As I started reading this book I was extremely
confused. The initial writing style is
uniquely jumbled and somewhat difficult to follow. However, I believe that this is somewhat
intentional based on the first concept initiated within the story—everything happens
all at once. Time is not linear, but
expansive. Once I understood that this
was one of the major messages being shared within the book (note, I do not
believe that sharing this will be giving a spoiler as it’s pretty clear within
the first 25 pages) the strange manner in which the story, itself, as written,
makes perfect sense.
Although I do not predict this story will become a
mainstream success, it will definitely appear to a certain subset who have an
interest in discussing the possibilities of linear time and alien interaction
with what Sally Ember has labeled as “Earthers”.
The concepts that the author discusses certainly align with
some of my own beliefs and, perhaps, this is what kept me turning the page to
see the direction in which the story would lead. By page 36, I was glad that I did. It was around this time that I started to
enjoy the spin the author put on past events, giving them flavor that played
well into her vision of the purposes of past alien encounters.
I will say that what I enjoyed the most about the book was
the main character’s interaction with both “The Band” and her fellow
humans. The interactions gave ground to
the underlying plot, taking it from something akin to a research paper and back
to the world of storytelling. I especially
liked the fact that not all of her family is receptive to the sudden
announcement of the other world visitors and her realization that, perhaps, she’d
best prepare some of these people for the publication of her visits to the
world at large.
Because I did have some problems following the timeline off
and on throughout the book, I’m unable to give it a solid five star
rating. However, I will say that very
rarely do I finish a 248 page novel in the course of two days and that, even
more importantly, I’m curious to see where the author takes this series in the
next installment. This speaks volumes as
to Ms. Ember’s writing skills and ability to keep her readers interested in her
content. As such, on an Amazon rating
scale, I rage This Changes Everything as worthy of four stars.
This Changes Everything (The Spanners Series) can be picked up on Amazon.com at the following link:
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