>> There's barely any interesting development to the main character. >> the author is not writing in the American tradition where a "character arc" is expected

>> There's barely any interesting development to the main character. >> the author is not writing in the American tradition where a "character arc" is expected. My critique is less about a "character arc" and more about any interesting development to the character. Let's take the main character, Wang. So apparently he works in nanomaterials and he gets drawn into the story because of his scientific education and mindset. We’re told that he’s an avid amateur photographer, but this is just a plot device that gets discarded after serving its purpose. This happens again to his family; they seem completely pointless from the start. His family consist of a wife and a son, are alarmed at Wang’s strange behavior when he starts freaking out about the countdown. But they never really matter again. In all the subsequent developments, Wang never considers his family again. It's been a while since I read it, but to me Wang especially seemed more like a camera rather than a real human person with connections to his family, peers, society. He sees interesting stuff, but it doesn't read like it is happening to a human. "Sing to me, o muse, the blandness of ...eh.. Wang". Thank for taking the effort of writing the lines about the Illiad and the Odyssey. I've never read them, but I think I would enjoy a oral performance like they were given when the story was initially crafted.