If I am going to be completely honest (and when it comes to book reviews I always try to be), I am more a fan of the fantastical in science fiction (space travel, world building, new races) than I am the fiction based in possible fact.
This book is the latter type of science fiction, so I wasn’t sure what I was going to feel when I read it.
Based in the post-9/11 world of 2002 to 2003, the book is made up of two different groups of people – in the loosest sense of the word. the haves and the have-nots, though in this case, it’s not all about the money (though it has a role to play).
On the one side, we have Ethan and Uma, They are the haves, who will become the have-nots. Then we have Randall Airlines, or at least the family behind the airline, they are the have-nots who are so desperate to become the haves that they will kill many people in order to change their situation.
Underneath all of this is the desirable object. LEAP, a code that makes teleportation possible.
How often have you said ‘if only I could teleport to so and so, I would never have to get stuck in traffic again’? Well, this is the world that these people could live in and Uma and Ethan want to make it a reality – though they want to make it open source in order to help the environment. A worthy reason indeed, but definitely fiction, because as ‘nice’ as it is, that is the sort of technology that you would definitely make money from.
With their code, they can eliminate all carbon-focused travel and prevent further damage from CO2 emissions.
Again, their desire is a noble one, but there will always be someone who wants to make a massive profit from it…
Randall Airlines is going bust, they are being sued for causing environmental damage, their low-cost travel plans are in the toilet and however they found out about LEAP, they are going to get their hands on it.
I cannot deny that the book is well written, and the plot is very well thought out. However, I found the short chapters and the constant change in location to be more than a little bit jarring and I normally love the pithy element of a short chapter. With this I found it didn’t work as well as it could have. There were too many unnecessary breaks between plot points without reason.
Even after I realised that the location changes were highlighted for a reason I found the constant moves a little frustrating. However, more than that, the chapters being broken up in time slots was irritating. It felt as though there was meant to be a reason for this, but I was unable to figure it out and it just didn’t work for me.
Of course, these are all very personal opinions, from someone who has already admitted that the whole ‘science fiction in fact’ thing is not something she enjoys over much.
This is definitely the sort of book for anyone who likes intrigue, this is a different sort of science fiction from the books I am used to reading, but if you like Deception Point by Dan Brown this is a book you would probably enjoy.
