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3.84 AVERAGE
3.84 AVERAGE
Paradox Bound (6 of 7)
Peter Clines delivers quite an interesting and imaginative landscape. The more unique aspect of a genre that is used time and time again is the premise that certain spots are "slips" and one can use those spots to travel in time within America's history. Overall, a good book with a great concept of the American Dream being a physical entity guarded by a secret faceless government.
Peter Clines delivers quite an interesting and imaginative landscape. The more unique aspect of a genre that is used time and time again is the premise that certain spots are "slips" and one can use those spots to travel in time within America's history. Overall, a good book with a great concept of the American Dream being a physical entity guarded by a secret faceless government.
This is an action movie turned into a novel. Characters are flat and one dimensional, but the action scenes are decent. Lots of misogyny unfortunately but that doesn't surprise me coming from an action movie book.
Probably would have liked it when I thought Dan Brown wrote books worth reading.
Probably would have liked it when I thought Dan Brown wrote books worth reading.
This was a quick and enjoyable read, but I have to say a fair number of the tropes it used didn't work for me. The mythologizing of the American dream and the USA in general was also a huge turnoff.
I didn't catch that James Dean was a character (was his full name ever said in the narrative?) until the afterword, but I do really appreciate that he made an appearance and that he was explicitly queer.
I didn't catch that James Dean was a character (was his full name ever said in the narrative?) until the afterword, but I do really appreciate that he made an appearance and that he was explicitly queer.
Modern fantasy with a higher than average but not overwhelming level of weirdness. I was skeptical about a cross-time search for the literal American Dream, but it turned out to be fun.
PARADOX BOUND is not my usual fare, but I just adore Ray Porter, the narrator, so I picked it up over at Audible.
This was an enjoyable time travel, (or as one character would insist, history travel), novel. Based on the premise that certain spots are "slippery" and one can use those spots to travel. Most of those making use of the slippery spots are called "searchers" and they're looking for the American Dream, which is a little bit hokey and nostalgic, but there it is.
Coming after the searchers are the "faceless men", (nothing like the faceless men in Game of Thrones), but scary dudes nonetheless.
I had fun listening to this tale and the surprises the main characters encountered along the way. If there is ever a sequel, count me in!
*I bought this audio with my hard earned cash. *
This was an enjoyable time travel, (or as one character would insist, history travel), novel. Based on the premise that certain spots are "slippery" and one can use those spots to travel. Most of those making use of the slippery spots are called "searchers" and they're looking for the American Dream, which is a little bit hokey and nostalgic, but there it is.
Coming after the searchers are the "faceless men", (nothing like the faceless men in Game of Thrones), but scary dudes nonetheless.
I had fun listening to this tale and the surprises the main characters encountered along the way. If there is ever a sequel, count me in!
*I bought this audio with my hard earned cash. *
Listened to on Audible.
I liked this book quite a bit. It is similar in structure, style, and tone to good Koontz or King. The time travel aspect was dealt with using well thought out intention and consequences.
I got a bit frustrated with the characters incongruous personalities. Eli could be very stupid one minute and brilliant the next. And Harry was informed narrator one minute and cryptic the next. They switched based on the story needs rather than for character reasons or development.
Shoutout to the ‘67 impala reference!
I liked this book quite a bit. It is similar in structure, style, and tone to good Koontz or King. The time travel aspect was dealt with using well thought out intention and consequences.
I got a bit frustrated with the characters incongruous personalities. Eli could be very stupid one minute and brilliant the next. And Harry was informed narrator one minute and cryptic the next. They switched based on the story needs rather than for character reasons or development.
Shoutout to the ‘67 impala reference!
Eli Teague lives in a little town that’s so backward he has to drive to a nearby town just to find an IT job. Several times during his life he’s interacted with a woman named Harry (short for Harriet) who drives a very old car that runs on water. She dresses as though she’s straight from a group of Revolutionary War reenactors. Finally events come together such that he ends up tracking her down while running from a faceless, suited man who seems to be hunting Harry and others like her. He joins her in her hunt for the missing American Dream, which was stolen from its resting place. Now the faceless men who were responsible for guarding the Dream have turned to instead hunting down other searchers who are looking for it for their own reasons. After all, it’s rumored that the one who finds it can help to shape the future of the Dream. Of course, no one knows what it looks like or how to find it, and they’re all using little slippery spots to cut through bits of history here and there looking for traces of its passing. A whole society of these people has sprung up, some of them famous historical figures, others just searchers like Eli and Harry.
The details surrounding the searchers and their habits that have sprung up are fantastic. For example, people have painted poker chips with their monograms they can give someone to indicate they owe them a favor, that can thus be cashed in before or after that favor was handed out (time travel-wise).
SPOILER WARNING: The one detail I had trouble with was a certain favor owed by one person to another. It was the sole favor that person had ever given out, and played a significant role in the plot, so some idea of how the person earned that favor would have made this seem to be more of a plot point than a convenient plot device.
The concept of the founding fathers having convinced an old god to forge the American Dream is just masterful and fascinating. I’m not a history buff, but I really enjoyed the ideas here. And of course, the notion of the American Dream and what it means to us is very timely right now. This is a clever time travel adventure that doesn’t take itself too seriously but delves into fascinating areas.
Original review on my site: http://www.errantdreams.com/2017/12/review-paradox-bound-peter-clines/
The details surrounding the searchers and their habits that have sprung up are fantastic. For example, people have painted poker chips with their monograms they can give someone to indicate they owe them a favor, that can thus be cashed in before or after that favor was handed out (time travel-wise).
The concept of the founding fathers having convinced an old god to forge the American Dream is just masterful and fascinating. I’m not a history buff, but I really enjoyed the ideas here. And of course, the notion of the American Dream and what it means to us is very timely right now. This is a clever time travel adventure that doesn’t take itself too seriously but delves into fascinating areas.
Original review on my site: http://www.errantdreams.com/2017/12/review-paradox-bound-peter-clines/
This is more like a 3.5 for me.
It took a while for this book to begin. The pacing was pretty slow at the beginning in a way that doesn't really make sense until the end. If you get there. I did, because I am a huge fan of time travel, or history travel, and I genuinely enjoyed Harry's character. But you have to get there. If you do, then you are rewarded with clever world building touches, like Harry's car, and the amount of twists at the ending.
Disclaimer: I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Blogging for Books.
full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/review-paradox-bound-peter-clines/
It took a while for this book to begin. The pacing was pretty slow at the beginning in a way that doesn't really make sense until the end. If you get there. I did, because I am a huge fan of time travel, or history travel, and I genuinely enjoyed Harry's character. But you have to get there. If you do, then you are rewarded with clever world building touches, like Harry's car, and the amount of twists at the ending.
Disclaimer: I received this book in exchange for an honest review from Blogging for Books.
full review: https://utopia-state-of-mind.com/review-paradox-bound-peter-clines/
*Review Forthcoming
Eep! It's over! I wonder if there's any chance of a book two? =)
I may have to give it a second read before writing the review.
Eep! It's over! I wonder if there's any chance of a book two? =)
I may have to give it a second read before writing the review.
Paradox Bound is a disappointment for a number of reasons.
One reason is relative. Clines' previous novel, the Fold, was inventive, fun, and great science fiction.
But Paradox is lousy, convoluted, with characters you are unable to like.
One reason is relative. Clines' previous novel, the Fold, was inventive, fun, and great science fiction.
But Paradox is lousy, convoluted, with characters you are unable to like.