Take a photo of a barcode or cover
A review by tobin_elliott
Almost Eternity by Ever Hobbes
adventurous
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated
2.5
Well, damn. I was positive I was going to rate this novel higher.
Here's the thing: Yes, the story has issues, but overall, there's a really good novel buried in here. Let me explain.
The big hurdle to get over in this novel, right off the top is that there's now a thing called time bubbles, or localized areas that can be set back in time, which has changed humanity. Running out of fossil fuels? Go back five years when there was some, and grab it. Forever renewable...everything.
If the reader can make that leap, the rest is pretty much gravy.
The story spans a million years, but it's very easy to follow, as we have the same crew throughout, going through five years...200,000 times. Again, I found all of this absolutely fascinating. Loved it.
The biggest issue I have with this novel was the pacing. Specifically things like...
The novel starts, then any forward momentum is immediately halted to fill in the world as it is, the last World War (number three, for those who count), etc. While it's mostly a nice to know (and it does come back around at the end), it's stuff that could have been meted out throughout the novel. It wasn't necessary to know immediately.
Fairly early on in the mission (around the 8,000 year mark), an event occurs that—quite frankly should have the crew freaking out and chasing down answers for the next several thousand years, but it kind of feels like they shrugged and said, oh well, that happened, but it's done now. The story does circle back to it, but not until the last twenty-ish pages of the novel, and honestly, had we had this as a mysterious inserted subplot? I think the tension and mystery of the novel would have been jacked way up, in the best way.
There's also a mystery that's brought up regarding a file, but then it's seemingly dropped and once again forgotten about for tens of millenia.
There's also an interesting development that doesn't occur until late in the novel that could have been explored a little earlier.
Overall, there were chunks that sort of felt like filler (particularly the entire bath thing).
I wanted to love this novel, and believe me, the overall storyline? I do love. I just wish it had been plotted a bit differently. But hey, that's literally one reader's opinion.
Try this book. You may just love it.
Here's the thing: Yes, the story has issues, but overall, there's a really good novel buried in here. Let me explain.
The big hurdle to get over in this novel, right off the top is that there's now a thing called time bubbles, or localized areas that can be set back in time, which has changed humanity. Running out of fossil fuels? Go back five years when there was some, and grab it. Forever renewable...everything.
If the reader can make that leap, the rest is pretty much gravy.
The story spans a million years, but it's very easy to follow, as we have the same crew throughout, going through five years...200,000 times. Again, I found all of this absolutely fascinating. Loved it.
The biggest issue I have with this novel was the pacing. Specifically things like...
The novel starts, then any forward momentum is immediately halted to fill in the world as it is, the last World War (number three, for those who count), etc. While it's mostly a nice to know (and it does come back around at the end), it's stuff that could have been meted out throughout the novel. It wasn't necessary to know immediately.
Fairly early on in the mission (around the 8,000 year mark), an event occurs that—quite frankly should have the crew freaking out and chasing down answers for the next several thousand years, but it kind of feels like they shrugged and said, oh well, that happened, but it's done now. The story does circle back to it, but not until the last twenty-ish pages of the novel, and honestly, had we had this as a mysterious inserted subplot? I think the tension and mystery of the novel would have been jacked way up, in the best way.
There's also a mystery that's brought up regarding a file, but then it's seemingly dropped and once again forgotten about for tens of millenia.
There's also an interesting development that doesn't occur until late in the novel that could have been explored a little earlier.
Overall, there were chunks that sort of felt like filler (particularly the entire bath thing).
I wanted to love this novel, and believe me, the overall storyline? I do love. I just wish it had been plotted a bit differently. But hey, that's literally one reader's opinion.
Try this book. You may just love it.