To write in the world of Vonnegut. I can’t imagine a more challenging task, but decided to give Hugh Howey a chance, as I was very impressed with his WOOL series, and I think he executed this homage quite well.
The world of Kurt Vonnegut and it’s philosophies are just as powerful in light of today’s tragedies, as evidenced by Hugh Howey’s recounting of his 9/11 experience in the shadow of the twin towers alongside the abduction of Montana Wildhack by the Tralmafadorians. This time-traveling homage effortlessly captured Vonnegut’s brutally honest acknowledgement of the kind of world in which we often live. Live your best moments, fight for what you can, and accept what you cannot change.
“Bad things happen, and shoulders are shrugged. The most serious of events are blended with the strange. The author pulled me inside his mind, and what I found there was a dead stillness, the somber and poignant wisdom of someone with little hope and scars across his eyes. There was humor there, too. But not the bright kind. The man who wrote that book is dead. So it goes.”