rowanhill 's review for:

The Paradox Paradox by Daniel Hardcastle
5.0
adventurous funny mysterious medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven: A mix
Strong character development: Yes
Loveable characters: Yes
Diverse cast of characters: Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated
Features:
  • Time-bending hijinx
  • Humorous writing style in the vein of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy
  • Mind bending but satisfying when all the pieces fit together

Synopsis:

In a far flung future, eight species from across the galaxy have formed an alliance known as The Affinity. Working together, they have been able to create a utopia where all can live and work together in peace and security. To the best of anyone’s knowledge, there is only one lingering threat to their known universe: Austin Lang. But who is he? Why is a man who lived over 700 years ago so important? The only logical way to find the answers and save the universe is to build a time machine and put together the perfect crew for this crucial mission. Too bad the best person to lead the mission is far from perfect. 

Thoughts:

I have so many thoughts, it’s hard to put them all down! If you are picking this book, just know that you are about to go on a journey. It has the time-bending adventures of “Doctor Who” mixed with humorous writing style of Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy. Mileage will definitely vary depending on whether this style of humor lands for you or not. For me, the humor was well balanced with some of the more serious moments and themes that the story explores and never overstayed its welcome. 

As a book about time travel, it should come as no surprise that the story tends to jump around the timeline quite a bit. It does not follow any particular pattern in these jumps and it takes a while for characters from one time period to fully appear in another. I never found this confusing, but this is definitely a book where you have to ‘trust the process’ and allow things to develop. Similarly, there are a lot of characters and they are introduced rather quickly. However, each character feels extremely unique and really jumps off the page. Even if I didn’t quite remember all of the names right away, it was really easy to remember who the character was when they would reappear. 

Despite its length, this book was a quick and delightful read for me. I would definitely recommend this book to any sci-fi fan.

Special thanks to NetGalley and the author for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review!