Customer Reviews

The Little Universe

5 star:		(19)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

NOTE: This review was originally published on Red Adept Reviews on March 22, 2011.

Overall: 4 1/2 stars

Plot/Storyline: 4 1/2 stars

This was quite an inventive story. I don't know how realistic the science was (don't worry, the author kept it very simple), but it made for a marvelous story. As the little universe (it fit in a large room) expanded, the scientists found a number of planets with intelligent life. Most of these planets advanced their technology over time, but on one planet, the people and the technology never changed. When the secret of the planet was discovered, it challenged the scientists' beliefs and changed their lives forever.

The author described some fascinating planets in the micro-universe that Webster Adams created. It was interesting to observe how the planets' peoples and technologies changed every time the scientists "fast forwarded" time.

In the end, the author dealt with some weighty philosophical and spiritual issues. The New Age concepts that came into play may or may not be your cup of tea, but it was thought-provoking, to say the least.


Characters: 4 1/2 stars

The characters were well defined and were likable. Webster Adams befriended Jon Gruber, a local carpenter, and they completed the construction of the Universe Generator. Adams's daughter Whitney joined the team, and she and Jon developed a close relationship. Frank Maxwell, a financier, and two of his staff members, Jessica Baxter and Ian Nessen, completed the human team. The characters' relationships with each other provided much of the drama and the tension. There was also an artificial intelligence (AI) computer, nicknamed "Jim." Initially, I though Jim was a little cheesy (think of the robot in Lost in Space), but ultimately Jim did have an important role to play.


Writing style: 4 1/2 stars

The author's style was polished and professional. The story could have been filled with heavy duty science, but to the author's credit, he kept it simple and focused on the story and the characters.


Editing: 4 1/2 stars

I found only a handful of typos and grammatical errors. Formatting for the Kindle was very good.

The story quickly develops by focusing on the 2 main characters and before you know it, you can't put the book down. What if you could recreate the big bang in a lab? What could you learn? What are the ethical considerations once you've create a universe that has intelligent life in it?

While the book is sci fi, it covers far more ground than that. All the while the characters continue to grow and conflicts arise. Yet the story keeps moving. Add a few twists and turns as the story comes to its climax and you have a real winner.

There is a reason why people keep giving this book 5 stars. Because it is worth it. Anytime you have a story this engrossing that makes you stop and think. Or makes you think about it while you are not reading it must be on to something. And this book certainly is.

I really loved the first quarter of the book. The story was highly interesting and I also liked the writing style very much, as opposed to some other sci-fi novels I had read shortly before. The story had a lot of potential, and I was eagerly reading on. However, instead of building upon the happenings of the first quarter, the second quarter was just more of the same. About halfway through the book, the story turned to spirituality, and eventually, that was all it was about. For about the last third of the book, it really was no longer a science fiction story but probably just a way for the author to tell us there is a God and we should all be less selfish and start to work on improving our souls. At least that's the impression I got. I would have so loved if after the first quarter the story would have built upon the stuff the researchers had discovered and introduced some real life consequences of a dramatic sort. Now spiritualists among you will probably say that's just what happened, but I'm thinking more of the line of a technical / political / environmental sort. I guess I'm more like Frank who sold the technology to the military instead of Whitney who wanted to be like the Thetans. I'm not looking for a cheap catastrophe-type novel, but the idea of a mini-universe being created within a laboratory, and of finding a planet whose inhabitants are even more technologically advanced than the creators of said universe had so much potential that was simply left untouched. I've now read through 80% of the story in 3 days, and at that point I don't really care what happens in the last 20%, though I'll still finish reading the book tomorrow.

"The Little Universe" by Jason Matthews is worth more than the $2.99 price and lost sleep you're sure to experience once you begin this un-put-downable novel. Even after finishing the book, I'm still losing sleep because I can't stop thinking about it.

There are quite a few excellent stories by indie authors, but all too often they are riddled with typos, formatting errors and grammatical gaffes. This book is NOT one of them. Not only is the plot based on a brilliant and original concept, it is well crafted, tightly paced and beautifully written.

The science is detailed enough to feel real but delivered organically without a single info-dump. I didn't understand all the physics, but since the main character didn't either, I never felt stupid. "The Little Universe" is as good as or better than any traditionally published book I've read in the past year and better than most.

The characters are multi-faceted, believable and instantly engaging. The story is told from the protagonist, Jon's, point of view. He is highly intelligent and creative, but uneducated and in need of a spiritual awakening. I was always on his side, but I occasionally wanted to smack him and shake some sense into him. I even yelled at him at one point, but I understood why he made the choices he did.

The antagonist had his redeeming qualities, making it difficult to hate him. His decisions were clearly motivated by greed but I think he honestly believed he was working for the "greater good."

The supporting cast was well developed without crowding the storyline. Each person was an individual worthy of their own novel. I am thrilled the sequel, "Jim's Life," features one of my favorite personalities from this novel.

I highly recommend this entertaining and enlightening book to all science fiction fans as well as anyone questioning the meaning of life or exploring their own spirituality.

This delightful, subtly humorous novel asks the question, "What might happen if you could create your own universe in miniature, and explore it to whatever level of detail you desired?" From the very first page, I was pulled into the story, and I couldn't put the book down. Most of the book is conversational rather than narrative, which helps to propel the story forward; there are no dull moments.

