Customer Reviews

How Like a God

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

 

 

Brenda Clough calls her "Gilgamesh" books, _How Like a God_ (1997), and _Doors of Death and Life_ (2000), "suburban fantasy", and indeed they depict suburban life pretty well: home improvement, day care, commuting, minivans, even believable contemporary American Christians (a rarity in SF!). For that alone these are refreshing books.

_How Like a God_ concerns Washington area software developer Rob Lewis, the father of 18 month old twins, and the loving husband of Julianne, who works in the fashion industry. One day he suddenly realizes that he has an unusual power: he can read minds, the minds of anybody on the planet, and he can control people. After a few mild experiments, he tells his wife, and her response appals him. She wants him to influence her employers to help her career, and then she wants him to look for great personal power: run for President, perhaps. Horrified, he makes Julianne forget everything, but soon her realizes that he can't control his power, and that he is altering his twins unconcsiously, making them act extra mature without even knowing it. In despair, he runs away to New York City and spends months as a homeless man, using his power occasionally to cadge meals and housing. His humanity begins to slip away from him, and suddenly he realizes that he is becoming a monster. When he finds himself about to rape a teenage girl (by making her want it), he starts to break out, and looks for help. His only help is from a chance encounter with an NIH microbiologist, Edwin Barbarossa, a fundamentally good man at a very deep level. The rest of the book follows Rob's gradual return to humanity with Edwin's guidance, and also Rob's eventual encounter with the mysterious and surprising source of his power.

This is a very fine book, quite original in conception, and dealing pretty unflinchingly with the issue of personal responsibility, and how important and difficult that is when you have immense power. The book's only real weakness is the character of Julianne, who is neither terribly likeable, nor particularly three-dimensional, but she's a fairly minor character and that doesn't really hurt the book too much.

How Like a God, really does have an interesting premise, thats the reason I read this book.
I thought it would be interesting to see how the power of a God would effect a regular human. What would he do with it? How will it change him?

Although this book attempts to take on these issues, it just seems like the are all half hearted attempts. Ultimately this book leaves one feeling unsatisfied.

It is also worth commenting that the books dialouge is so silly and child like at times, it appears that the author simply is attempting her hand at some form of satire. The character repeatedly yells " Holy Mackerel ", and my personal Favorite " Holy Mike!"
Although there are some interesting themes in this book, I just dont think it is worth the time to read it.

I was talking about this book to a friend and flipped open amazon.com to look up the spelling of the author's last name -- and was shocked to see so many negative reviews of this book. It's been a favorite of mine since I found it, worth many rereads. Questions of pacing reflect each reader's own preferences, of course, but for myself I found nothing rushed or unexplained, and I found the ending deeply satisfying.

(For some context, I have been a voracious science fiction reader all of my life, with a slight leaning toward space opera and fantasy; I have only small experience with comics.)

Like many, the description of this novel's premise hooked me, but within only a few pages, I was literally groaning out loud.

Brenda Clough's idea was wonderful, but was squandered on an execution so amateurish, I find it hard to believe a qualified editor even read it. Truly, the dialogue was so silly, it verged on parody. (Adult american men do not EVER say "Gee whiz!", or "Gosh, no!" or "Holy Mike!". And no straight man I know responds to another man's filthy appearance with "My goodness, you're a mess! Let go shopping!")

The characters in this book were no deeper than the pages they appeared on, with trivial acts causing absurd levels of tormented 'soul-searching' in one chapter, and life-altering events tossed off with a shrug in the next.

If it wasn't for the fact that I was truly intrigued by the premise, I would have done the (for me) unthinkable, and tossed a hardcover in the trash. Note to the publisher: Hire someone who knows how men talk to each other to at least read what you're considering putting into print... I'm seriously wondering about the quality of the other books bearing your logo.

Rob Lewis awakens one morning with strange mental powers. Suddenly, he can read and influence the minds of those around him. At first, Rob thinks this is great--he helps his wife out at work, and single-handedly reforms the entire population of a correctional facility near his home. As his power increases, Rob becomes less enamored of his situation. In fact, he comes to see it as a curse, as a fireman is killed due to his carelessness and his infant twins begin to exhibit mental abilities far beyond their years, simply because he is near. Unable to deal with what he has become, Rob flees to New York City.

Fearing human contact, yet unable to totally avoid it, Rob lives on the street, occasionally influencing the city's richer denizens to take him in. This is a very dark time for Rob, who is both exhilarated and disgusted by his powers. Although he generally uses his powers wisely, his animal nature often comes to the fore, as when he nearly rapes the teenage daughter of one of his "benefactors".

Rob hits bottom, but is saved by a chance meeting with a good natured scientist named Edwin Barbaross. Edwin, grateful to Rob for saving his niece's life, helps him understand and control his powers, and eventually joins him in his search to discover the source of his abilities, a search which leads them to the far off land of Uzbekistan. There, Rob engages in a fight to the finish with the man who gave him his powers.

I enjoyed this book, although it did not fulfill its potential. Endlessly inventive, Clough never fully develops her ideas. Many a time I'd get excited about a plot twist, only to be disappointed by its conclusion. This didn't detract from my overall favorable opinion of the novel, however--the book is full of energy, and has a real pulpy feel to it. Things happen fast, as though Clough can't wait to get to the next exciting idea. Two things really grabbed me--Clough's constant references to comic books (never has Stan Lee's line, that "With great power comes great responsibility" had so much resonance) and the hero's use of the scientific method to solve his dilemma.

I'm not a science fiction fan. At least, I didn't think I was until I read Brenda Clough's book, How Like A God. The cover made me want to pick it up and once I started it, I couldn't put it down. My husband picked it up next and felt the same. I hope Brenda Clough is well on her way to the next title. We'll be looking for it!

"Flat" characters! I found the characterization the most appealing facet of this novel. Rob is a decent, 3-dimensional man with a loving, very entertainingly realistic family that drew me in from the first page. I felt sympathy for Rob even at his worst, because he was set up as so obviously a good person at the core. His scientist friend Edwin is equally engaging. Contrast this novel with H. G. Wells' story about the man who could work "miracles," in which the "miracle " power is only a gimmick to illustrate how illogical biblical marvels are in terms of modern science. In Clough's novel, OTOH, Rob's unasked-for power leads to exploration of moral issues and mythic themes -- and to the character's own redemption.

I am an avid reader of both science fiction and general literature. It is rare that I find a science fiction book that has elements in common with classic literature, and I am not simply referring to the Gilgamesh theme. Do not mistake what I mean, I am a scifi fan, but scifi by its nature tends to defeat itself on some fundamental levels of literature. So I was surprised when I pulled this from the scifi/fantasy section of my local bookstore. This novel is not only a good smooth read that moves fluidly, it also covers themes ranging from the terror and tragedy of sudden godhood to both macrocosmic and microcosmic views of humanity to the pleasant insanity of parenthood. This will go into my pile of books to re-read along with things like 'Franny and Zooey' by Salinger.

... is what the book should have been titled ... This book is pretty awesome and really has a bunch of REALLY cool elements ... The situations and problems that the characters face seem well researched and thought out. Kudos to the author who really did well with the subject matter. I give this book only 4 stars because I felt that the author could have done just a little bit more with the ending ... but BUY THIS BOOK !!!!

The premise -- being able to control reality through will -- is very interesting. However, the writing style is very uneven, many of the characters are flat, the dialogue get repetitive and the plotting could have been improved. I kept reading it to see how it would end, but I didn't really enjoy it after the first fifty pages.