congrats for making me want to change my rating of Time Zero to 5/10, that's how bad that book is in comparison

Not sure I will change it, though

I think I've used this gif in the previous liveblog already but can you blame me

I still can't believe how contrived that whole thing was

Well that book was also really bad! You're welcome!!