Blasphemy by Douglas Preston Summary and Reviews
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Book Reviews of Blasphemy
Book Review: Disappointing Effort
Summary: 3 Stars
I guess my main problem for this book would be that I just really didn't care. I'm not saying that the topic is lame or that the book is really bad but the author just didn't really develop the character or plot in a way that really made me care for either. I didn't really feel any attachment or concern for any of the characters and never really got to know them. The author has the ability to give the characters depth with some of their back stories but he just never really goes that deep into it and just sort of glosses over it and their past actions barely seem to drive them much in the present.
There are some other plot points throughout that were either not needed or some that I just thought to myself "there's no way that would happen." (Some Minor Spoilers) I mean seriously thousands of people amass in the middle of nowhere in Arizona because of a mass e-mail that went out only two hours prior. I mean come on, there's no way that many people probably even lived that close to the place and then all of a sudden there they were.
One last complaint. This book really wasn't going anywhere for about the first two-hundred pages or so. You get kind of the gist of the plot but you never really see the conflict till way in so there is no real anticipation to read further and with the really short chapter through the whole thing it was really easy for me to just say that was enough for now and put the book down.
I will say that I was a fan of Preston's last two solo works but this just seemed to fan flat and turn out to be a mediocre book at best. He is a good writer and does have some good ideas but this book just seemed rushed and he didn't let the characters and plot flesh themselves out better before he wrote and finished the book. Could of been better with some more time and a little bit more depth.
Book Review: Disappointing To Say The Least
Summary: 1 Stars
Well, this was a bust for sure. I gave up reading on page 112 or so. The premise of this story has been done to death already and I'm not sure what Preston had to prove by writing this account. Crazy, dysfunctional scientists and corrupt preachers all at odds with the government. Been there, done that. Don't waste your money.
Book Review: Don't bother thinking too much, just enjoy
Summary: 3 Stars
I've never read anything by Douglas Preston, but as a fan of "Angels and Demons" I was drawn to the science vs. religion theme. "Blasphemy" is a success under the condition that you throw expectations of a realistic, thought-provoking story out the window and instead go along with Preston for the ride.
Right around the time Pastor Eddy sends out an e-mail that circulates around the world and inspires a murderous mob to a remote corner of Arizona in mere hours is when you can shut your brain off in confidence that you won't wind up missing anything. Most will have done so before then -- perhaps at the idea that a $40 billion particle accelerator built underground and across multiple state lines would ever advance farther than a Washington D.C. drawing board.
But it is certainly a page-turner, and if you don't think about the stereotyped characters and the plot leaps too much, you'll enjoy it. If you judge it against reality, you'll want to file it away for good about a third of the way through.
Book Review: Douglas Preston does it again!
Summary: 5 Stars
I was introduced to Douglas Preston's books with his Agent Pendergast series (Relic, et al.) and really enjoy how he introduces some "other-natural" aspect into his stories that grabs one's attention and moves the story along.
He does that again here, this time with a high energy accelerator whose controlling computer starts talking to them when its energy level approaches 100% and the generation of a central micro-black hole starts to manifest, suggesting a doorway has been opened to another place in time and space.
This is a thoroughly entertaining read, incorporating the ongoing theme of people using religious beliefs to further their own respective agendas. In typical Preston style, the characters have depth and believability that naturally leads to their behavior, causing you to care about what happens to them.
Highly recommended.
Book Review: Douglas Preston should stick with Lincoln Childs
Summary: 3 Stars
Preston and Childs have a long run of successful novels, and I've enjoyed them all. But, somehow, when either one writes solo, they don't quite make the grade. In Preston's latest foray, a supercollider may be God. But the cardboard characters distracted me so much that the intended message seemed totally irrelevant. This is the kind of book that you can read without paying much attention, and it is almost immediately forgettable. It's a shame, because the concept is interesting, and I think that the Preston/Childs team could have made something of it.