Ransom Stephens

1. This is not religious fiction, but there's definitely religion in it.
2. This is not anti-religious fiction, but there's definitely atheism in it.
3. This is not science fiction, but there's definitely science in it.
4. This is not really a thriller.
5. This is not really literary fiction.

I'm not sure what it is, but the narrative voice is engaging, the story is compelling, and the plot and its premises are interesting. I read more than half of it in one sitting; that's how I finished the book. It is, in short, quite good. I sometimes read bad reviews to help me decide whether to read something, and sometimes after I read it to see if I get a reality check about something I enjoyed. I've read some negative reviews of The God Patent, but nothing that I found particularly accurate or insightful, so I was neither dissuaded from reading it nor dissuaded from my high opinion of it.

I went into this very quirky concept for a novel without high expectations, but it seemed weird enough to tickle my curiosity -- and I'm glad I read it. It exceeded all expectations. The end is not very substantive, in some ways, but it satisfied me quite well, but it really ripped the masks off of all the major characters and gave great insights into their psyches (for one of them, in absentia). Dodge became one of my favorite characters during the final chapters as the author shone a light into his black little soul, and he turned out to be an excellent demonstration of my definition of a cynic: an idealist who has learned from life experience.

That ending can really give a you something to think about, too, if you're into that sort of thing.… (mehr)

This book is so very unbelievable that I could not even make it to the 50 page mark. The thing that derailed me the most was how a group of broke, wannabe eco-hippie PhDs could attach sophisticated audio/video recording equipment to birds and polar bears (without affecting the animals), build an immersive & technologically sophisticated VR room, and create such sophisticated VR goggles - and none of this is their crowning acheivement??! (Yes, I used "sophisticated" three times in a row to point out how absurd this all is!) Very, very, very implausible!!… (mehr)