You need to sign in or sign up before continuing.
Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.58 AVERAGE
3.58 AVERAGE
My feelings for this book are so confused. I loved how weird and quirky it was. I loved Patricia and Laurence, despite their flaws. But I was disappointed by the ending. But then I loved her acknowledgements. Gah!! This book won’t be for everyone. The geek in me loved it. I might reread the ending. I don’t know. Maybe if I read it in sunlight instead of the ice storm that’s currently raging outside my window. Or maybe I need to be out in nature. I don’t know. But I do know I want to read more by this author. Does that make sense??
I loved this book, and would have read it all in one gulp if I’d been on vacation. It combines the best of science fiction and fantasy, along with smart writing and interesting characters. Occasionally Anders goes off on a tangent that’s a little too surreal. But mostly, she locks everything together beautifully, while still telling a story that’s wildly imaginative.
The novel begins when the two heroes are kids, junior high school misfits who are having an awful time navigating dysfunctional families and bullying classmates. The boy, Laurence, is an ingenious sci-fi geek who invents a time machine that can move you forward two seconds. The girl, Patricia, is a witch who can converse with the birds.
Things are rocky at first, and their relationship is tentative and untrusting. But they grow up, in the middle of a world that’s disintegrating ecologically and politically, and become lovers.
And both of them find their people. They both join groups which hold a weapon/tool that’s ready to be hauled out at the absolute last minute, when there’s no hope for humankind. The science nerds have a device that will disintegrate the planet while sucking the people out onto another planet. The witches have a spell that will cause the human race to die out and leave the earth alone.
Each group sees the other group’s weapon as intrinsically evil, and so there is a pitched battle. The stakes are the power to decide whether the people die or the planet does. And Laurence and Patricia have two allies, one scientific and one magical, and neither of them human. In the end, they find a way to combine their separated worlds.
The novel begins when the two heroes are kids, junior high school misfits who are having an awful time navigating dysfunctional families and bullying classmates. The boy, Laurence, is an ingenious sci-fi geek who invents a time machine that can move you forward two seconds. The girl, Patricia, is a witch who can converse with the birds.
Things are rocky at first, and their relationship is tentative and untrusting. But they grow up, in the middle of a world that’s disintegrating ecologically and politically, and become lovers.
And both of them find their people. They both join groups which hold a weapon/tool that’s ready to be hauled out at the absolute last minute, when there’s no hope for humankind. The science nerds have a device that will disintegrate the planet while sucking the people out onto another planet. The witches have a spell that will cause the human race to die out and leave the earth alone.
Each group sees the other group’s weapon as intrinsically evil, and so there is a pitched battle. The stakes are the power to decide whether the people die or the planet does. And Laurence and Patricia have two allies, one scientific and one magical, and neither of them human. In the end, they find a way to combine their separated worlds.
Excellent and unpredictable. Reminded me slightly of The Golem and the Jinni. This book has a #1 associated with it. There’s going to be a sequel? Perchance a trilogy? How is that going to work? I can’t wait to find out.
Hated it for the same angst-ridden reasons I hated "The Magicians". Abandoned at chapter 14.
Very confusing to follow. Constantly felt I was missing a few pages of the story. The back summary sounded so promising. Sadly, disappointed.
Totally engrossing, this book was perfect to read the last 24hour wait before my wife came back from Afghanistan. I liked that the part that takes place when the protagonists were kids weren't a couple of throw away chapters. It has some funny bits and sad bits. Highly recommended!
adventurous
mysterious
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I liked this book a lot less the second time around. Actually, I was a little surprised to see that I had read it before as I had really no memory of it at all from the description! It did feel familiar when reading. Reminded me a bit of an earlier version of Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow, but with more likeable characters.
I really wanted to like this book but just didn’t get into it. Maybe another time …
Really wanted to like this, but it's 3 different books that are not neatly combined into a single story - a YA novel (that sheds some - but not all of it's tropes 1/3 of the way in), a meet-cute romance story, and finally a sci-fi/fantasy story that throws aside world-building or character development in favor of ensuring it's "science vs magic" theme is constantly the focus. This leads to weird pacing and incomprehensible tone.
Also the dialogue of the male lead is really bad - he'll be in the middle of an emotional breakdown, but will say "you mean the nano-positivity-ray?" or something. Sometimes this seems meant to be doctor-who-style-funny/twee, but when the story abruptly shifts tone to go grounded and introspective about some very real problems, his dialogue is eye-rollingly bad.
On the positive side, it's rarely boring. I had these issues with the book fairly early, but never thought twice about continuing on.
Also the dialogue of the male lead is really bad - he'll be in the middle of an emotional breakdown, but will say "you mean the nano-positivity-ray?" or something. Sometimes this seems meant to be doctor-who-style-funny/twee, but when the story abruptly shifts tone to go grounded and introspective about some very real problems, his dialogue is eye-rollingly bad.
On the positive side, it's rarely boring. I had these issues with the book fairly early, but never thought twice about continuing on.