What the heck was this? I think I'm going to need a few more rereads to wrap my head around it all.
When it comes to speculative fiction, you just never know what you're going to get. Sometimes there's a great premise, but no follow-through. Sometimes the premise comes across a bit middling, but it turns out to be a terrific story. With this one, I feel like Nicholas Binge really went all out. The premise was super interesting to start with, and it just got crazier and crazier from there.
Whether you would enjoy this story depends on a few things. To start, you have to be able to maximumly suspend disbelief. Okay now that you've done that, you need to suspend it some more, and then some more, and then some more. And you will finally have reached the level of suspension required for this story. It was so wacky that at times, I even found myself unable to buy into it.
You have to also be able to wait for the payoff. The story starts off fairly slowly. It's a complicated plot, and many, many pieces have to be set up along the way. I'm feel like not much happens until well over a hundred pages into the book. Even then, you're getting information at a trickle, and it's not until the last few chapters that things really come together.
You have to also be able to enjoy a fairly technical level of science fiction. That isn't to say there is a lot of actual science in here (because this is more speculative than hard scifi), but there is a lot of discussions around philosophy, science, and biology. At times, it even veered into the supernatural, which was definitely a bit of a stretch for me.
And finally, you have to be okay with multiple, possibly confusing, timelines. The story is set up like a dual timeline, one in the present and one in the past. But the present one is mostly a recount of another time, so what you actually have is a third timeline embedded in there. And quite frankly, that's probably one too many for me. I did have moments when I got confused as to when/where I really am in the story.
Gosh, that all probably sounds more negative than positive. And to be honest, I did feel very conflicted while reading this. I don't think I really bought into the story until more than a third of the way in, and even then, things kept coming up that would throw me for a loop and make me rethink if I'm actually enjoying it.
And yet, when I came upon the denouement, I can't deny that I found it supremely fascinating. So many of the clues that were laid out earlier—and even some of the components I wasn't a fan of—all came together in such a satisfying way, I can't help but bow down to Nicholas Binge. Well played, sir.
I think it's safe to say this wasn't a homerun for me by any means. But it's one of those books that's so interesting, it has a way of burrowing into your mind and staying there. Even now, I'm thinking back on it, pondering over what I understood and what I missed. Even though I didn't love everything in here, I'm compelled to reward it for leaving me so thoroughly stunned.
Readaroo Rating: 4 stars
0 comments:
Post a Comment