Customer Reviews

VANISHING POINT

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

 

 

This book had some things going for it- good story (idea), good scientific premise (well, at least "something" out "there" is not the blame), good writing, interesting characters. So what happened?

Well, for one thing, there are too many dang characters. Guys and gals show up for a page, VANISH, then reappear again always for some deep or nefarious meaning. It all seemed a bit hokey. Even if 90% of the world vanished, that still meant 30 million Americans remained, hardly decimating us enough to force us to turn to obscure and self-destructive cults. Once again, we have the situation where a "scientist" discovers the "truth" through extremely suspect paranormal methods.

One day, without warning, 90% of the Earth vanished - the people, their clothes and nothing else. Naturally, there were the usual culprits (aliens, religion, government plot, etc.) but after 30 years most folks seems to have accepted this as a historical fact and moved on. It appears everyone has joined one of a number of weird cults, each built around explaining or living with the Vanishing. This is the story of one group, a team that lives in the "House" and searches for an explanation in unexplained anomalies that seem to appear randomly. The author attempts to weave some personal tales into the mix but the whole thing is so convoluted, it is difficult to follows. The PHYSICAL descriptions of the action and the settings are frustrating to the extreme - maybe that's the point. In the end, one cult invades and the children, blessed with a new power of control over the laws of nature, save the day. Time for a nap.

This is a very inventive and engaging book. I was probably about 13 or so when I first read this (I'm 30 now) and part of me is STILL lost in it!

I hadn't been to the Winchester Mystery House in real life when I read the book. But for years until I finally did go, people who had been there thought I'd been, too, just because I was so familiar with it from the book. This book took me there. If you're looking for a great young adult book that takes you to a whole different place, this is the one to read!

I agree with most of the criticisms leveled against this book by other reviewers, but I enjoyed it immensely despite its faults. The novel is set in the future, 29 years after 90% of the population has vanished. As one reader pointed out, that would leave thirty million Americans, but Roessner illogically describes a country that is largely uninhabited and that is ruled by competing cults. That, however, is a detail. On a much more important level, Roessner gradually lets us know that some fundamental laws of nature have changed, and that the disappearance of most of the population is not the only problem facing humanity. The children born into this new world are much more adapted to it than are the adults, and they have abilities not shared by their elders. The real appeal of the story seems to me to be the contrast between the adults and the children who were born after the Vanishing, and in the dreamlike quality of the author's descriptions of this new world. "Vanishing Point" is an easy novel to criticize, but it is not easy to forget, and I for one found it to be very intelligently conceived and highly entertaining.

This book kept me up late reading and I was sorry to see it end, I would like to read a sequel to see what becomes of the characters. It is a rarity in the science fiction world: a novel with well-developed characters with believable motives and a realistic look at love and relationships.

Thirty years after most of the world's population disappeared, a band of survivors inhabiting the Winchester Mystery House in San Jose, California try to find the cause of the catastrophe and rebuild a society despite the depredations of kamikaze cult members out to destroy them. The author makes you feel as if you are as much a part of the house as the characters who live there, I definitely have added a visit to my "bucket list". The ending of the book brought to mind Darwin's Radio.

A somewhat noir SciFi (not fantasy) novel set in and around the San Francisco Bay Area, mostly in San Jose, with its epicenter at the real-life Winchester Mystery House. The different cults which spring up to explain the inexplicable Vanishing of 90% of the Earth's population are realistically envisioned and fleshed out, appealingly and even repellingly so, in some cases. The ending scenes leave one emotionally wrung out and wishing desperately (during a second and third re-reading!) one could CHANGE THINGS so that x,y,z didn't happen... that's how involved the reader becomes with the characters. An outstanding first novel, with only one or two rough spots. I WANT A SEQUEL!!!! Highest recommendation!! :)

There is one reason I return to this book time and time again: The descriptions of the old house. The characters are decent, and the plot is pretty good, although a tad predictable, but that HOUSE. The way they've built that house out and out and out intrigues me to this day. Also, the way the children are able to slide to other possible realities is interesting...But not particularly in the way Roessner portrays it. I think it's because there are specific areas of the house that some of its inhabitants are incapable of penetrating. Also, the way the house functions like a city is interesting too. It is remarkably self-contained. I could speak about that house in pages, and the fact that I am still revisiting it years later proves that it was one part of the book that was working particularly well.

I found the plot to be riveting. It's been years since I've read this book and I still find myself thinking about it once in awhile. The characters are well developed but I didn't care for the ending.

This book has a really cool premise and was carried out fairly well but I felt the ending was unsatisfying. This is one of those books where the characters and the setting are much more interesting than the plot. Still I'd recommend it as a good weekend read. But try to find it in a used bookstore before you buy it here.

A perfectly captivating premise is completely overshadowed by writing that could have come from a Danielle Steel boilerplate. From the very beginning of the novel, triteness abounds: descriptions of the heroine's "streaked, bronze-colored hair" are almost as annoying as her tendency to lean dreamily over railings or against oak trees and bask "for long moments". Throw in three paragraphs about her musings on what to wear, and it's clear that the interesting plot elements will be illuminated by her cutesy banter. ("Renzie groaned. 'Great. He'll be barrels of fun to work with later.")
The story is further hindered by long, dull, detailed descriptions of elements that could have been interesting. Furthermore, I think we've all had enough of enigmatic supporting characters that "uncoil" themselves to "stalk" across rooms.
If you are interested in reading Stephen King's The Stand as told through the eyes of sorority house denizens, you'll dig this book!

The book is very captivating and full of vivid images of people and places. A book that you will surely read for start to finish!