Customer Reviews

The Space Between

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

 

 

I found this first book of Ronald Damien Malfi, THE SPACE BETWEEN, a delightful start to the new millennium. An avid reader of modern science fiction, I dare to name one book that compares. The early hot sellers, Orson Scott Card's ENDER'S SHADOW and Harry Turtledove's COLONIZATION AFTERSHOCKS, fall short of the classic standards that were set by Sagan and Verne. THE [SPACE] BETWEEN raises the bar for all new authors and redefines reader's expectations. Ronald Damien Malfi is the brightest new star in the science fiction galaxy.

I must confess that I grew up down the street from the author, so I don't know how objective I can be. But I must say that I honestly couldn't put this book down once I had started reading. Ron Malfi has the unique ability to keep a story moving quickly while not giving away the secrets he needs to keep the reader guessing. One reviewer noted that Malfi is like Stephen King and Hemingway; I completely agree. But unlike both of those writers, Malfi doesn't take pages and pages to "set the scene." Each page is the scene. I wanted to read every word, not so I would be prepared for the action to come - but for it's own entertainment value. Much like John Steinbeck, Malfi has a way of working every detail into the story - every tiny grain of information seems essential to the reader. I can't wait for his next book!

A nice first effort by Ronald Damien Malfi. I make it a point to read debut novels from up and coming writers, and this one is definitely my pick for January. Nice, well-rounded story with wonderfully believable characters and deep emotion. The relationship between the two main characters, Vander and Alana, was very nicely executed, and I loved the non-linear telling of the tale. Surprisingly, this is a love story! A friend of mine refused to read the book at first because she is not a fan of science fiction and horror, but after I urged her, she read the book and loved it.

I was surprised at how young the author is to have written such a knowledgeable book. If he is that young, we can surely expect to see great things from Ronald Damien Malfi in the future. Consider me a fan!

I thought this was a pretty good first novel. What originally interested me in it was all the talk I heard about the book's genre. People said it was horror, science fiction, adventure, literary fiction, etc. After what I heard, I was interested enough to read the book myself, and I'm glad that I did. Although I still don't know what to categorize it as. Maybe just mainstream fiction, or like a suspense thriller.

Vander Case is the main character, and he is a depressed physics professor who is still mourning the death of his girlfriend from long ago. Without giving too much away, he is kidnapped by the Navy and taken out into the Atlantic oceans where they find a giant space porthole beneath the water. From there, the story unravells in a past-paced present time aboard the naval ship, while we see intermittent flashbacks to Vander's past and the events that brought him to where he is today.

I enjoyed this book very much and I think Ronald Damien Malfi is a great new voice in dark literary fiction (or what ever you want to call it!) Calling it science fiction is a bit misleading I think, but I still very much recommend this book.

I borrowed this book from a friend after he simply raved about it, and knowing that I will read practically anything (and am impressed by very little), he was curious to see what I would think of the book. Well I have to say I really loved it. It was written in a very unique style, not too 'modern commercial fiction' but not to 'literary fiction.' Mr. Malfi has a style like a mixture between Stephen King and Ernest Hemingway, and I would certainly recommend this book be read by anyone looking for a brilliant new voice.

I thought this book was just OK, not bad but not terrific. I guess I'd read another one by this author.

I had to read this book for a book club and was worried because I thought it was a science fiction book and I do not do science fiction. Maybe my predisposition to not liking the book freed me to really enjoy it--and enjoy it I did. It is really a book about relationships with a sci-fi-like plot twist. It is also a suspense novel and a love story. All of this wrapped up neatly in quick read book. I am very impressed with this young author and will keep my eyes out for more from him. I highly recommend making the minimal time and cost investment to read this fascinating story.

First of all, I really enjoyed this book and I think Ronald Damien Malfi is a superb writer. It was original, fastpaced, and thought-provoking. For those of you who have already read it, I do have one question: what exactly is "the poe"? The cult leader apparently chose a name for himself and that name is the poe, but it is not capitalized throughout the text (this isn't a typo, it is done purposely every time the name appears) and the author never goes into where that name came from or what its meaning is. I thought it might have something to do with Alana Barset, because the poe and Alana seem to have some sort of unconscious or other-worldly attachment, (the poe's tattoo is the same design that Alana draws in the dirt when explaining "the space between" to Vander! I didn't realize this until I went back a read it) Anyway, it's not a big deal and it takes nothing away from the book itself, and I would definitely reccomend this book for a good couple of nights read.

I have one major complaint: this book is NOT science fiction! I've noticed some people comparing it to classic sci-fi stories, which is unfair to classic sci-fi writers AND this writer! fans of sci-fi understand that there are certain elements present in a science fiction novel, which this book did not have, this was softcore sci-fi to say the LEAST. So if you're looking for a HARD sci-fi read, this is NOT the book for you.

With that out of the way, I can now look at the book subjectly. Please don't get me wrong, I thought this was a decent book, although not the type of stuff I'm used to reading. It had some suspense, some elements of the supernatural, and some scientific aspects like a combo of stephen king, michael crichton, and john grisham all rolled into one. There was also some sense of "classical" literature writing style, that made it interesting to read and made the author's voice fairly original.

It is about a scientist named Van who helps the navy (or tries to help the navy) close up some sort of porthole that has opened in the ocean. Meanwhile, there's this cult about the navy ship that tries to prevent the porthole from being closed. That's where the real action comes into play. I found that the beginning of the book dragged a little bit, it was primarily a love story of sorts, but the end picked up speed. Overall, it was a fair book. If you can find it, I'd reccommend reading it.