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The initial revealing of main character's dilemma is nicely handled, and a good balance of suspense and ...
on January 30, 2017
This is well written thriller and a fast read. It also offers a thoughtful and imaginative treatment of the potential implications of the core sci-fi phenomenon that drives its storyline. The initial revealing of main character's dilemma is nicely handled, and a good balance of suspense and action is maintained throughout. Yet the underlying theme of the book deals with the consequences of life choices and the significance of balancing personal goals with personal relationships. Characters are believable (with a couple of incidental exceptions) and empathetic. There are a couple of soft spots in the plot line along the way, and I felt the resolution of the final conflict (and there are many conflicts along the way) was slightly less plausible than other parts of the book. That said, these defects are minor in comparison to the overall effectiveness of the book and did not detract from the enjoyment it provided.
on December 28, 2016
"The mere attempt feels like drowning ten feet from shore. There are pieces of memory lying on the beach , and I can see them, I can almost touch them, but my lungs are filled up with water. I can't keep my head above the surface. The more I strain to assemble the pieces, the more energy I expend, the more I flail, the more I panic."
The sci-fi novel starts with a great pace, building up the suspense quotient that reaches its peak when Jason, the protagonist returns home after being kidnapped to find his wife and son missing. The author does his best to keep his reader's eyes, brain and heart afixed on the book in the first half of the novel where Jason is trying to figure out what happened to him in the near past and how can he get back to his wife and son.
On the science part, although the author does his best in explaining in layman terms, it does take some amount of concentration and sometimes re-read to understand certain concepts of quantum physics and how the story revolves around these principles.
The book does have it's weak points like for one, the story telling becomes mundane in the latter half especially with repetition creeping in. Two, you can find the very old cliché, the usual movie style where one overcomes the challenge successfully when that is the last chance available - the ultimate do or die situation.
Nevertheless, the climax of the story is cleverly written and I liked the open ending it had. Maybe there will be a sequel for this. Maybe not. But this is a book worth reading for its excellent story writing in the first half, and to see how the principle of Schrodinger cat (quantum mechanics) forms the crux of the story.
The sci-fi novel starts with a great pace, building up the suspense quotient that reaches its peak when Jason, the protagonist returns home after being kidnapped to find his wife and son missing. The author does his best to keep his reader's eyes, brain and heart afixed on the book in the first half of the novel where Jason is trying to figure out what happened to him in the near past and how can he get back to his wife and son.
On the science part, although the author does his best in explaining in layman terms, it does take some amount of concentration and sometimes re-read to understand certain concepts of quantum physics and how the story revolves around these principles.
The book does have it's weak points like for one, the story telling becomes mundane in the latter half especially with repetition creeping in. Two, you can find the very old cliché, the usual movie style where one overcomes the challenge successfully when that is the last chance available - the ultimate do or die situation.
Nevertheless, the climax of the story is cleverly written and I liked the open ending it had. Maybe there will be a sequel for this. Maybe not. But this is a book worth reading for its excellent story writing in the first half, and to see how the principle of Schrodinger cat (quantum mechanics) forms the crux of the story.
on May 7, 2017
I liked the creativity of the book, but it fails to take the logic of the multiverse to a place that makes sense. There's no reason the basis of the drama in the story needs to be there - this is a bit of a spoiler, but each version of the scientist could have entered his world at a different time with a slight variation and lived happily ever after. The violence and drama didn't really need to happen. Still, once you get past that it's in any event an engaging story.
on April 3, 2017
This was listed in an 'unputdownable' blog & i loved BC's Wayward Pines series, so I bought it. Dark Matter is smart, mind-bendy material and a quick read (author uses lots of one sentence, even one-word paragraphs to build tension & increase speed) but it lost me a few times & i felt it was stretching to bring things around to the ending-- ie, seemed improbable that MC would ever get 'back' given the requirements to do so & Dani didn't seem all that great to me, ie, to inspire such devotion. Storyline w/Amanda also ended too abruptly for my taste.
on August 10, 2016
Here's a thing I learned within the first twenty pages of Dark Matter: you can't stop reading this book.
The pace of the thing, the way the narrative moves, is relentless. You don't want to leave the story for one minute for fear of missing something. The writing is sharp and clear and visceral. It's fantastic. And it's full. Of sentence fragments.
