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By: Tom Sweterlitsch (Author)
Inception meets True Detective in this…
Reviews
Ajd041 –
Annihilation (The movie) but Time Travel
Let me preface this by saying I’ll be getting a bit detailed and there may be spoilers so proceed at your own risk.Anyway, I was a fan of the premise of this story after I read the sample. Some mysterious event like the shimmer in annihilation befalls humanity and swallows up the planet making people do inexplicable things in a scene that reads truly alien in nature. I have to give the author some commendation for these ideas about time travel and alien planets, they are spot-on realistic with how something like this could actually go down. If we ever discovered life on another planet, it would likely be so different from our own that it might even be incomprehensible.Now there’s… The crime plot. Shannon Moss’ echo ends up being a compelling character who drives the bus throughout the whole book (literally and figuratively). In the multiple IFT’s explored in the novel we follow her through different crime plots contrived by the same group of Libra sailors who keep mysteriously reappearing even though they should be presumed dead. Eventually, this leads her to a forsaken place in West Virginia where the main villain… shows her the path??? What? Up until this point in the story, it had been mostly smooth sailing for me if not a little bit procedural. After she finally gets captured by Hyldekrugger and dragged into the brig of the Libra and left there… I was honestly scratching my head about what the hell was going on. He apparently wanted to recruit Shannon to go back to Terra Firma and try to join their terrorism party as though that would make any sense, but to convince her she is shown… everything! He’s like a hollywood movie supervillain that starts blathering about his entire plan to the good guy after their capture. And then after this he never really plays a role in the story again. That’s it, he gets seen briefly on the path back to the Libra but she shrugs him off. In my opinion this is such a huge waste of a character! We are introduced to him fairly late in the story as the main man pulling the strings, the man also known as “The devil.” Well he’s awfully nice to Shannon because he cleans her up a little and takes her on a journey that ultimately gives her the tools she needs to solve the entire “Terminus” thing and bring this all home to its conclusion and is basically never heard from again. After the journey the reader is introduced to the moral conundrum proposed by Hyldekrugger who attempts to convince Shannon that they’re in fact trying to stave off the terminus by preventing the NSC from ever finding the planet and bringing it back home. This rather twisted idea actually ends up being the truth to what happens, but then what’s the point of all the occult nonsense with the fingernails tattoos chemical weapons and mythology? Waging an insurgent war against a government that’s going to literally end the human race doesn’t really need all the creepy stuff that makes Hyldekrugger so unappealing of a character it’s no wonder Shannon doesn’t take him seriously. I wouldn’t side with the guy who murders people and takes their fingernails inside of his ship as prizes, and a career law enforcement officer certainly wouldn’t either. We are led to believe this man is some sort of freakish terrorist who has gone completely off his rocker because of his experiences aboard the libra, and is made to be this super intelligent guy based on how his various schemes have worked in the past. He sure makes a lot of dumb decisions, and is one of the worst villains I’ve read about in a book in a good while.After the magical vardogger journey I almost put the book down but I was too invested so I slogged through until the really awful ending where basically nothing happens. She makes it back on the libra. She finds the woman she needs right away because Nicole the perpetual plot propellor is able to give her a hand yet again. Shannon becomes a hollywood action hero and manages to find remarque and save the day even though she had been shot 3 times in places that would make a normal person completely incapable of movement. Despite these serious-seeming impediments nothing poses a serious threat in Shannon’s quest to achieve her goal. Mursult, who is guarding the engine room is able to be flipped sides with two sentences of dialogue that talk about his kids. This paves the way for a final confrontation that is truly boring. Our main villain Hyldekrugger makes an appearance but it is unfortunately too late, everyone gets sucked into a black hole and that’s the end. YAY!!!!The first half or so of the book is actually a pretty interesting and compelling story that is completely ruined by a rushed and nonsensical climax and conclusion. It’s just like annihilation the movie; an ending that makes no sense whatsoever and just leaves you feeling more confused than satisfied. Better luck next time.
