Recursion
Ratings796
Average rating4.2
Great concept, generic execution. It simply wasn't for me. It's a good book, I can recommend it to science fiction lovers.
What an insane roller coaster. I've owned this book for years and had I known that within its pages was this magnificent a speculative sci-fi thriller, I'd have read it sooner.
This book read look a movie, or TV show, which I imagine it would make a killer one, because I could see the scenes in my head playing out in the most magnificent of set pieces. The catastrophes, the glitch like loop instances. I'm enamored with this and only hope that I get a chance to read another like it soon.
Writing something comparable to Dark Matter seemed like a difficult mission, but Blake Crouch has succeeded. I am very impressed with his work and, at this point, willing to read everything he writes.
Recursion was original and captivated me from the beginning to the end.
I abosulutely recommend!
I read Crouch's previous book Dark Matter and ripped through it. The way he writes and the concepts he plays with in his books are so well executed. I then picked up this book from my local library and was so happy to have ready it. A fantastic book just as good as Dark Matter, I highly recommend, especially if you enjoy mind-bending concepts.
The Science Fiction part of this story is completely unbelievable. However, suspend your disbelief because it's a well written story.
What a wonderful story about memories!
A thriller that was hard to put down.
This should be a TV series.
Absolute perfection. I want to read 100 more books just like this. Exactly what I was looking for in a “between Christmas and New Years” novel.
Exciting story, great characters, the tension is maintained from the first to the last page.
After reading Crouch's “Dark Matter”, “Recursion” has a very similar feel to it. It explores what could happen if someone had access to reality altering equipment. It pulls the reader through a story full of extreme love and loss. It confronts them with the reality that life is full of suffering and desperation, but also of extreme joy and fulfillment, and it asks them to accept this fully.
As with “Dark Matter”, I found it hard to put this book down. I am a huge sci fi fan, but I would say that you don't have to be to enjoy this book. Crouch is very good explaining very complex science in layman's terms.
Absolutely amazing story! Not my usual type of read but it reeled me in within pages. Didn't expect to cry so much towards the end.
Only reason for not giving 5 stars is the groundhogs day finale that felt never ending. I get the point and you really feel like you're the characters but that trope gives me extreme anxiety.
“He has wondered lately if that's all living really is—one long goodbye to those we love”
I came into this skeptical. But by the first few pages was convinced otherwise. By the first third of the book I couldn't put this book down - amazing characters and complex topic explorations. Here I am - just hours after finishing the book and still saying to myself, “What the f***?”
Very, very interesting concept but the ending is a huuuuuuuuuuuuge cop out. There's no resolution, no solution to the problem of the novel. Just a ‘what happens next' cliff hanger.
Recursion is brilliant!
I was enthralled, couldn't stop listening to it and several hours after finishing the audiobook I'm still thinking about it. This was amazing!
I'll definitely read more Blake Crouch's books.
This is a screenplay written as a novel. Or, this is what happens when a screenwriter renders his blockbuster idea in prose. Unfortunately what happens is the dialogue is usually wooden and overly-straightforward, without a shred of nuance; any sort of plot exegesis is delivered offhand and matter-of-fact. Scenes occurs at breakneck pace. Settings blur past the camera...you get the idea. Maybe this is normal for the genre: epic (sort-of)-sci-fi thriller? I've never read a Jack Reacher novel before...
Thankfully time travel is not approached with the intent of deliberately confusing the reader. Timelines split, things repeat, but the reader may rest assured that any of these threads can be plausibly abandoned at any time, if the plot so calls for it. Which means you don't have to keep it all in your head as the plot progresses.
It would be chauvinistic to suggest this is bad writing, cinema-as-a-novel, so I won't, but also because it isn't. The plot is extremely fluid and interesting and engaging; the romance and trauma genuinely heartrending. But everything else feels flat, rendered in 2D, without any of the depth I have come to expect from the format. (In all likelihood I am projecting my dissatisfaction, in a way, with the poor quality of modern cinema onto this poor novel. Sorry)
What a delightful read. It's a time travel plot that doesn't immediately unravel itself with shitty paradoxes. It's a nice deep dive on “what if this technology existed,” tackling the question with bigger and bigger scenarios. Strongly recommended.
I don't usually like sci-fi but this had such great ratings I thought I'd try. It held my interest best when I gave up trying to figure out what was going to happen. I thought the ending was perfectly in line with the plot.
TRIGGER WARNINGS FOR THE FOLLOWING:
Child death
Death
Murder
Suicide (mentioned)
Violence
To be brief, I nearly didnt finish this book. I much much prefer Dark Matter.