Maybe the plot is propped up on a flimsy framework of Quantum Physics for Dummies and some Multiverse quasi-science. I don't know. I'm not a theoretical physicist. But this isn't really a story about putting macroscopic objects into quantum superposition. It's a story about love, about family, and about fighting your way literally to the ends of the universe to get back to the people who mean the most to you -- the people who make you ... you.
I picked up Dark Matter after reading an A.V. Club review that described it as "a modern-day It's A Wonderful Life". Even though Frank Capra would roll in his grave at the idea of putting George Bailey through the kind of harrowing existential crisis Jason Dessen endures, I think that comparison speaks to the heart of the story.
This is a story about facing yourself and the decisions you've made to become the person you are. And it's about appreciating a life you may be taking for granted.
As a husband and a father, this hit me straight in the feels like no book I've ever read. And it has stuck there.
There's no way to summarize Dark Matter without selling it short or giving away its secrets. It's too good for a synopsis. So just read it. You don't want to end up in a timeline where you had the chance to read this book and you didn't.
The pace of the thing, the way the narrative moves, is relentless. You don't want to leave the story for one minute for fear of missing something. The writing is sharp and clear and visceral. It's fantastic. And it's full. Of sentence fragments.
Maybe the plot is propped up on a flimsy framework of Quantum Physics for Dummies and some Multiverse quasi-science. I don't know. I'm not a theoretical physicist. But this isn't really a story about putting macroscopic objects into quantum superposition. It's a story about love, about family, and about fighting your way literally to the ends of the universe to get back to the people who mean the most to you -- the people who make you ... you.
I picked up Dark Matter after reading an A.V. Club review that described it as "a modern-day It's A Wonderful Life". Even though Frank Capra would roll in his grave at the idea of putting George Bailey through the kind of harrowing existential crisis Jason Dessen endures, I think that comparison speaks to the heart of the story.
This is a story about facing yourself and the decisions you've made to become the person you are. And it's about appreciating a life you may be taking for granted.
As a husband and a father, this hit me straight in the feels like no book I've ever read. And it has stuck there.
There's no way to summarize Dark Matter without selling it short or giving away its secrets. It's too good for a synopsis. So just read it. You don't want to end up in a timeline where you had the chance to read this book and you didn't.
on August 21, 2016
I was very skeptical about this book at first since its not my usual choice. Dark Matter is about a man named Jason with a wife and kid. He is a scientist/teacher who gave up research and discovery for his life and family. One night he goes out and gets kidnapped, taken to an abandoned place and shot up with some kind of drug. When he wakes up, he's in a completely different place with people who seem to know him but he doesn't know anything about them. Without giving away spoilers ill leave it by saying this book is mainly about alternate realities.
There are so many twists and turns in this book that you start to lose track of which way you're going! In a good way of course. Dark Matter was very well thought out and Blake Crouch is such an amazing writer. It's thought provoking, mind boggling and a page Turner you won't want to put down.
As much as I've raved about this book, you're probably thinking "why didn't she give it a 5 star review?!". Ill just say that this book was great but not really my forte. It's an amazing read if you're into science, alternate realities, thought provoking thriller books that are fast paced. But it never fully caught my attention to the point where I needed to finish it and finish it now. Not until the very end at least. I highly recommend this book if you are into the things I mentioned above! You will absolutely love it! But as much as I liked it, it's time for me to find my own need to finish, can't put it down, page turner.
There are so many twists and turns in this book that you start to lose track of which way you're going! In a good way of course. Dark Matter was very well thought out and Blake Crouch is such an amazing writer. It's thought provoking, mind boggling and a page Turner you won't want to put down.
As much as I've raved about this book, you're probably thinking "why didn't she give it a 5 star review?!". Ill just say that this book was great but not really my forte. It's an amazing read if you're into science, alternate realities, thought provoking thriller books that are fast paced. But it never fully caught my attention to the point where I needed to finish it and finish it now. Not until the very end at least. I highly recommend this book if you are into the things I mentioned above! You will absolutely love it! But as much as I liked it, it's time for me to find my own need to finish, can't put it down, page turner.
