What do You think about The Traveler (2006)?
6/26/08I'm still deciding if I can finish this book. Its pure summer fluff, but it is sooo bad I almost can keep reading . . .6/27/08I can't take it any more -- there are so many other good books, sci-fi or not, that I could be reading. I just can't waste my time on this crap. It's a bit of the Matrix, a bit of Highlander, with a lot of John Woo thrown in for good measure. This book has every cliche known to man (or rahter, known to 12 year old fan-boys) tossed together into one badly written mess -- the reluctant warrior who tried to walk away, drawn back in by destiny and the death of her father; the paranoid drop-out from society, who rides fast motorcycles and has the feeling that some "vast machine" is out to get him; hardened agents of said "vast machine," who have military cropped hair and narrow black ties. There's the aloof british character, the honor-bound japanese character, the money-seeking American character. There's a former general, a brilliant scientist who doens't know he is being manipulated by an Illuminati like organization, and a dying mother's death-bed confession. Everyone who keeps talking about how "cool" the premise is must have never read a single paranoid-dystopian novel before. There's some vast, logical-yet-evil organizaiton seeking to make the world "perfect" by controling everyone's lives, watching us at all times, and destroying the forces of chaos that seek to oppose it. Hello 1984/Matrix/every Philip K. Dick novel ever written. Insult to injury is the fact that the writing is, at best servicable, at worst wooden and just as cliched as the concept behind it. Far too much time is spent on descriptions of weapons, black-leather clothing and vehicles, all of which sound like they were copied word-for-word from some Shadowrunner source-book. This is basically an above average work of fan-fic or a decent RPG campaign bound in novel form and hyped up by the laughable gimic of an "unknown author" who has never been photographed and only communicates with Random House via untracable satalite phone. Apparently, Dick Cheney has spent his time in that undisclosed location writing a bad sci-fi novel.I might, just possibly, have laughed my way through it had not I then realized it was part one of a TRILLOGY. 463 pages of crap is one thing, but 1200 some? Moving on . . .
—Chris
I hate to sound clichéd, but usually, when I look at the cover art of a book, I can guess if I will enjoy it or not. I am aware of the saying about judging a book by its cover, but honestly, people are paid good money to make sure that those covers appeal to readers that will enjoy the book. I saw this cover, and it looked cool. I figured that it was probably a cool book inside that cover. I was wrong.I had two problems with the book. First, I found the book kind of unbalanced. There seemed to have been a lot more research into the spiritual aspects of the book than there was into the scientific aspects. The attitudes of the scientists were annoyingly hubristic, without any sort of complexity to make them actually believable. The science that was used was often believable, but not convincing. In some cases it wasn't even believable. At one point there is a description of a quantum computer as a glowing fishtank full of green goo. This caused me to, quite literally, laugh out loud. These constant scientific errors tended to interfere with my reading experience.The other problem that I had was that I did not enjoy the writing style of the book. It was a very simple style, but not simple and elegant (like Kurt Vonnegut, for example). Instead, the simplicity struck me as heavy-handedness. Other readers may disagree, but I felt a constant background irritation at the language used. Overall, between the lack of science and the simple tone, this book struck me as more of a young adult book. YA books can be a lot of fun, if they have a compelling storyline. However, this story line was not especially impressive, so I didn't like the book that much.
—Leif Anderson
A review I did for the Rocky Mtn News• Plot in a nutshell: A secret society known as the Tabula aims to control mankind using the invisible technology surrounding the modern world - "the grid." In the past, the Tabula has attempted to eradicate Travelers (those who can travel to other dimensions a la Matrix-style out of body experiences) because of their threat to the grid's goals. But they now believe that Travelers, almost extinct, can help them reach the next step of evolutionary and technological advances, and, thus, they must find the last two Travelers and bring them in.Meanwhile, a group known as the Harlequins are the protectors of the Travelers. Maya, who previously renounced her role as a Harlequin, is trying to live a normal life when her father summons her to Prague, and instructs her to leave her life in London and find the brothers who are now in grave danger and must be saved in order to save society.When a man hunting the brothers for the Tabula follows Maya to the United States, all hell breaks loose.• Sample of prose: "Vicki decided to make a fruit salad while Hollis fried grilled-cheese sandwiches. She liked standing at the counter and slicing up the strawberries. It was uncomfortable to sit next to Maya. The Harlequin looked exhausted, but she couldn't seem to relax. Vicki thought that it would be painful to go through life always being ready to kill, always expecting to be attacked . . . 'You told me a few things about Travelers when we were in the van,' Gabriel said to Maya. 'But what about the rest of it? Tell me about the Harlequins.' Maya adjusted the cord on her sword's carrying case. 'Harlequins protect Travelers. That's all you need to know.'"• Author reminds me of: George Orwell meets The Matrix meets Minority Report meets Dean Koontz.• Best reason to read: In the same wondrous way Audrey Niffenegger (The Time Traveler's Wife) allows readers to suspend disbelief and become fully engrossed in a fantastical novel, Hawks accomplishes the total immersion of his reader. His debut is a fast-paced, exciting thriller, postulating the potential of living in a high-tech age, where government, business and anyone else with enough of an interest can control your destiny and everyday life. Full of action, suspense, intriguing characters and numerous plot twists, this book will grip even those who don't enjoy fantasy or speculative fiction.Justin Matott
—Justin Matott
