skybridge

babewiththepower.bsky.social · @babewiththepower.bsky.social@bridge.neodb.net

Rated Absence 8/10

I don't remember how I learned about this book, but I thought the premise was intriguing and immediately put it on my TBR list.<br/><br/>There's sometimes/often? a split between people who like to refer to stories as scifi and those who like to call the genre speculative fiction. I think to the general public sci-fi always brings to mind flashy technology and, for lack of a better term, a lot of "pew pew!" Sometimes what the plot may be speculating about our current condition, wrapped among all the pew!pew!, can be lost because of the flash. At some point while reading this book, Rod Serling-type "The Twilight Zone" came to mind. It's definitely sci-fi, but without all the flash of, let's say, 1970s+ sci-fi.<br/><br/>If you pick up this book looking for aliens and pat answers, you're going to be disappointed. It's definitely a more philosophical look at American culture and society under alienating circumstances with the remove of some sci-fi unknown cause which creates the hypothetical circumstances through which it can be viewed. I can't say I care for the final conclusion the main character closes the novel, but that's entirely the point. I easily see how the author extrapolated recent behavior into this novel. In a way, that's both tragic and sad.<br/><br/>Read this book for the what-if of what our society is like and where it's going riding on the idea of what Life Comes Next.

#book

Published 2026-08-18 17:58 UTC · bridged from Atmosphere