on August 10, 2016
Wow! What a journey! Mind bending, suspenseful, surprisingly romantic...a good read from start to finish. Can't praise this book enough. Never read anything like it, and I read a LOT of books! A blend of cutting-edge science, science fiction, suspense and romance. It starts out kind of slow, leaving the reader as confused as the protagonist. But as "Jason" begins to figure everything out, the book becomes terrifying and a "can't put it down" kind of read. It also makes you examine your own life, and the roads not taken. Toward the conclusion, which is amazingly suspenseful, it also becomes kind of a romance novel. Actually, the whole book is a romance, between Jason and his love for his wife and child, and his desperate journey to get back to the ones he loves. Few books make me cry (I'm a MAN for god's sake!), but this one sure did. I cried like a little girl for the last 50 pages. And it felt good to do so. Not sure I was crying for the characters or myself, because this book makes you examine your own life in ways one doesn't often want to ponder. I have a feeling this book, and the premise, will stay with me for a long time, making me think of my life and the branch points along it in those quiet times with your head on the pillow, just before sleep. First book by Blake Crouch I have ever read. Now I'm a devoted fan, want to read everything he has ever written.
on August 29, 2016
I've described this book to others as "a trip," although in the best sense of the phrase. Writing any sort of comprehensive review without giving away too many details of the book won't be possible.
So, to be more vague, a man uncovers the secret of traveling among parallel universes. Of course, this knowledge is put to sinister use. It's not sinister in a "destroy the world" kind of way, just in a "destroy a man's life" kind of way. Once done, that man must seek to get back to the life he left and the one he wants more than anything. There's a significant twist in there, but one will have to read the book to understand it.
I could not put the book down. I'm not a scientist by any means, but I even found some of the more scientific passages riveting. I would probably give it a 4.5 if I could, only because there are bits in the middle during the "exploration" stage of things that dragged just a bit. Our primary protagonist...for lack of a better description...is aided by a woman, and I would also have liked to known for sure what came of her once she leaves the story. One can guess, though.
There's mind-blowing twist toward the end that I never saw coming. In short, I've been recommending this book to everyone. It's a trip well worth taking!
So, to be more vague, a man uncovers the secret of traveling among parallel universes. Of course, this knowledge is put to sinister use. It's not sinister in a "destroy the world" kind of way, just in a "destroy a man's life" kind of way. Once done, that man must seek to get back to the life he left and the one he wants more than anything. There's a significant twist in there, but one will have to read the book to understand it.
I could not put the book down. I'm not a scientist by any means, but I even found some of the more scientific passages riveting. I would probably give it a 4.5 if I could, only because there are bits in the middle during the "exploration" stage of things that dragged just a bit. Our primary protagonist...for lack of a better description...is aided by a woman, and I would also have liked to known for sure what came of her once she leaves the story. One can guess, though.
There's mind-blowing twist toward the end that I never saw coming. In short, I've been recommending this book to everyone. It's a trip well worth taking!
on October 5, 2016
Disclaimer- Its very difficult to describe anything about this novel without giving away major plot lines. So I wont. Its safe to read on.
Just let me say this....Its the most intriguing, page-turning, wish it wouldn't end, mind twisting novel that I have read in the past 15 years. Twenty pages from the end you still wont have a clue as to what will happen. The last novel that has an even remotely similar vibe is my all time favorite novel, Replay, by Ken Grimwood, written 25 years ago . I read that novel three times, and I NEVER reread novels.
The story will twist your brain into a knot, yet it still "makes sense". The characters are all believable, as is the action, no "give me a break" factor. there is a believable love story angle as well. I have an interest in modern physics, but no more than a typical "cocktail party" level. I had no problem with the theories in this novel, which were laid out on a very understandable level. The novel centers around superposition, and alternative universe theory. Sounds confusing, but trust me, this novel is not.
If you are a fan of Time travel or alternative universe, this novel is for you.
Highly, highly recommended.
Just let me say this....Its the most intriguing, page-turning, wish it wouldn't end, mind twisting novel that I have read in the past 15 years. Twenty pages from the end you still wont have a clue as to what will happen. The last novel that has an even remotely similar vibe is my all time favorite novel, Replay, by Ken Grimwood, written 25 years ago . I read that novel three times, and I NEVER reread novels.
The story will twist your brain into a knot, yet it still "makes sense". The characters are all believable, as is the action, no "give me a break" factor. there is a believable love story angle as well. I have an interest in modern physics, but no more than a typical "cocktail party" level. I had no problem with the theories in this novel, which were laid out on a very understandable level. The novel centers around superposition, and alternative universe theory. Sounds confusing, but trust me, this novel is not.
If you are a fan of Time travel or alternative universe, this novel is for you.
Highly, highly recommended.
