Customer Reviews

Resonance

5 star:		(14)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This book has the sort of thought provoking background that is the hallmark of good Science Fiction as well as a plot that keeps you turning the pages. Since I dislike reviews that end up giving away the plot I shall attempt to restrict myself to generalities. The book is essentially about the existence of parallel worlds and what the implications would be if we could learn information from them. The concept is not completely new - Keith Laumer's Imperium comes to mind - but Resonance is quite different in the way it handles the scenario.

In addition to its great background the book scores on the foreground characters and plot. The interplay between the hero and various almost identical heroines is extremely good as is the depiction of the hero, who for good logical reasons, is extremely introverted preferring to present the facade of a mute rather than expose himself to the ridicule that follows when the world has changed around him and he comments on it.

The book is set primarily in various versions of London in the year 2000 and the depictions of the every day minutiae of life are, I think, very well done and true to life. If there is one thing that is missing it is the Google search engine, which seems to be absent from the author's world view despite being something that was visible in this world's London of the year 2000. This may seem to be a curious thing to comment on but the plot does in part revolve around internet searching and thus it seems to me worth pointing out where it misses. On the other hand thought the problem of locating the needle in the haystack of search results is very well defined and other problems familiar to heavy internet users, such as finding apparently relevant documents in a language which you don't understand, do make their appearance and help (or hinder depending on your point of view) the plot along very nicely.

Due to the character of the hero there is none of the graphic and frequently gratuitous sex and/or violence that writers often use to disguise limitations in plot or characterization. The great thing is that this lack is not something you notice while the book is being read. There is plenty of action and intriguing plot twists but surprisingly very few loose ends by the time we reach the final denouement; as a result, while books in the same "universe" would be nice, a direct sequel seems unlikely. If there is one failing it is that I felt that the ending is a little too "pollyanna"ish given what we have seen before but on the whole I prefer this to the alternative of a depressing ending that wins awards but leaves the reader miserable.

All in all this is a book that appeals at many levels and one that will repay periodic rereading.

Graham Smith lives in a world that is always unraveling. Houses are replaced by apartment buildings, stores change overnight, people disappear and the dead return as if nothing had happened. Is reality real; or is Graham the one stable factor in hundreds of virtual reality worlds?

Annalise Mercados is a medium. She channels hundreds of other Annalises that live in worlds where most things are familiar and yet subtle differences exist. The only thing they all know is that Graham Smith is important.

Paradim is a company building a worldwide AI directed database. Paradim knows about Graham and Annalise. What is so important that various factions within Paradim would be fighting over Graham Smith?

For a first novel, Chris Dolley has brought us a dozy of a mystery in the form of a science fiction story. When I first encountered the Graham Smith character, he reminded me of someone and then it hit me. Graham was `Felix Unger' brought into a new life and living in London.

I highly recommend this to anyone who likes mysteries, but fears to tread into pure science fiction.

I read the Advanced Reader copy made available through the Baen Publishing website. Aside from standard information such as the book's genre (Science Fiction), subject matter (parallel dimensions) and the quality of writing (excellent) which one finds in all reviews, I think the most appealing thing about the story was the style in which it was written.

Most books, in the process of reading them provide a certain feeling of anticipation. One always wants to know what's going to happen to so-and-so. There is that in this book. However, I found that in addition to the standard anxiety was this overarching desire to figure out not just the immediate action but also the why and wherefore of the universe that Dolley constructs. That is something, I think, that is not common to many books.

It is for this reason that I would urge anyone who even dabbles in science fiction to give this book a try. At the very least read the first 10 or so chapters which are up for free on the publisher's website. A google search of "baen books" with "Chris Dolley" will take you directly to his listing.

I must say when I first heard about the book about a year ago (one of the first new authors picked out of Baen's e-slush system) I wasn't all that excited. (Character named Graham? Multi-dimensional story? Gets chased across universes along with a beautiful woman? Didn't Heinlein already do that in Job: A Comedy of Justice?) However, I was intrigued enough to purchase it, and I must say it was well worth the price.

Resonance's viewpoint character is Graham Smith. An odd man, obsessed with ritual and withdrawn to a point where most people think he is a mute. He keeps post-it notes containing all of the important details of his life (such as it is) and another note in his pocket with his home and work address. Everyone thinks he is a little nuts.. or is he just well adjusted to an insane world? People go missing, buildings change, and no one notices but him. Until he meets someone else who has.. a beautiful woman named Annalise. She hears voices.. but strangely enough they all think they're Annalise too.

Excellent book for a first SF novel. The tech details are there, but kept vague enough (and consistent enough) to avoid setting off the "You can't DO that!" alarm. Graham is hard to relate to at the beginning, but you get drawn into the world (and into the book) quite thoroughly, and you grow to like Graham as he develops. The characterizations are good. Overall.. 4.5 out of 5.

PS. Timothy Zahn has nothing to do with this book. There was some kind of mixup with the ISBNs of Resonance and Black Collar.

