Scan barcode
avalinahsbooks's review
2.0
How I read this: Free ebook copy received through Edelweiss
This is one strange book. Judging by the title, you'd think it's about both Edison and Tesla. However... The first chunk of the book is just Edison, interspersed with info about one of his odder projects, a spirit phone to talk to the dead (I know, right?) Just about the time you're starting to give up on it, at around 40% there's finally a short bio on Tesla and a little bit about his work and his and Edison's rivalry. Except then it unexpectedly strays away from it again, and goes into the dangers of AI and how the Navy repeatedly blew up some commercial planes by accident. That stuff was pretty interesting, but I couldn't help stopping to think what this book I'm reading was actually about.
Then it comes back to Edison again for like 5 pages, and then finally goes into mediumship and how scientists are starting to believe in the paranormal, because this and that experiment has produced interesting results. All this, of course, because of the spirit phone again - or did you forget?
And then we cycle back to Edison. That's it. Tesla was talked about for like ten pages of the book, yet he's on the title. Huh.
Everything's somehow connected to the spirit phone, in the end. That was a little funny, to be honest. Because the whole book reads like a university essay about the spirit phone, with the author drawing links and conclusions all to the benefit of this, uh, enigmatic device.
So yeah. Odd book for sure. Completely mis-titled - it feels like someone who hasn't even read the manuscript sat down and got to pick the name of the book. But easy to read and it has interesting trivia - like the history of the spiritualist movement, or even the inspiration of The Force from Star Wars (those are related!) or why action movies are sometimes called 'action flicks' (those are not related..) Then again... There's also stuff on mediumship and the Roswell aliens. So...
So it's a curious, yet engaging read. That's if you're willing to accept that you're not sure what you just read, though. Cause I am indeed not sure. Not sure at all.
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
Book Blog | Bookstagram | Bookish Twitter
This is one strange book. Judging by the title, you'd think it's about both Edison and Tesla. However... The first chunk of the book is just Edison, interspersed with info about one of his odder projects, a spirit phone to talk to the dead (I know, right?) Just about the time you're starting to give up on it, at around 40% there's finally a short bio on Tesla and a little bit about his work and his and Edison's rivalry. Except then it unexpectedly strays away from it again, and goes into the dangers of AI and how the Navy repeatedly blew up some commercial planes by accident. That stuff was pretty interesting, but I couldn't help stopping to think what this book I'm reading was actually about.
Then it comes back to Edison again for like 5 pages, and then finally goes into mediumship and how scientists are starting to believe in the paranormal, because this and that experiment has produced interesting results. All this, of course, because of the spirit phone again - or did you forget?
And then we cycle back to Edison. That's it. Tesla was talked about for like ten pages of the book, yet he's on the title. Huh.
Everything's somehow connected to the spirit phone, in the end. That was a little funny, to be honest. Because the whole book reads like a university essay about the spirit phone, with the author drawing links and conclusions all to the benefit of this, uh, enigmatic device.
So yeah. Odd book for sure. Completely mis-titled - it feels like someone who hasn't even read the manuscript sat down and got to pick the name of the book. But easy to read and it has interesting trivia - like the history of the spiritualist movement, or even the inspiration of The Force from Star Wars (those are related!) or why action movies are sometimes called 'action flicks' (those are not related..) Then again... There's also stuff on mediumship and the Roswell aliens. So...
So it's a curious, yet engaging read. That's if you're willing to accept that you're not sure what you just read, though. Cause I am indeed not sure. Not sure at all.
I thank the publisher for giving me a free copy of the ebook in exchange to my honest review. This has not affected my opinion.
Book Blog | Bookstagram | Bookish Twitter
More...