Most helpful customer reviews
|
|
4.0 out of 5 stars
Shift happens, April 27 2008
As if you didn't have enough to worry about in today's world already, consider the fact that the Earth is long overdue for another magnetic shift. When the next shift happens (and recent findings suggest it can happen much more rapidly than previously believed), the fact that South is the new North will be the least of our problems. Mankind may, in fact, be lucky to survive it at all. No one really knows the extent of the problems caused by a magnetic shift, but A. J. Scudiere's take on the possible effects and ramifications makes for fascinating reading. Resonance is an absorbing work of speculative science fiction filled with characters you'll feel as if you've known for years. Scudiere is a wonderful storyteller, so potential readers should not worry about getting bogged down in a lot of technical mumbo-jumbo; Resonance is as reader-friendly a science fiction novel as you're likely to find.
Scudiere can't possibly explore all of the possible ramifications of a magnetic shift, but he does approach the subject from several different angles. As the early warning signs begin to appear, only geologist David Carter, having discovered what he believes to be a hotspot of reverse polarity, suspects that a shift is coming soon. On the biological side of things, Dr. Becky Sorensen discovers a group of frogs sporting four hind legs and orienting themselves in a way that reveals some kind of magnetic anomaly, as well as a species of birds manifesting a radical change in their migratory habits. Jordan Abellard and Jillian Brookwood, a couple of young medical school graduates just hired by the Centers of Disease Control, are at a loss to explain the nature and cause of an unknown illness claiming human lives in several localized areas. Not until these multiple investigations cross paths is the full nature of the problem made clear to all. The big question then becomes what to do, as many people exposed to the hotspots are slipping into comas and dying. Time is a luxury that the scientists and doctors do not enjoy, as the hotspots are spreading more and more rapidly, suggesting that the Shift could happen at any time.
When the Shift actually does take place, it is accompanied by what I consider a pretty dramatic shift in the storyline, as well. It took me by surprise, as it represented quite a break from the realism that had driven the story up to that point to introduce a strong measure of the surreal, thus weakening the overall story to some degree. The writing is just as crisp and riveting as ever, and the interaction between characters is, if anything, even more intense, but I felt as if the underlying science of the novel sort of had the rug pulled out from under it in the concluding chapters.
Despite my slight misgivings over the way the novel ultimately played out, Resonance is still a tremendously enjoyable read that should appeal to science fiction fans of every stripe. I daresay it should also win over many a reader from outside the science fiction genre, as well. Part mystery, part action thriller, and part apocalyptic novel, all built upon a firm foundation of science fiction, Resonance makes for one of the most interesting speculative novels I've read in some time.
|
|
|
|
