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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
The concept and the development of that concept are fascinating. I really enjoyed the last part of the book in particular. The plot, sadly, is dreadfully dull and disappointing, and the characters... Meh. Worth a read for the concept, though.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
This was an interesting idea that was horribly executed. The characters are very flat. The story is not compelling. The story"telling" is the worst. Major plot points are basically skimmed over.
I also think the authors tried to address too many issues in one story. Not only are there WormCams, which allow anyone to view any point in spacetime, there's an asteroid on course to destroy the world in 500 years. Oh yeah, and people adapt the WormCam technology to link their minds and create some sort of superconsciousness. Later, babies are born with wormholes already in their heads. Whatever.
One big hurdle that I would think WormCam technology would need to overcome is that of a moving universe. To find a point in spacetime to view, you would have to account for the rotation of the Earth, the orbit of the Earth around the Sun, the trajectory of our galaxy, and the expansion of the universe. Not to mention getting a continuous stable view of the subject while all of those things are in motion. It bugs me that this was never addressed.
There are huge plot holes that don't make any sense. For example, a character is falsely charged with a crime and they can't prove she didn't do it. Even though they have this all-seeing WormCam technology that can even look into the past. They talk about looking over her shoulder when she supposedly committed the crime, but somehow they can't get close enough to see what she was actually doing? It doesn't make any sense. Years later, she is cleared of the charge because they've developed technology to read hard drives through the WormCam. That's rather complex. What's so hard about reading a computer screen?
About 5% of the end of the book is spent describing what some characters see as they rewind through time 4 billion years. Not only is it mostly inconsequential and not told in an interesting or believable manner, but it happens 40 years after they have the technology to do so. As if it never occurred to anyone to look that far back in time before.
There's so much more that bugs me about this book, but I've already wasted enough time on it.
I also think the authors tried to address too many issues in one story. Not only are there WormCams, which allow anyone to view any point in spacetime, there's an asteroid on course to destroy the world in 500 years. Oh yeah, and people adapt the WormCam technology to link their minds and create some sort of superconsciousness. Later, babies are born with wormholes already in their heads. Whatever.
One big hurdle that I would think WormCam technology would need to overcome is that of a moving universe. To find a point in spacetime to view, you would have to account for the rotation of the Earth, the orbit of the Earth around the Sun, the trajectory of our galaxy, and the expansion of the universe. Not to mention getting a continuous stable view of the subject while all of those things are in motion. It bugs me that this was never addressed.
There are huge plot holes that don't make any sense. For example, a character is falsely charged with a crime and they can't prove she didn't do it. Even though they have this all-seeing WormCam technology that can even look into the past. They talk about looking over her shoulder when she supposedly committed the crime, but somehow they can't get close enough to see what she was actually doing? It doesn't make any sense. Years later, she is cleared of the charge because they've developed technology to read hard drives through the WormCam. That's rather complex. What's so hard about reading a computer screen?
About 5% of the end of the book is spent describing what some characters see as they rewind through time 4 billion years. Not only is it mostly inconsequential and not told in an interesting or believable manner, but it happens 40 years after they have the technology to do so. As if it never occurred to anyone to look that far back in time before.
There's so much more that bugs me about this book, but I've already wasted enough time on it.
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
This is actually my second time reading Arthur C. Clarke. I was not fond of Childhood's End, so I didn't have really high hopes for this book. I'm glad to be wrong!
The premise of scifi, as I understand it, is that there must be some fictional (at the time) scientific event or technology (like time travel). What I suppose I didn't really understand about scifi is not just about the promise and possibilities of that type of future, but what adjustments happen to get from this current world to that one, and how to people and society change. To my limited reading, scifi can get a little more focused on The Bigger Picture, which is obviously important, but can also make it difficult to have character-driven plot. This book does a somewhat nice balance of both, I think. Characters like Bobby, David, and Kate made this book work for me. David has sort of a personal, existential crisis. We follow Bobby throughout the book and learn about him as he learns more about himself. It's hard to not like Bobby. And I loved Kate. I love how forthright she is, her determination to the right thing throughout the book, the way she is completely upfront with Bobby. On the flipside, it's easy to strongly dislike Hiram, Bobby and David's father. (Okay, it's a little more complicated with Bobby. I get it, even though the complication there, I needed a little more explanation.) He is focused on fame, notoriety, and monopolization. He's also a phenomenal scientist who knows how to use his resources.