What do you do when your world keeps unraveling on you? People you saw yesterday have been dead for years ... or people who have been dead for years show up for work and nobody blinks an eye? This is the world of Graham Smith. He has to keep notes in his pocket to tell him where he lives, because it may be different from one day to the next.

The situation that Graham (and Annalise) find themselves involved with holds your interest as you try to figure out what is going on along with them. Chris Dolley has managed something rare in Science Fiction, especially for a debut book: he has come up with Something New.

Highly recommended.

Of authors who owe me at least a night's sleep! I thought I'd read the first little bit of Resonance before I went to sleep and the rest as they say is history. Very, very enjoyable read!

I immediately identified with Graham, and found the "inside" view of OCD very compelling. The action never stops in this story and my reaction to the "Pollyannish" ending was "HA! bet it doesn't work out, when's the sequel coming out?"

--SarahC

I rate all my books and this was the best book I've read over the last 30 books (last 2 years - sad that I read so little now). The beginning was good, the middle, the end - all excellent (this is rare). If you don't like it by the 3rd page forget it.

There are 2 characters in the book with different special skills. Graham is a mute by choice who is also OCD to keep the world from unraveling. He is a "loser" who delivers mail in an office building. He doesn't know he has a special talent but does notice that the world changes in huge ways and no one else seems to notice. Analise can talk to 200 other women in her head. And many of them are encouraging her to go to England and save Graham from being kidnapped by an evil company called ParaDim. Analise thinks she is insane and doesn't quite understand her talent either. Together they start to understand each other's talents.

An extraordinary first novel. In many ways, Resonance reminds me of the best science fiction of the 50's and 60's. An original plot founded on a scientific concept; an engaging character who changes, grows, and rises to an extraordinary challenge; suspense; romance. Not necessarily deep, but thought-provoking and entertaining nevertheless

I won't say anything about the plot, as I don't want to spoil anything; just read the blurb--you don't need to know anything more.

The only (very mild) criticism I have is that the motivation of the bad guy, when eventually revealed, struck me as both implausible and a bit cliched. Every other aspect of the novel is so good that I was expecting something more ingenious.

Highly recommended. I immediately ordered the author's other novel.

An engrossing page turner that starts out as a brooding study in obsessive compulsive disorder and paranoia and rapidly picks up pace to breakneck speed. I agree with other reviewers that the key suspension of belief element and the main characters are extraordinarily well drawn and developed, first novel or not, and that the resolution and the motivation of the villain are not of the same caliber writing. Much as Isaac Asimov later undid his too-pat ending (by his own estimation) of his classic Foundation (Foundation Novels) novel and Orson Scott Card re-wrote Ender's Game (Ender, Book 1) series with Ender's Shadow (Ender, Book 5) (Ender's Shadow) years later, I'm hoping to see a sequel to "Resonance" much later in Chris Dolley's career where he gives us both a better "real" villain/motivation and the story behind what really happened at the resolution to this highly original and entertaining story.

The novel reads like a motion picture adaptation waiting to be written, and it's all too easy to see Keanu Reeves' generic character or Matt Damon's interpretation of Jason Bourne in the role of Graham Smith, with Milla Jovovich or Franka Potente as Annalise. There is no gratuitous sex or adult situations, essentially no profanity and very little violence, none of which is graphically depicted, making this a good choice for teen readers, but there is mention in passing of child molestation and child killings.

You should enjoy this book if you enjoyed:
Replay by Ken Grimwood
Worlds of the Imperium by Keith Laumer
A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle

This book is NOT similar to Heinlein's "JOB: a Comedy of Justice," as the anti-hero main character is not one the Master would ever have written -- his hero would have had the qualities than Annalise displays in this novel and grows and develops far more in pages of this novel than any Heinlein character short of Valentine Michael Smith, the tone is much darker and claustrophobic, and there is an overall very British/left wing slant to the politics of this book (weapons should not be in the hands of the people, all weapons should be banned and all governments should disarm, corporations no matter how well intentioned will become corrupted and evil by nature) that the staunch Libertarian Heinlein would never have condoned.

The movie this book seems to want to be made into would probably remind me of:

The Butterfly Effect (Infinifilm Edition)
The Fifth Element (Ultimate Edition)

On the surface, there is nothing special about Graham Smith. He has always worked the same, boring delivery job. He lives in the same place that he was raised. He pretty much keeps to himself and never talks. But his mundane, routine life is the only thing that keeps Graham sane. Ever since Graham can remember, the world around him has been unraveling and changing. Belongings move from disappear and reappear randomly. People that are supposed to be dead are alive the next day.

Annalise Mercado hears voices in her head. And they all call themselves Annalise. When she meets up with Graham, trying to save his life, the two of them must uncover the truth behind the Resonance wave and the seemingly endless multiple realities.

While at first, the size of the book was a bit intimidating, it didn't take long to get pulled into the book. And surprisingly, I got through it pretty quickly. The story starts out strong, with plenty of building suspense. More and more questions arise, while theories start forming about what is going on. Graham is confronted with intense and ever-changing situations and characters, with Annalise as his only confidant.

I thoroughly enjoyed this science fiction adventure.