Cadmus Kyrala –
Shocking, imaginative, intricate
It has been a long time since I have been as excited about an author as I am about Tom Sweterlitsch after reading this book.It twists and turns adeptly, leading you through an intricate maze of secrets and betrayals but ties up all of the threads cleanly by the end.From the very first page, the gut punches start coming. The level of tension and suspense grows steadily up until the very end. I was gnawing the walls turning each page to find out how it all worked out.At the same time, this book is a loving examination of the human heart and how we come to terms with human relationships in the context of our mortality. He deftly touches on a variety of complex emotional themes such as death, love, parental aging, children, and the many sliding doors of causality, choices, and the impact on the tapestry of our lives.I was deeply impressed by this novel. I hope it becomes a movie or a miniseries some day as well. I will eagerly seek out other examples of his work.Well done indeed.
Anthony –
Time traveling written by someone who never actually thought about the logic behind what he was writing about. Shallow and inconsistent.
Cliente Amazon –
I cannot stop reading, I wait until I am home and I read it. This book enthralls.
Hebinder –
It is in part a very bloody story, describing cruel and bizarre homicides, in the end because of a imminently threatening apocalypse which is coming closer and closer, and it does this ever faster. The protagonists, members of a clandestine American Navy special forces unit NSC, being able to travel not only into deep space (even to different galaxies) but also to different futures (in the book referred to as “deep time “). They experience in this future timelines, called IFT breathtaking and distorting visions of the end caused by a strange crystalline intelligent alien species. Every future is described as a possible future in a parallel universe, which pops away like a soap bubble when the protagonists return to their original timeframe in 1997 (called terra firma). Interestingly it is possible to bring back so-called “echoes”, persons who resemble doppelgänger in terra firma â causing understandable confusions. Since I read only roundabout 50% of the book, I actually do not know the end, but I’m looking forward to finish the book as soon as possible.
Peter Eerden –
The storyline was a little too convoluted for me, and I got lost in the reading. Apart from that I did enjoy some of the aspects of this read. In the end I was left with too many questions on all the the timelines that were used to get to the conclusion only to find all of the alternate time lines were eradicated and we ended back before all of the adventures began. Bit weird for me.
Ajd041 –
Annihilation (The movie) but Time Travel
Let me preface this by saying I’ll be getting a bit detailed and there may be spoilers so proceed at your own risk.Anyway, I was a fan of the premise of this story after I read the sample. Some mysterious event like the shimmer in annihilation befalls humanity and swallows up the planet making people do inexplicable things in a scene that reads truly alien in nature. I have to give the author some commendation for these ideas about time travel and alien planets, they are spot-on realistic with how something like this could actually go down. If we ever discovered life on another planet, it would likely be so different from our own that it might even be incomprehensible.Now there’s… The crime plot. Shannon Moss’ echo ends up being a compelling character who drives the bus throughout the whole book (literally and figuratively). In the multiple IFT’s explored in the novel we follow her through different crime plots contrived by the same group of Libra sailors who keep mysteriously reappearing even though they should be presumed dead. Eventually, this leads her to a forsaken place in West Virginia where the main villain… shows her the path??? What? Up until this point in the story, it had been mostly smooth sailing for me if not a little bit procedural. After she finally gets captured by Hyldekrugger and dragged into the brig of the Libra and left there… I was honestly scratching my head about what the hell was going on. He apparently wanted to recruit Shannon to go back to Terra Firma and try to join their terrorism party as though that would make any sense, but to convince her she is shown… everything! He’s like a hollywood movie supervillain that starts blathering about his entire plan to the good guy after their capture. And then after this he never really plays a role in the story again. That’s it, he gets seen briefly on the path back to the Libra but she shrugs him off. In my opinion this is such a huge waste of a character! We are introduced to him fairly late in the story as the main man pulling the strings, the man also known as “The devil.” Well he’s awfully nice to Shannon because he cleans her up a little and takes her on a journey that ultimately gives her the tools she needs to solve the entire “Terminus” thing and bring this all home to its conclusion and is basically never heard from again. After the journey the reader is introduced to the moral conundrum proposed