I know my overcooked brain cells don’t have enough capacity to absorb every complicated, detailed, elaborated scientific facts and fantastic world building which amazed me at least thousand times but I fell so hard what I could understand which is enough for me to enjoy this book!
It truly hugged my inner weirdness and nerdy proportionally!
Since the Martian I was expecting something equally blistering, earth shattering, marvelous from this author! After the disappointment feelings I got from Artemis, I am truly satisfied with my space journey, intriguing mystery and another one man against the universe to save lives theme!
Ryland Grace wakes up from miles away from his home, lying down on a soft bed, surrounded by cameras watching his every move, wearing breathing mask tight on his face, naked, connected to more tubes he may count! And this is not the only weird thing about his situation: he is accompanied by two corpses and as a computer keeps asking what is two plus two.
Did I also mention he didn’t remember anything about himself including his name! And as we discover more about him by catching glimpses from his past, we realize this man is only hope to save the universe and he’s the sole survivor of desperate deep space mission ( you may call it suicide mission) Through the scattered quick flashbacks, we gather more information how he was assigned for this project !
I don’t want to spill more about details which I always do : because the surprise elements and unexpected twists are important to enjoy this journey!
Even though this looks like a long journey, narrated by one man who barely gathers his memories and rediscovers his identity ( so ironic, right, a world’s future depends on a man who tries to redefine who he’s and how he finds his real mission to exist), this book is truly a precious, addictive gem! It is smart, complex, entertaining but in the meantime thrilling, claustrophobic: the dark parts equally balanced the witty, enjoyable parts.
And let me tell you something, I loved to spend my time in Ryland’s mind. He was such a great narrator who has dark and witty sense of humor. You easily engage with him and deeply feel his dilemmas, struggles!
Overall: maybe it’s too early to declare but I feel like this will be my best sci-fi reading of this year!
I’m so thankful to Mimi Chan and fantastic Goodreads team to share this remarkable, one of the best reads of the year with me!
I highly recommend this extra smart, compelling, entertaining, well crafted novel! I’m planning to reread again in near future! At some parts I found it more enjoyable than Martian!