Customer Reviews

Truesight (Truesight Trilogy)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Any story featuring a group of people who are
determined to create a utopian society is bound
to raise some serious questions. But Truesight
by David Stahler Jr. takes provocative to the
next level.


For generations, the inhabitants of the colony
Harmony have genetically engineered themselves to
be blind. In a society that believes sight leads
only to corruption and temptation, thirteen-year-
old Jacob is horrified when he suddenly becomes
able to see. Jacob has always been disturbed by
his best friend Delaney's criticism of the values
of the community, but when he attains the faculty
of vision he begins to see what really goes on in
his town, developing doubts of his own. Already
reeling from the shock of being able to see,
Jacob is told that Delaney has committed suicide,
and his life is thrown into complete turmoil.
The drama heats to the boiling point when his
secret ability is discovered by others in his
community. These people decide that his vision
must be "corrected," informing him that he will
need surgery to again become blind.

Though constructed around some very serious
issues, this book offers great opportunities for
moral development for mature teens and young
adults. Rather than avoiding controversial
issues, Stahler has opened the door for the
honest discussion of everything from advanced
scientific technology to social ostracism.

What makes this story appealing, rather than
just challenging, is the setting. Harmony is one
of two communities founded on Earth and sent to
live and develop on a satellite planet. This
community has developed amazing technologies to
facilitate the lives of the blind. Because the
inhabitants are determined to live independently
from seeing societies, unusual equipment was
fabricated. Featuring everything from advanced
tracking tools to personal sounding devices
invented to alert the user to the presence of
others, this novel is a science-fiction lover's
dream.

The only hitch worth mentioning is that the
reader can never be sure whether there is meant
to be romantic tension between Jacob and Delaney
or between he and his classmate, Beth, or perhaps
both. The romantic tension remains unresolved in
the end and though the events that imply the
tension contribute meaningfully to the story, to
a degree they take away from the plot.

The most impressive tidbit about this
stimulating and entertaining novel is the fact
that it is Stahler's first. A treasure for
anyone with a taste for the out-of-the-ordinary,
this book is sure to leave his readers anxiously
awaiting future publications.

Reviewed by Kimberly Bolton for Flamingnet Book Reviews, www.flamingnet.com.

Fantasy and science fiction often get so caught up in trying to explain the world in which the story takes place -- characters and setting are so key to the expository information within the novel -- that the plot suffers in the first half of the book.

TRUESIGHT is a sci-fi young adult novel that does some of that suffering (or rather the readers do). The entire first section of the book has a problem with trying to make the reader see this world (no pun intended) in which everyone is blind, but...

...as our protagonist (a 13-year-old boy named Jacob) starts to develop sight, we start to develop more interest in what happens. Eventually, the plot takes over from the exposition and things start to move along wonderfully.

As an 8th-grade Language Arts teacher, I also notice that the second half (clearly labeled "Part Two") has a better vocabulary, moving the material up a couple of reading levels as it goes. I also appreciated the metaphor I detected about conformity (whether religious, political or societal). I am teaching a unit on "Conformity" this year and will incorporate discussion of TRUESIGHT into this with (hopefully) strong results.

Though it is the first in a trilogy, each book should stand on its own. Younger readers will hate the ending as it doesn't answer all the questions it has set up for the reader.

What prevents the book from receiving three stars (instead of four) is the way that it transforms itself in the second half into an enjoyable example of the genre. What prevents itself from getting a full five is its growing pains in the first eighty pages.

Truesight is one of the better sci-fi books, not that I've read many! Even if you're just interested in the history of blindness, I'd recommend reading this. Jacob is a realistic 12 year old boy, which with many can relate to. He's not particulary brave, which is a challenge to him when he's faced with his biggest burden of all- starting with minor headaches and turning into something extraordinary. Two thumbs up, all the way, and if you're 11 years or older, but this and enjoy reading!

This was an amazing book! It's about a boy named Jacob who lives in a colony of people who genetically engineered themselves to be blind.They believe that blindness brings purity and innoscence.They live by the philosophy of Truesight.It states that sight brings shallow and materialistic lives.Something strange starts happening to Jacob a normal 13-year-old boy.He starts having headaches and feeling sick. Read the book to find out what this all means.

I like the premise of this book, but the ideas at its core were poorly developed, and logical details (like the lead's quite adjustment to the sighted world... even reading subtle facial expressions he'd never known about before!) distract. Plus, it's basically the exact same book as the vastly superior "The Giver." Still, worth the 90 minutes it takes to read.

David Stahler Jr. has written a brilliant coming of age story in a place more fanciful than Hogwarts. Jacob's character is revealed and developed masterfully. Reading Truesight was an eye-opening experience into an imaginative world. I can't wait for David Stahler Jr.'s next book!

Truesight is an amazing si-fi fictional book. The story begins with Jacob a 13 year old boy who is blind. He lives in harmony a town full of blind people. They fear the seers(people who can see)because they are different. They use a machine called a truesight. They give off a pitch that people use to find where they're going and where people are. Jacob starts to get major headachs that affect his eyes. when he figures out that he is getting sight he freaks out. Trying to act natural he has to figure out a plan on what to do.

truesight is an outstanding book about a 12 year old boy named jacob who is blind. He lives in a town called harmony. The town is full of of blind people who fear the seers (people who can see and arn't blind). They use a device called a sounder to find there way and to hear other peoples sounders to move around. Jacob has a hard time when he starts to get headachs. as the story progresses jacob learns that his headachs are giving him sight. so nobody finds out he just acts natural.

The book Truesight written by David Stahler Jr. is a great genre for any teen or adult. It is about a boy named Jacob who lives in the blind community of Harmony Station. Everyone in the community is either born blind or gives up their sight to be blind and join the community. Everyone lives an easy blind life, the life of truesight, as they call it. But as Jacob nears his thirteenth birthday and welcomed to adulthood in the community, he begins to get pains in his eyes. I won't get into details but here are some reasons why I liked the book. One reason I liked the book was because it takes place in the future with people living on other planets. Another reason is because I love science fiction books, and if you do too, this book is for you. A third reason why I like this book is that it will leave you with a good creepy feeling and it will keep you firmly hooked.

This book is highly reminisant of the two aforementioned books, but seems to lack a certain quality that truely made the other books great. A strong start, leading to a brilliantly written rising action that drives strongly that starts to loose steam, and leading to a climax that seems betraying to me to all of the set up.
I enjoyed it, and found it entertaining, but I wanted something more from it. There were so many oppurtunities to explore issues that were skipped on, especially in the discovery of all of the hypocracies of the town.
I think that for the discussion of all issues shared with Anthem and the Giver I would recomend those.
There could be some good discussion about the portrayal of those with sight imparment and thier ability to live independantly, but that would be about the only thing I would recomend it for.