"We must not only map out, mirror, and induce cognitive patterns; we must do so instantaneously so as to avoid any loss of information, somehow transforming a static mind into a kinetic one."I picked this book up on Amazon last month as I was intrigued by this piece of fiction talking about teleportation. The first thing to know is that there are multiple layers to this story and I found a lot of enjoyment unwrapping through layers as the story progressed. The author spent a lot of time putting in subtle clues that, when reading at first, seems a bit peculiar when it's touched on. When it's finally explained later in the story, it brings a "ah-ha!" type of moment once I, as the reader, put the pieces of the puzzle together.
While there isn't a lot of technology as it relates to IT pros, there is a lot of science that seemed to make sense as it does in fiction. There isn't a spot in the story where I can recall that the explanation of an event comes off as clunky. The reader is allowed time to process the information and think about what is going on. This was a tough book for me to put down because I really wanted to understand what was going on, and in between reading sessions, I was thinking about how to assemble the pieces of the puzzle.
The higher level story is about how Daniel Brand is trying to figure out what happened to his mother, who was a well-respected and sought after psychologist. She disappeared and left to Daniel her legacy of her last work and what probably caused her disappearance. The thing is, the story starts off as a letter to the author of the book, Joshua, explaining his story and quest to find out what happened. As I said, there are layers of narrative at work.
Dr. Kahn's last work was to uncover the results of what was called the Reider's Test. This incident or event (depending on the view point) was a top secret military experiment involving teleportation. Dr. Reider, through the story, discovered how to teleport matter, creatures, oranges and human beings. The Reider Test was the culmination of his research, but everyone who was there to witness what happened disappeared. Dr. Kahn was given the assignment to figure out what exactly happened by following the footsteps of the Reider family, user her psychologist skills to assess the mental states of the family and deduce if what happened during the test was intentional or not, and what actually happened.
There is a lot of science, psychology and conspiracy that happens in the story. At times, it's a lot of information to digest, but it's one, at least for me, that was hard to put down and walk away from. But when I did, I kept thinking about it, trying to put the pieces together and make sense of the incomplete puzzle. At the end, it left me thinking about the moral implications of the story, and it even touched on a lot of the same points as the video game SOMA did. I say that because anyone who understands the current theories of teleportation, you'll understand the philosophical and moral discussions that occur within the book.
I highly recommend anyone who enjoys some science fiction and can take the time to wade through the levels of narrative that this book provides. At the end, I was satisfied with how everything wrapped up and didn't feel cheated with explanations. The only question I have at the end is "who are the Initial 8?"
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