A review by thisbookbelongstosk
Light from Other Stars by Erika Swyler
4.0
**Thanks to Netgalley and Bloomsbury Publishing for the advanced copy of Light From Other Stars in exchange for an honest review.**
This book is fascinating, shocking and still very much grounded in the real world, making it an incredible science fiction novel that doesn't even need to leave earth.
Although, it does inevitably take the reader into space by using 2 timelines as a narrative device, I found the most intriguing story developments happened on earth in the 1980s.
We are introduced to a few characters in the small Floridian town of Easter (near Cape Canaveral and NASA), but are mostly viewing the story through the eyes of Nedda, her mother Betheen, and father (disgraced NASA scientist) Theo.
Theo invents a machine that is intended to fight entropy, but instead wreaks havoc on the town of Easter and it's residents. As the book progresses, I found myself struggling to accept or respect what Theo had done, but the author does a wonderful job of challenging the reader to see all sides of the characters' circumstances.
Some of the descriptions of the "event" that the author provides are beautifully written in all their horror.
I really liked this book. At times it felt like I was reading scientific nonsense, and there's obviously a certain suspension of disbelief that needs to exist in the reader to not overanalyze the math or science involved, but the story as it unfolded, had me glued to the page.
This book is fascinating, shocking and still very much grounded in the real world, making it an incredible science fiction novel that doesn't even need to leave earth.
Although, it does inevitably take the reader into space by using 2 timelines as a narrative device, I found the most intriguing story developments happened on earth in the 1980s.
We are introduced to a few characters in the small Floridian town of Easter (near Cape Canaveral and NASA), but are mostly viewing the story through the eyes of Nedda, her mother Betheen, and father (disgraced NASA scientist) Theo.
Theo invents a machine that is intended to fight entropy, but instead wreaks havoc on the town of Easter and it's residents. As the book progresses, I found myself struggling to accept or respect what Theo had done, but the author does a wonderful job of challenging the reader to see all sides of the characters' circumstances.
Some of the descriptions of the "event" that the author provides are beautifully written in all their horror.
I really liked this book. At times it felt like I was reading scientific nonsense, and there's obviously a certain suspension of disbelief that needs to exist in the reader to not overanalyze the math or science involved, but the story as it unfolded, had me glued to the page.