Customer Reviews

Knight Moves

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I love this book because it's NOT about the plot excuse.

I mean that in many stories, there is Something That Happens (or Something That is Learned), which is an excuse to cause a story. And while that is true here, this time the characters KNOW that it's essentially just an excuse for action, and in fact that's what the story is about. I thought this book was going to be a trite sci-fi adventure-puzzle, but in fact it is a much more humanistic story about mortality, emotional freedom, and consequences.

The back cover of my copy mentions the discovery of teleporting wildlife on some far-off planet, and how learning the trick of it would be a fabulous prize for humanity. While this is true, the actual STORY is barely about this (in a good way). The actual story lies in WHY specifically these characters think this is a good thing to learn, in how their culture came to be, and in what happens among themselves as they continue to try and deal with these issues. The solving of The Teleportation Puzzle does of course turn out to be thematically and symbolically important, but the story is very much not just about that puzzle.

The book also manages not to be flippant or stilted in asking the ancient questions (like why am I here, and what the heck do I do with myself now?). Partially because of the specific personality of the first-person main character, I suppose, these questions keep a realistic, personal importance that I, at least, found myself able to relate to (on a human level, if not a literal-experience level).

I highly reccomend that everyone try reading this book.