How could I resist reading a sci-fi book which has a blurb saying, “Parts of the world are disappearing…”? The premise is exciting: bits of our world are just gone – a part of a beach, a swath of African savannah, a wall in the Grand Canyon. The well-drawn characters who discover these phenomena are compelling, and the descriptive talent of the author is truly awesome – beautiful, colorful, lyrical.
Eventually news of these individual events makes its way via circuitous and political avenues to the United Nations, where the allocation of money which can be diverted to investigate the phenomenon gets the ball rolling.
Simple, yes? Hardly. This book is packed with expositions on fractal geometry, quantum physics, philosophy, civic and corporate politics, psychology, religion – all wonderfully written but heavy on minutiae. In many ways, it reminded me of Umberto Eco’s In the Name of the Rose. I think the book will appeal to people whose roots lie in these various disciplines, but I freely admit that much of the physics and math lost me, and there were parts where I turned the pages to get back to the story line. At least I understand Shrodinger’s cat and the Heisenberg Principle!
The protagonist is a young woman, Susan Corporell, who works for the UN in Africa, fighting a losing battle with local government to provide donated food to starving populations. She sees one of the first manifestations of the phenomenon and it is she who finds a physicist and mathematician, David Altaforce, with the drive and supreme intelligence to try to determine the cause of the “disappearances.”
The great mystery is not only who is behind them, but how it’s being done, and the solution will boggle you. The plot is wonderful, with lots of twists and turns, and the characters are colorful and three dimensional.
Herzog is a truly gifted writer, and this book will appeal to readers who are looking for a dense, intelligent story packed with musings and observations on far more than just the story line.
About the author:
Robert Herzog was an entrepreneur in the worlds of energy, environment, digital media, the internet and health care for over thirty years, while keeping alive his writing hopes. He’s had stories and poems published in Solstice Literary Magazine, Toasted Cheese, Downstate Story Magazine, Straylight Literary Arts Magazine, and South Jersey Underground, and made an award-winning short film, “Flights.”
He was a physics major until he read Nietzsche, a political philosopher who became an entrepreneur engaged with the great issues of his time, from energy and the environment to technology and health care, and this translates into his first book. He has also climbed another height, Mt. Kilimanjaro. This book is the culmination of decades of dreams.
You can find the author at: http://www.robertmherzog.com/ and http://thezog.com/
on twitter @HerzogIND
and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/robertmherzogauthor/?fref=nf
Sounds like a very clever book, although a bit involved for my tastes! (I have left an Amazon review for you, Noelle. Now – onto Death By Pumpkin!)
Thank you, Lucy! I did have to use a lot of old physics knowledge to follow even some of it, but the story itself was fascinating!
After Finnegans Wake, I am wary of things that might upset my poor little brain! I loved yours, though – really nicely done and kept me guessing. I thought for a minute Rhe’s husband might have been in on it… but I’d best not say anything more for fear of spoilers 🙂
Thanks Noelle.
Sounds intriguing… Will check it out. Thanks!
It’s heavy duty, Sarah but the story is really imaginative.
It does sound intriguing! But I’m trying not to add anything to my TBR list which now stands at 495. Maybe I should only add when I’ve taken something off it? Looks like my ‘currently-reading’ will suddenly get very long….
BTW if you enjoyed that, see if you can track down ‘October the First is Too Late’ by Fred Hoyle. It’s c 1970. One of my all-time favourites.
This book would collapse your TBR list, Jemima. I think you might want to take a pass!
Just looking at the Goodreads reviews – most people didn’t like it much. Would you recommend it?
One of Rosie’s reviewers gave it a one star and didn’t finish reading it, which kind of sunk the reviews. If you look on Amazon, the reviews are all five star. I’m somewhere in the middle, This book will appeal to a certain swath of readers, but not everyone. I think I’m somewhere in the middle, largely because I wanted to get on with the story and not worry about the physics I didnt understand.
This sounds like a book I would absolutely LOVE! I was an astronomy major first, and one of my good friends in college was a some kind of fluid dynamics physics major, concentrating on aerodynamics, so hopefully I won’t get too lost in some parts. (We launched many a homemade bottle and kit rockets in college, lol!)
Then you are the reader for this book! Enjoy!
Interesting. I have read reviews that say this is brilliant, others that say it’s pretentious, unreadable waffle. The diversity of opinions never fails to amaze me!!!
Yup, and I fall squarely in the middle. This guy can write – he is a descriptive lyricist. But I did get lost in the scientific minutiae and some of his mental meanderings. Great story, though.
Nother goodie 🙂 🙂