What is more fascinating about this book is the focus on societal attitudes. Eventually society finds out that an object called the Wormwood is a non-asteroid that will crash into Earth and destroy everything. Unfortunately it's too late for us to knock Wormwood off its course or find another place to live. So what do people do? Whatever they heckin' want! Why work when you can just enjoy the time you have left? Why go to school or into business or science if you know it's all for nothing in the long-term? So I get that, and I love that it was part of the book. Eventually Hiram creates the WormCam, which initially has the ability to give you a view of any other spot in the world (and eventually beyond it. Of course the government is interested in getting this tool (imagine the implications for domestic and foreign matters and government surveillance overall), and eventually the cat is out of the bag and the entire world knows about WormCams. Now everyone can have one. And then it gets better/worse: now you can use WormCams to look into the past. So folks in society do an even more abrupt halt, and several spend their entire lives looking into the past. This has fascinating implications: now we can really see How Things Happened, separate the truth from lies. And, as David points out, it's more transformative as real events to watch versus reading books about them.
The ending of the book continues to focus on those human relationships, perceptions, and behaviors. I enjoyed the picture of David and Bobby, who have this lifelong brotherly relationship, looking into the very depths of existence (more than the descriptions themselves, if I'm honest). The Very Ending felt weird to me. It's a different weird from me not wanting to read about a fictional end to the world. I suppose that's the main reason for not giving that last star, because otherwise I found the book to be an enjoyable enough read (and I can't always say that about this genre, and that makes me think I'm less into scifi than I used to be).
--
Having gotten a little more into reading scifi, I realize now that I am better able to read it during the day (not at night time) when I have significant time (also known as a break from work). It's just difficult for me to process the genre otherwise. I'm curious to read more, especially newer works by diverse authors.
The premise of scifi, as I understand it, is that there must be some fictional (at the time) scientific event or technology (like time travel). What I suppose I didn't really understand about scifi is not just about the promise and possibilities of that type of future, but what adjustments happen to get from this current world to that one, and how to people and society change. To my limited reading, scifi can get a little more focused on The Bigger Picture, which is obviously important, but can also make it difficult to have character-driven plot. This book does a somewhat nice balance of both, I think. Characters like Bobby, David, and Kate made this book work for me. David has sort of a personal, existential crisis. We follow Bobby throughout the book and learn about him as he learns more about himself. It's hard to not like Bobby. And I loved Kate. I love how forthright she is, her determination to the right thing throughout the book, the way she is completely upfront with Bobby. On the flipside, it's easy to strongly dislike Hiram, Bobby and David's father. (Okay, it's a little more complicated with Bobby. I get it, even though the complication there, I needed a little more explanation.) He is focused on fame, notoriety, and monopolization. He's also a phenomenal scientist who knows how to use his resources.
What is more fascinating about this book is the focus on societal attitudes. Eventually society finds out that an object called the Wormwood is a non-asteroid that will crash into Earth and destroy everything. Unfortunately it's too late for us to knock Wormwood off its course or find another place to live. So what do people do? Whatever they heckin' want! Why work when you can just enjoy the time you have left? Why go to school or into business or science if you know it's all for nothing in the long-term? So I get that, and I love that it was part of the book. Eventually Hiram creates the WormCam, which initially has the ability to give you a view of any other spot in the world (and eventually beyond it. Of course the government is interested in getting this tool (imagine the implications for domestic and foreign matters and government surveillance overall), and eventually the cat is out of the bag and the entire world knows about WormCams. Now everyone can have one. And then it gets better/worse: now you can use WormCams to look into the past. So folks in society do an even more abrupt halt, and several spend their entire lives looking into the past. This has fascinating implications: now we can really see How Things Happened, separate the truth from lies. And, as David points out, it's more transformative as real events to watch versus reading books about them.
The ending of the book continues to focus on those human relationships, perceptions, and behaviors. I enjoyed the picture of David and Bobby, who have this lifelong brotherly relationship, looking into the very depths of existence (more than the descriptions themselves, if I'm honest). The Very Ending felt weird to me. It's a different weird from me not wanting to read about a fictional end to the world. I suppose that's the main reason for not giving that last star, because otherwise I found the book to be an enjoyable enough read (and I can't always say that about this genre, and that makes me think I'm less into scifi than I used to be).
--
Having gotten a little more into reading scifi, I realize now that I am better able to read it during the day (not at night time) when I have significant time (also known as a break from work). It's just difficult for me to process the genre otherwise. I'm curious to read more, especially newer works by diverse authors.
Fun read, nothing revolutionary, but very entertaining and thought provoking.
I found the social SF enjoyable, a few other readers are critical because of plot or character development. The book however is about humanity.
Excellent treatment of a world with no privacy and time travel into the past. The ending was very Clarke-like; lame and unsatisfying but everything else was top-notch.
adventurous
challenging
mysterious
reflective
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes