I was expecting something on a par with Watership Down or To Kill a Mockingbird. I got a predictable, pedestrian novel, relieved by a few excellent chapters about ants. The main character never faces any real conflict and never changes much, either. Whenever an obstacle appears, some deus ex machina in the form of a rich indulgent uncle, a kindly influential mentor, a kindly influential newspaper editor or a homicidal swamp-dwelling hermit removes it. So Rafe breezes through undergrad school, aces Harvard, gets a dream job, easily realizes his goal and achieves a happy ending. Oh, wait, he lost the girl at Harvard, but she was a leftie environmental whacko, so we really didn't care and apparently it didn't bother him much either. I suspect this got published on the strength of Wilson's considerable weight as an ant expert. He should not give up his day job.Get more detail about Anthill: A Novel.
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