The Obsidian Blade (Klaatu Diskos)
Kicking off a riveting sci-fi trilogy, National Book Award winner Pete Hautman plunges us into a world where time is a tool — and the question is, who will control it?
The first time his father disappeared, Tucker Feye had just turned thirteen. The Reverend Feye simply climbed on the roof to fix a shingle, let out a scream, and vanished — only to walk up the driveway an hour later, looking older and worn, with a strange girl named Lahlia in tow. In the months that followed, Tucker watched his father grow distant and his once loving mother slide into madness. But then both of his parents disappear. Now in the care of his wild Uncle Kosh, Tucker begins to suspect that the disks of shimmering air he keeps seeing — one right on top of the roof — hold the answer to restoring his family. And when he dares to step into one, he’s launched on a time-twisting journey — from a small Midwestern town to a futuristic hospital run by digitally augmented healers, from the death of an ancient prophet to a forest at the end of time. Inevitably, Tucker’s actions alter the past and future, changing his world forever.
The first time his father disappeared, Tucker Feye had just turned thirteen. The Reverend Feye simply climbed on the roof to fix a shingle, let out a scream, and vanished — only to walk up the driveway an hour later, looking older and worn, with a strange girl named Lahlia in tow. In the months that followed, Tucker watched his father grow distant and his once loving mother slide into madness. But then both of his parents disappear. Now in the care of his wild Uncle Kosh, Tucker begins to suspect that the disks of shimmering air he keeps seeing — one right on top of the roof — hold the answer to restoring his family. And when he dares to step into one, he’s launched on a time-twisting journey — from a small Midwestern town to a futuristic hospital run by digitally augmented healers, from the death of an ancient prophet to a forest at the end of time. Inevitably, Tucker’s actions alter the past and future, changing his world forever.
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Community Reviews
This book started off fairly well. However, after the starting event, the plot became boring. Much time passed within the book, but nothing substantial occurred. The part in which Tucker climbs a rope swing must have been intended as exciting, but ends up only confusing. The "choreography", if you will, is muddled in that scene.
His mother takes on odd behaviors and her hair goes grey. For whatever reason, in the book, a doctor describes her new behaviors as "autistic", or "rapid-onset autism-like symptoms." (I don't recall the exact phrasing.) I really didn't expect this subject to be mentioned in a fantasy/soft-sci-fi book. It's unnerving, almost like a fantasy book mentioning a (racist) minstrel show. I wonder if the author has an infatuation with autism, since this isn't the only time it's mentioned in the book. Later on, other characters mention it, and it's talked about almost like a curse of the Digital Plague. (I imagine the view of autism in this book is going to make a lot of people mad.)
Another unexpected subject is belief in God and religion. (specifically, Christian religion.) When his father comes back from the mysterious disk on the top of the house (which is later revealed as some sort of time portal), he says he has lost faith in God. As is later revealed, Medicants---enigmatic people that perform near-miracles through the power of futuristic medical science----removed his religion, thinking it his only medical problem.
Later on, Tucker travels to the ancient past and sees Jesus crucified. (Yes, really.) Jesus himself doesn't play a role in the plot, so this in itself is not a major religious diversion. Nonetheless, it's a unexpected turn. His father (who, though time-travel, is there too as an old man) builds his own religion with Essene priests. (Essenes, by the way, were a real religious group, though a mysterious one.)
Later, his father creates some kind of new anti-technology religion. (or at least, an anti-math and anti-computer religion.) He rants about the evils of technology.
Such a theme can be better executed in a book. I know this because a previous book I read, Patrick Griffin's Last Breakfast on Earth, had a similar theme that was executed much better.
Late in the book, Tucker has an internal discussion about God and his faith in God. He eventually concludes that God is testing his faith, which motivates him to move forward. While the reader knows from the beginning his father is a reverend, I didn't think religion would occur so much in the book.
About three-fourths in, there's an unexpected use of profanity. It's frustrating and stylistically a bizarre choice, considering this book is mostly profanity-free.
If the book were to compress the first hundred pages and drop the excessive references to religion (as well as autism references), it would be better. Despite its failings, I was still able to finish this book. This is more than I can say for other books, such as "Disenchanted: The Trials of Cinderella", which I attempted to read before this. So, despite its flaws, I must admit the author is doing something right in his writing.
His mother takes on odd behaviors and her hair goes grey. For whatever reason, in the book, a doctor describes her new behaviors as "autistic", or "rapid-onset autism-like symptoms." (I don't recall the exact phrasing.) I really didn't expect this subject to be mentioned in a fantasy/soft-sci-fi book. It's unnerving, almost like a fantasy book mentioning a (racist) minstrel show. I wonder if the author has an infatuation with autism, since this isn't the only time it's mentioned in the book. Later on, other characters mention it, and it's talked about almost like a curse of the Digital Plague. (I imagine the view of autism in this book is going to make a lot of people mad.)
Another unexpected subject is belief in God and religion. (specifically, Christian religion.) When his father comes back from the mysterious disk on the top of the house (which is later revealed as some sort of time portal), he says he has lost faith in God. As is later revealed, Medicants---enigmatic people that perform near-miracles through the power of futuristic medical science----removed his religion, thinking it his only medical problem.
Later on, Tucker travels to the ancient past and sees Jesus crucified. (Yes, really.) Jesus himself doesn't play a role in the plot, so this in itself is not a major religious diversion. Nonetheless, it's a unexpected turn. His father (who, though time-travel, is there too as an old man) builds his own religion with Essene priests. (Essenes, by the way, were a real religious group, though a mysterious one.)
Later, his father creates some kind of new anti-technology religion. (or at least, an anti-math and anti-computer religion.) He rants about the evils of technology.
Such a theme can be better executed in a book. I know this because a previous book I read, Patrick Griffin's Last Breakfast on Earth, had a similar theme that was executed much better.
Late in the book, Tucker has an internal discussion about God and his faith in God. He eventually concludes that God is testing his faith, which motivates him to move forward. While the reader knows from the beginning his father is a reverend, I didn't think religion would occur so much in the book.
About three-fourths in, there's an unexpected use of profanity. It's frustrating and stylistically a bizarre choice, considering this book is mostly profanity-free.
If the book were to compress the first hundred pages and drop the excessive references to religion (as well as autism references), it would be better. Despite its failings, I was still able to finish this book. This is more than I can say for other books, such as "Disenchanted: The Trials of Cinderella", which I attempted to read before this. So, despite its flaws, I must admit the author is doing something right in his writing.
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