Customer Reviews

Singularity

5 star:		(18)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(4)
2 star:		(2)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I had no idea what to expect from Singularity written by new author Bill DeSmedt. After reading the blurbs from the likes of Kevin Anderson (Dune: Battle of Corrin) and Greg Bear (Darwin's Radio), I had to give it a try. What a great ride!

The novel is gripping from the very beginning. It has spies, killers, not-so-altruistic scientists, and consultants ... yes, consultants - but these are not the same ones that read your watch and tell you what the time is. The characters are smart, witty and engaging. I found myself wishing my plane ride was longer so I could continue reading!

There are various storylines cleverly weaved together. I kept wishing I could read faster so I could find out what is happening to protagonists Jonathan Knox and Marianna Bonaventure. The unexpected twists and suspense reminds you of The DaVinci Code - but Singularity is so much better. The story is just so solid, witty and smart.

As for the writing, Singularity is beautifully written - similar to CRYPTONOMICON or even My Life as a Geisha or The Grapes of Wrath - you are transported into the characters lives and into exotic locations. The writing is witty and delicious. It is also a smart read - the author weaves the story around a mysterious microscopic black whole. You unwittingly learn more physics than you expect. He brings in science more artfully than Michael Crichton.

In addition to the great story and writing, the characters are clever and interesting. There is a strong female protagonist that is smart, can take care of herself (a la Alias) and knows how to wear Gucci. The male character - now there is a real man!

The one negative is that the book had to end. I can't wait until the sequel comes out.

Bill DeSemdt is an "Information Engineer," an amateur physicist, a student of Sovietology, and now a first-time novelist who reads like he's been doing this for decades. With his debut book, "Singularity," DeSmedt demonstrates a knack for pace and plotting that make the "international thriller" aspect of his book a hair-raising adventure. But there is a science fiction angle at work here, too, and it's just close enough to plausible science fact that you'll wonder, even as you devour the pages, just how scared you should be.

Start with a cataclysmic planetary collision, add one part hard science, one part espionage, a dash of shamanism, and shake mixture vigorously until it explodes. Bill DeSmedt's `Singularity' moves at the speed of light, careening from science to adventure and back again without ever quite losing control. His characters are interesting and three-dimensional, his writing is crisp, and his storytelling is captivating. This man was born to write cutting-edge Science Fiction. Now all I have to do is wait for his next book.

Jeff Edwards, author of `Torpedo: A Surface Warfare Thriller'

A very impressive first novel. Solid, hard SF of the Gregory Benford/Stephen Baxter/Greg Bear variety. The plot intensfies as it moves along and the hard SF aspects become more and more important as integral parts of the storyline. DesMedt has clearly been thinking about this for a while, as he says in the very informative Further Reading section at the end of the book.

Why 5 stars? In addition to an (very) interesting plot, the writing is very good, the physics is excellent and (gasp!) several of the characters are very, very well done. There is a believable heroine (and a sort of hero), an excellent "baddy" (actually a couple of them) and a couple of guys to round out the cast. All of them are fleshed out well enough so that one can tell who is speaking even if you skip ahead a few lines. And DesMedt makes us care about all of them.

This book literally has something for everyone. Black holes, quantum mechanics and more (don't want to spoil anything for anyone), Russian history and politics, action, romance (well, sort of) computers and technobabble. What a great combo.

The dust jacket says he is working on a sequel. I can't wait.

No doubt about it, Singularity is a great read. The book has it all: lightning-fast pace, believable characters, easy-to-read style, mystery, intrigue, clever plot twists and adventure.

The basic plot of the book revolves around a black hole that crashes into the earth. While this may make the book sound like science fiction, it actually reads more like the Da Vinci Code (though I think the writing in Singularity is better). It's one of those books I just didn't want to put down because I wanted to see what would happen next.

The characters in the book were quite believable and quite diverse. From the consultant (when was the last time you saw a consultant as the hero?) to the Russian billionaire, their words and actions made sense and had a purpose besides just moving the story along.

I also appreciated that I didn't see any distracting errors in the facts in the book. I even learned a few things about black holes (painlessly I might add).

My summary: well written, engaging, thought provoking, enjoyable. Glad I read it.

I am not usually a fiction reader, but, "Singularity" was recommended by friends and it is a gem. The author has a great sense of humor, is able to present technical information in an interesting and informative way, and throws in some wonderful literary quotes, authors and vocabulary to boot! Mr. DeSmedt engages the reader's attention with various convergent plot lines and his focus on how the good guys are dealing with the high unemployment rate of Soviet nuclear scientists is certainly interesting in our dangerous world today. Looking forward to more from this author.

If this novel were written by Greg Bear, I'd say it was a superior novel and one of his better works. Considering it's the first novel written by a former consultant, it is truly amazing. Probably the best first novel I've ever read.

Singularity has an interesting and, I think, unique premise - the Tunguka Event in Siberia was not a conventional asteriod or comet impact, but actually a mini black hole that threatens to destroy the earth. Great start, but what do you do with it? DeSmedt crafts a great story to support the premise, and wraps some great writing around the bones of the plot. If you liked Dan Simmons' writing in the Hyperion series, you'll like this.

It has a fun, easy-to-read straightforward narrative, interesting characters, a great sense of the local culture (in this case, post-Soviet Russia), and just the right amount of sly humor and not-so-sly sex sprinkled in. And some scenes that are so good visually that you find yourself wishing you could buy the film rights!

As a side note, this is the only sci-fi novel I've ever read that references my favorite theory of "life, the universe, and everything" - Smolin's theory of how our universe evolved to its current optimal design as a result of Darwinian processes of mutation and selection.

This book has lots of twists & turns - with no hint of what's around the next turn. I find it to be exceptionally crafted science fiction, rooted in concepts of "real science."

Bill DeSmedt takes the reader on a fantastic journey, using a mysterious event in Siberia's Tunguska wilderness he sets the stage for an extremely plausible adventure. Mixing science fiction with science fact and a great story to boot Bill DeSmedt has created a world worthy of Crichton, DuBrul and Cussler.
My only hope is that "Singularity" does not describe the authors career, it would be a shame if this was his only novel.
Bring on "Dualism"!!!

Well Desmedt literally blew me away, combining a bit of classic cold war history, mystery,scientific mystery and the feel of a technothriller into a book i literally read in one sit through...
In a day and age where every other sci fi novel is rooted in bull@#$@ plot devices and literally is fantasy desmedt managed to take an ACTUAL theory about actual events and make it no less fantastic then a space opera. While many novels have multiple plot lines that intertwine usually some are weak and as a result your read through a chaoter just to get to another charcters POV, here every chapter change i felt pissed that i'd have to wait for a continual of this line while i felt the glee of another plotline's return, can't wait to read his next novel Dualism.

Thanks for restoring my faith in current day sci fi !