"Pines (Wayward Pines #1)", by Blake Crouch, 2012

Pines (Wayward Pines #1), by Blake Crouch, 2012

An excruciatingly frustrating start, but by halfway through, the book went from 0 to 60 and I burned through it all the way to the end. Starts off as a mystery novel that sharply turns into a thriller, and ends with a sci-fi surprise.

Pines saw Secret Service agent Ethan Burke waking up in Wayward Pines, a secluded town deep in the forests of Idaho, severely injured after an apparent car accident. Days of concussed, amnesia-driven investigation led Ethan to eventually discover that the entire town was surrounded by an electric fence and under constant electronic surveillance. Nobody comes into Wayward Pines, nobody leaves, and the townsfolk are willing to mob-kill anyone who tries. Is it a government experiment? An episode of The Twilight Zone? The afterlife? Pines concluded with a soul-shattering cliffhanger, as the secret of Wayward Pines was finally revealed to Ethan (a secret I will not divulge here).

My rating: ★★★★★ (5 out of 5 stars) - Wow. I loved it!

"The Road" by Cormac McCarthy, 2006

Bleak and beautiful. Though not much really happens, a lot goes on in what is not said.

Father and son pick through the remnants of civilization in search of edible food and serviceable clothing, encounters with other people are inevitable, and when the boy shows concern for his fellow survivors, his father unsympathetic and protective forbids him to make contact. These moments of opposition between boy and man, despite the book's tense, menacing atmosphere, come across as classic instances of father-son sparring.

The earth may be in an arrested state, but the pair's relationship continues to evolve, its course progressing naturally. McCarthy's depiction of their bond is remarkably delicate and sympathetic. The fact that their fate could be our own adds a layer of dark fascination to the novel, a perverse allure.

Indeed, a speculative account of this kind is bound to arouse a sort of obscene curiosity in its audience, and to that end, reading The Road is a bit like observing the aftermath of a car accident you want to look away, you should look away, but you can't.

My Rating: ★★★★☆ (4 out of 5 stars) - I really liked it.

"Calculating God" Robert J. Sawyer, 2000

"Calculating God" Robert J. Sawyer, 2000

Fast-paced, morally and intellectually entertaining SF story.

An alien named Hollus has come to Earth to study the five great extinction events that have hit our

planet over the eons. It lands at the Royal Ontario Museum and consults with a paleontologist name Tom Jericjo.

Much of the novel is relatively cerebral, as Jericho and Hollus argue over the scientific data they've gathered in support of God's existence, but the author excels at developing both protagonists into full-fledged characters, and he adds tension to his story in several ways: Jericho has terminal cancer, which gives him a personal stake in discovering the truth of the alien's claims, and lurking in the background are a murderous pair of abortion clinic bombers who have decided that the museum's Burgess Shale exhibition is an abomination that must be destroyed. Finally, there's the spectacular, if not entirely prepared for, climax in which God manifests in an unexpected manner.

This is unusually thoughtful SF.


My Rating: ★★★★☆ (4.5 out of 5 stars) - I really really liked it.

"The Fullness of Time" by Kate Wilhelm, 2012

"The Fullness of Time" by Kate Wilhelm, 2012

Hiram Granville, a modern Leonardo, secured more than a thousand patents during his lifetime, often just ahead of others who had already been working the same ideas. His son John, an economics genius, never lost a cent in the stock market or any other financial deal and was investigated for insider trading on more than one occasion. Now Cat, a documentarian; her researcher, Mercy; and Cracker Jack, an electronics whiz, are preparing to do a documentary about the Granville clan. What they find as they research the family is madness, suicide, a seemingly total seclusion, and a frightening glimpse about what it means to peer into the future.

It is a novella and it’s tough to talk about the plot without giving too much away. The concept is

interesting, that “seeing” the future is possible and exploitable. And it’s that possible exploitation, both of the knowledge you could gain and the people capable of doing it, that drives the second half.

My main complaint has to do with the lack of development of the characters. They went through the motions, and I will say the plot had a few twists I didn’t see coming, but I didn’t understand why Cat and, especially Mercy, cared so much. Yes, she spent an afternoon with the man before he dies, but why was that enough for her to change her whole life?

The first half was quite interesting right off the bat and showed a lot of promise, while the second half seemed to have been rushed by squandering all the potential and groundwork laid out the first half accomplished.

My rating ★★☆☆☆ (2 out of 5 stars) - It was ok.

"Flashforward" by Robert J. Sawyer, 1999

"Flashforward" by Robert J. Sawyer, 1999

After the ABC TV hit-and-miss series Flash Forward came to a close, I was left quite unsatisfied. The

premise was so compelling that I decided to take up the book and to find out what actual happens and to get a sort of resolution or closure.

The basic premise of the book and the show diverge pretty radically. The TV show was a who-dunnit where the FBI was tracking down suspects who may have been involved in carrying out the event. In the book, the blackout/flash forward is simply an unforeseen byproduct of a science experiment involving CERN and the Large Hadron Collider. The experiment is being conducted by two scientists, Lloyd Simcoe (the only character in both the book and the TV show), and his assistant Theo Procopides.

The book certainly explores some interesting possible futures, including some fantastic advancements in technology. It also takes a hard sci-fi approach wherein the characters (almost all of whom are physicists), discuss various theories about whether or not the future is fixed or whether humans have free will. As a result the book delves into some interesting philosophical questions as well.

A subplot throughout involves Theo, who doesn’t have a vision of the future and quickly learns it is because he will have been murdered before the day the visions depicted. He then devotes himself to tracking down clues to his own murder.

I won’t give away the ending, though it was utterly fascinating. The book definitely had some dull moments, but in general it was a pretty fascinating “read.” The narrator, Mark Deakins, did an excellent job. If you’re a fan of the TV show prepare yourself for a very different experience. Unlike the TV show the book isn’t crawling with bad guys and there’s not a ton of action. But if you like hard sci-fi and thought-provoking existential material I think you’ll definitely enjoy Flash Forward.

My Rating: ★★★★☆ (4 out of 5 stars) - I really liked it.