I knew nothing of James Downey when I downloaded this book and now that I've finished it I can't believe this was his first book! Mr. Downey has a brilliant sci-fi/fantasy career ahead of him. I doubt my review will be read as there are 70 ahead of me, but in the event someone does read this :>) here goes:
I enjoyed this book from start to finish. It was my "recovering from Christmas insanity this weekend" selection on my kindle and it was just perfect for the purpose! I started Saturday and read until I was bleary eyed and finished Sunday.
What I loved most about this book was it's novel plot and unusual technologies. It's hard for an old sci-fi/fantasy buff to find anything truly novel any more. Good books, yes; but novel, no.
I loved the AI "experts" and how they were developed, utilized and the unexpected turn of events involving Seth at the end of the book.
I loved the sweet spirited little clone and her place in the narrative and that the author knew how important an artist would be in the scheme of his story and created an engaging and quirky one with a terrific addiction (another unusual feature of this story).
I loved the diversity of personalities of the primary cast of characters and felt like I knew them and wanted to be part of their experience as soon as we left earth.
I loved the author's creativity in how he created the apocalypse and how he worked the extreme right and left of this country into a melded group of crazies that were believable in their fanaticism.
I very much loved the weaving of deep lines of spirituality throughout the story and how integral it was to the story from beginning to end. Unlike several books I've read that attempted this, Communion of Dreams actually succeeds in making you WONDER! Mr. Downey's writing definitely favors Clarke and evokes the same beautiful but disturbing feelings found in 2001: A Space Odyssey.
The pacing of the story wound up being quite good in spite of some early slogging through what wound up being unnecessary time spent on explaining post-apocalyptic family structures and bureaucratic activities. I also wish he had made the "bad guy" less obvious (as in knew who it was from the sentence where he was introduced). There were several characters that could have played the protagonist well and been a genuine surprise. Another item that would likely help get this book moving is a different cover. I understand the imagery now that I've read the book, but definitely think it will keep hard-core sci-fi fans from buying a copy (and people do judge books by their covers).
Lastly, I've read at least 10 books this month that were part of a "series" and really left me frustrated and/or angry because the book didn't have any kind of true ending/resolution--just left you hanging until next book written (and paid for). Communion of Dreams was written in such a way that it could stand on its own; but certainly left this reader ready and waiting for the next book in line: St. Cybi's Well.
Congrats, Mr. Downey, on a terrific first book and on being the kind of person that believes in promoting "collective lyric fantasy." The world needs more of you!
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Top reviews from other countries
- The Barefoot BearReviewed in the United Kingdom on May 25, 2019
Not what I expected - much better!
