Customer Reviews

Discipline: A Novel

5 star:		(55)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(4)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

The book opened really well, and beyond the opening were some really engaging scenes. Unfortunately they were intermixed with flat introspection, plot points that could have been much more deftly handled, two-dimensional-to-the-point-of-caricature supporting characters, five pages of a family friend explaining quantum physics, and a narrative voice that was too often intrusive.

A major tragedy early on in the book failed to reach me on an emotional level. How could that happen? I was interested in those characters--I cared about them, or thought I did until the tragedy happened and I had no response to it. I read on for a while after that, but the antagonistic characters became overdone to the point of making me say, "Okay, I'm just not interested in this anymore." A little subtlety (or finesse) would have done a world of good.

The most disappointing thing is that the good stuff in this novel was GOOD and showed that Ahlgren had the potential to make this a fantastic book, but it's not a fantastic book; it's an uneven book that failed to hold my interest.

I bought this book primarily because the descriptions of its plot and "philosophy" were so vague that it sounded interesting. If the descriptions had been accurate, I never would have bought it or read it.

I agree that the book has many pitfalls including an omniscient, hilariously retrospective narrator, "flat introspection" as a previous reviewer said, and also hilarious character names.

And these pitfalls aren't balanced out by anything in the "plot" or "story." Around page 200 the story actually gets interesting but you have to suffer through the narrator's descriptions of his first 20 years of life (in the hilarious tone as above).

**very mild spoilers ahead**
To say that this book presents a "philosophy" is a total crock. To act like Taoism and quantum mechanics are stunningly similar is completely wrong -- ESPECIALLY if the author just states it like it's self-evident and uses it as an excuse for Matrix-style action sequences. And, it is completely preposterous to act like there is a whole new perception of reality to be had in this book when the book has the underlying mechanism for all the freaky stuff that goes on as military research into psychedelic drugs. So, people take drugs which either change their perceptions (fiction) or the drugs change their cellular functioning (science fiction) and this allows them to stop bullets (action)? No philosophy in sight, my friend.

I made it about half way through this book and it just wasn't compelling enough to hold my interest. It tries to present intricate topics in a rather basic way and fails.

The author has managed a nice bit of hype via the internet, but don't fall for it. Selections on his "reading list" are probably better.

Most first-time novels can be seen as obviously that, a first novel - and it is difficult for the author to hide that fact. Not so in the case of Paco Ahlgren's debut book, 'Discipline' - Ahlgren writes with the confidence of an author who has been published for many years. He is unafraid to introduce to the reader many topics that are not part of most people's everyday discussion...to say the least. It is not often that somebody can combine high finance, metaphysics, personal demons, chess, politics and psychology and make it digestible, but Ahlgren does that (and more), and does it with seemingly remarkable ease. The characters are well-constructed, but without the glut of back-story found so often in debut novels, as the author is struggling to make sure you get the minutiae. The reader does get a good look back at the life story of the protagonist, Douglas Cole, but that is integral to the story line. Ahlgren trusts you to engage in the story, learning about the characters as you go, thereby freeing up the pages for more action and intrigue, of which there is plenty. Told primarily in the first person from Douglas Cole's point of view, 'Discipline' takes the reader on a wild ride across the metaphysical map, between continents and through cities as Cole struggles to cope with his own personal demons while, at the same time, making decisions that could impact everyone's economic future. The book gives its readers the opportunity to ask themselves some insightful questions, as well as to ponder some interesting "what-if"s in regards to the way our world is run.

Paco Ahlgren's new novel Discipline is a fast-paced, intellectual thriller that keeps you on the edge of you seat until the very end. Beginning with the first page, Mr. Ahlgren creates characters and a plot line which make putting down the book nearly impossible. This compelling and sometimes downright terrifying novel asks the question: if you found out how you die, would you change the way you live? Through mind-altering drugs, dedicated friendship, quantum physics, and the great game of chess, Douglas Cole, the protagonist of Discipline, finds his place in the universe. I highly recommend this book, and I eagerly await the sequel.

if you knew the terms of your own death. Would you even know what to do next...

While reading Paco Ahlgren's Discipline I felt I was commanding my attentions to understand the simple and complex elements of life that we all already know but at times take for granted. We have, with grace or defiance, lived to experience life to its fullest darkest depths and most invigorating successes. Cryptic as that might be, I was talking about some of the essences that the hero of this tale `Douglas' endures throughout. Moreover, along the way we the reader must feel, hate, and habit ourselves to accept these things in Douglas we see in ourselves. That is, if you like me, you affect the charisma of the words to your own world.

In full, this book allows you to vicariously experiencing the world deliciously through Douglas and the supporting cast of well-written definable characters. Interwoven with carefully chosen, delicate threads you are shown the concepts of quantum physics, taoism, economics, chess, music, and the most powerful of all human abilities, thought.

I would like to tell you this story is similar to this writer or that. Alternatively, I could talk about the concepts that are related to writers in certain venues where you might find yourself nodding and convinced thus immediately clicking the Buy button. However, once not immediately living up to that expectation you must address this review as not similar at all, thus being full-of-IT.

This book will truly ask you to project yourself to possible options in our immediate political and economic futures. As well as how human thought, might one day be able to alter reality and move through time by manipulating nothing more than your own beliefs and understanding.

If you are interested in evolved or ascended thought, time travel, economics, chess, and or taoism you will find something in this book to identify with. The rest, that you might not fully understand, with well-crafted and thoughtfully placed words, will pull you into understanding. The concepts that are not so deeply defined that you will lose interest or leave you wondering what is meant.

Financial analyst and world traveler Paco Ahlgren presents Discipline, a grim and suspenseful novel about Douglas Cole, a man who is at once being hunted and protected, all without his knowledge. Terrible visions haunt him, and tragedy has driven apart his life. Locked in a battle of psyches with a merciless unknown foe, Douglas' choices will ultimately determine the past, present, and future of humanity itself. Tautly written, Discipline straddles the boundaries of reality and quantum physics. Highly recommended.

Not since THE FOUNTAINHEAD by Ayn Rand have I been so deeply invaded by a book to my core. Teetering the line between spiritual and the most eerie of Quantum sciences, the reader is catapulted into a world where anything is possible. Once you let go and surrender the guess work of what might happen next, you are free to experience a dimension of infinite outcomes and how our fragile human psyche might respond. This is not a book for those who follow the flock; this is a world where the most intimate convictions and comforts are tested. I find myself questioning ordinary events, a hidden meaning in the most seemingly mundane glimmers of intuition. Highly recommended to those who are comfortable with the uncomfortable.

I thoroughly enjoyed reading Discipline. Paco Ahlgren has written a fast paced, suspenseful book with well-developed characters. It is a thought provoking thriller that introduces readers to the complex life of Douglas Cole, the book's protagonist. As I read Discipline, I became emotionally involved in the tragedies, hardships, conflicts, and accomplishments of Douglas Cole. As the story unfolds, it touches upon the nature of reality and mankind's attempt to understand it through science, economics, and philosophy.
I would recommend this book without hesitation to any thoughtful reader.

Keith Hogan

A remarkable insight into the world of the preternatural. Experience the ebb and flow of page turning excitement followed by deep and phiosophical thoughts concerning man's experience with time and existence in the multiverse.
As different as it is possible for any book to be - unique and fascinating in its treatment of the strange and compelling life of Doug Cole as a man targeted for extinction in a battle he has not chosen, but nonetheless must fight and win for the sake of his world and the future of mankind.
Definitely an engrossing read for those with a bent for the ocult, quantum physics, mysticism, and metaphysics.