There are many social aspects to the story that seem implausible; how an experiment of this magnitude could be started by a single scientist, or how such an amazing array of new technologies necessary for the experiment could be brought together for the first time by that scientist, or why a carpenter with no scientific background would be picked up as an assistant. But the fact that the experiment was simultaneously so big and so small, helps to the give the story its joyous, unpredictable air, and makes it such a fun read.

Most of the technical aspects of the story are given at least a veneer of scientific plausibility. One intriguing aspect of the story is the ability of the scientists to monitor anything in their entire universe, to "zoom in" on individuals on any planet anywhere. This aspect echoes some ideas from Frank Tipler's book, "The Physics of Immortality: Modern Cosmology, God and the Resurrection of the Dead."

So different from most other science fiction - this book goes beyond the norm and looks at important Mind/body/Spirit issues in a science fiction setting. Folks wanting the normal kind of shoot-em up with rayguns SF (basically a cowboy yarn in a futuristic setting) will be disappointed. This book has SOMETHING TO SAY. It is not a religious rant. But it does deal with spiritual issues. It also has characters you will identify with and a storyline that grabs you and pulls you in, but somehow gently - not by mere sensationalist action, but more by something that is really sensational. I loved the character Jim, the computer; he had this kind of emotional immaturity that made me want to see him happy as though he was a little child. He was so vital to the story but he got kinda taken for granted by the other characters, being of course "only a computer."
The author shows an awareness of the connectedness of everything in the universe and the whole book is an illustration of that. It deals with grief so sensitively and allows us to see growth in all the characters. I hope to read a sequel some day where the protagonist gets together with Whitney.
Meanwhile I'll go and find out what happened to Jim, as I believe that has been written.

The Little Universe is one of those rare books, light enough on the surface to be a fun summer read, but deep enough to keep you thinking about it long after you've turned the last page. The story is absolutely fascinating, one of my new favorite science fiction books. I've already purchased a copy for my godfather for Father's Day and if my dad were alive, I know he would have loved it.

When looking at a drawing of an atom, did you ever think about all the little neutrons, protons and electrons spinning around, and that it looks an awful lot like a little solar system? The thought occurred to me the first time we saw diagrams back in elementary school. I always wondered if our solar system could be a miniscule part of something larger. So when I read a description of this book on an author's forum on Amazon.com, it immediately caught my attention and, thanks to Kindle, I was able to purchase a copy and begin reading it within a few minutes. It's about a researcher, Webster Adams, who creates a miniature "big bang" in a universe generator, built in a lab, and the resulting miniature universe. Along with his daughter Whitney, a couple other scientists and Jon Gruber, a local carpenter who helped build the room where the scientific equipment resides, they are able to view all of the galaxies within this miniature universe with the help of super high powered cameras, and Jim, who is a computer with artificial intelligence who directs the cameras and talks to the researchers. They are also able to leap ahead in time within this universe, sometimes billions of years and sometime only thousands. With these powerful cameras, they go looking for life.

The characters are likeable and the story is more than just a science fiction novel. It's a love story, and touches on reincarnation, spirituality and the existence of God. If you're a person who meditates you'll find a lot to like about this book. If you've been trying to meditate and find it difficult, this book just may push you into the right mind frame and make it easier after reading about the characters and their experiences. It has everything I like in a good story with a few surprising twists and turns along the way. When I finished it, I immediately bought Jason Matthew's sequel, Jim's Life, and so far that has turned out to be equally entertaining. Two thumbs up for this great read!

Jason Matthew's the Little Universe is a work of art, not only as his book's cover depicts, but as its content reveals. A group of scientists, with the help of an anthropomorphically interesting computer, create a miniature universe in a lab. As the little universe grows exponentially, the group microscopically observes degrees of life and development on numerous discovered planets. The group itself then begins a journey of technological, as well as spiritual growth.
Using accurate terminology from astronomy, cosmology and applied physics, Jason engages the reader with believable scenarios of varying evolutionary paths that life--humanity--can potentially take. Interweaved with the scientific are the spiritual, metaphysical queries of life as well: What is consciousness? Can it transcend matter, distance, and time? Is there a higher evolutionary position we are all destined to arrive at--individually and collectively? Is life intended to be more? These are some of the questions underlying the themes of this unique work.
This is an interesting and engaging story that I think emulates mankind's dichotomous position in history today: that of simultaneously seeing the benefits, as well as the destructive side of growth and technology, and weighing these in the balance as we all ask: is there more than just this material life, and what is my part in it?
Good job Jason, looking forward to the Little Universe's sequel.

G. F. Smith (gfsmithbooks.com)SUBJECTED: Eye of God - a novel (book 1)

I downloaded this book to my Kindle while on vacation. I found it to be exciting and very thoughtful - and definitely fun to read.
The story is a blend of science, romance, and spirituality - unlike many books of this nature, it was never "preachy" or condescending.
I really liked the character development of Jon and his relationship with Whitney.
A surprising twist toward the end! I found myself thinking a lot about the book after I finished it.
Highly recommended!

What if you could recreate the big bang? What if you could see and explore the galaxies and planets? That is the premise behind Jason Matthews' novel The Little Universe. It's categorized as Science Fiction, but the scope is much wider than that. The Little Universe touches on ethics, reincarnation, spirituality and the existence of God. It's not a book full of proselytizing, but these elements are discussed and revisited frequently throughout the novel. That being said, there is a story at the front which is very entertaining in itself.

I really enjoyed the story overall and I liked getting to know the characters. I didn't feel the ending was completely resolved. I had a few unanswered questions. I know there is a sequel but I'm not sure the characters I want to see and the questions I want answered will be there. All in all it was a good read, definitely worth the time and money.