by Hyldekrugger who attempts to convince Shannon that they’re in fact trying to stave off the terminus by preventing the NSC from ever finding the planet and bringing it back home. This rather twisted idea actually ends up being the truth to what happens, but then what’s the point of all the occult nonsense with the fingernails tattoos chemical weapons and mythology? Waging an insurgent war against a government that’s going to literally end the human race doesn’t really need all the creepy stuff that makes Hyldekrugger so unappealing of a character it’s no wonder Shannon doesn’t take him seriously. I wouldn’t side with the guy who murders people and takes their fingernails inside of his ship as prizes, and a career law enforcement officer certainly wouldn’t either. We are led to believe this man is some sort of freakish terrorist who has gone completely off his rocker because of his experiences aboard the libra, and is made to be this super intelligent guy based on how his various schemes have worked in the past. He sure makes a lot of dumb decisions, and is one of the worst villains I’ve read about in a book in a good while.After the magical vardogger journey I almost put the book down but I was too invested so I slogged through until the really awful ending where basically nothing happens. She makes it back on the libra. She finds the woman she needs right away because Nicole the perpetual plot propellor is able to give her a hand yet again. Shannon becomes a hollywood action hero and manages to find remarque and save the day even though she had been shot 3 times in places that would make a normal person completely incapable of movement. Despite these serious-seeming impediments nothing poses a serious threat in Shannon’s quest to achieve her goal. Mursult, who is guarding the engine room is able to be flipped sides with two sentences of dialogue that talk about his kids. This paves the way for a final confrontation that is truly boring. Our main villain Hyldekrugger makes an appearance but it is unfortunately too late, everyone gets sucked into a black hole and that’s the end. YAY!!!!The first half or so of the book is actually a pretty interesting and compelling story that is completely ruined by a rushed and nonsensical climax and conclusion. It’s just like annihilation the movie; an ending that makes no sense whatsoever and just leaves you feeling more confused than satisfied. Better luck next time.
Cadmus Kyrala –
Shocking, imaginative, intricate
It has been a long time since I have been as excited about an author as I am about Tom Sweterlitsch after reading this book.It twists and turns adeptly, leading you through an intricate maze of secrets and betrayals but ties up all of the threads cleanly by the end.From the very first page, the gut punches start coming. The level of tension and suspense grows steadily up until the very end. I was gnawing the walls turning each page to find out how it all worked out.At the same time, this book is a loving examination of the human heart and how we come to terms with human relationships in the context of our mortality. He deftly touches on a variety of complex emotional themes such as death, love, parental aging, children, and the many sliding doors of causality, choices, and the impact on the tapestry of our lives.I was deeply impressed by this novel. I hope it becomes a movie or a miniseries some day as well. I will eagerly seek out other examples of his work.Well done indeed.
Anthony –
Time traveling written by someone who never actually thought about the logic behind what he was writing about. Shallow and inconsistent.
Cliente Amazon –
I cannot stop reading, I wait until I am home and I read it. This book enthralls.
Hebinder –
It is in part a very bloody story, describing cruel and bizarre homicides, in the end because of a imminently threatening apocalypse which is coming closer and closer, and it does this ever faster. The protagonists, members of a clandestine American Navy special forces unit NSC, being able to travel not only into deep space (even to different galaxies) but also to different futures (in the book referred to as “deep time “). They experience in this future timelines, called IFT breathtaking and distorting visions of the end caused by a strange crystalline intelligent alien species. Every future is described as a possible future in a parallel universe, which pops away like a soap bubble when the protagonists return to their original timeframe in 1997 (called terra firma). Interestingly it is possible to bring back so-called “echoes”, persons who resemble doppelgänger in terra firma â causing understandable confusions. Since I read only roundabout 50% of the book, I actually do not know the end, but I’m looking forward to finish the book as soon as possible.
Peter Eerden –
The storyline was a little too convoluted for me, and I got lost in the reading. Apart from that I did enjoy some of the aspects of this read. In the end I was left with too many questions on all the the timelines that were used to get to the conclusion only to find all of the alternate time lines were eradicated and we ended back before all of the adventures began. Bit weird for me.
Peter Holtermann –
🙂