The Fold

Good first half. Then ... Nuttiness. Too bad.

Science Fiction/Horror writers can never go wrong writing about time travel, faster-than-the speed-of-light space travel, worm-holes, multi-verses or teleportation, as long as they are able to give a bit of a unique twist or a fresh take on one or more of these subjects. Peter Clines has managed to do just that in this novel which also references subject matter from his other exciting novel “14.” Mike Erikson is a true genius with an eidetic memory that continues to catalog everything he has ever experienced with his five senses his entire life. A friend from DARPA has been trying to get him on special projects without luck for many years, but Mike prefers to live a simpler life as a high school English teacher. Finally his friend is able to persuade Mike to act as a simple observer on the Albuquerque Door project to solve a mystery and find out if it is worth continuing to fund the secretive project. The project's technology appears to be successful in opening a fold or doorway in space and the group behind the project have successfully traversed through the doorway rings and back again several times between the two building sites containing the doorway ring sets. But something feels wrong about the project and the project group keep delaying releasing the technology to DARPA on the grounds that more testing is needed. The project staff see Mike as a spy and the enemy and so he has his work cut out for him acting as an impartial observer and cataloging in his memory everything he observes as testing of the project continues. Things begin to go south when one of the staff is killed in a horrific way during another routine test of the doorway. Mike begins to unravel what the misunderstood nature of the doorway is and the secrets the staff has been keeping from everyone about the technology. It isn't long before the project group starts losing control of the technology and as the body count rises Lovecraftian horror is unleashed and Mike and the remaining staff must race against time to divert a disaster that could literally end life on Earth.

An excellent book in its own right and a great addition to the mythos of the Threshold series. I love the main character, almost the perfect protagonist for me to view this world through.

Executive Summary: After a bit of a slow start and a strong middle, I found the ending a bit unsatisfying. 3.5 stars rounded down.Audiobook: Ray Porter is great. I enjoy him for the Bobbiverse books and I enjoyed him here. He does a variety of voices that made this a definite listen for me.Full ReviewI always struggle with half-star reads. Usually I round up, but in this case I rounded down because of momentum. Had this ended stronger I probably would have rounded up.This book very much starts out a mystery. Scientists have found a way to achieve instantaneous travel through a fold in space. But they aren't willing to announce their findings to the world yet. Why not?I found Mike to be a likeable character and I enjoyed the way his photographic memory was described in the book. My book club was debating whether this makes him a Marty Stu or not. I guess maybe so, but I didn't really care or spend anytime thinking about that during the book.I was mostly curious to learn more about the door and how it worked. Then it happened, and I kind of got, not quite bored, but definitely less interested. If the big reveal is the glue that ties the series together, I'm probably fine stopping with just this one.I haven't read [b:14 15062217 14 (Threshold, #1) Peter Clines https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1338999953l/15062217.SX50.jpg 20716929], so I'm not sure if I would have liked this book more or less if I had. I suspect I'd have a better appreciation for some of the scenes near the end of the book, but otherwise this read pretty well as a stand-alone.

I have to say I have mixed feelings about this book. I really loved the first 2/3rds. I flew through it. I was unprepared for the reality of the last third. It should be clear that I am not off the persuasion that the last third was bad or poorly written. Once I came to terms with the reality, it picked back up for me. The writing has a good place and it flows well. It's fun sci-fi that doesn't try to explain how it works. Similar to Star Trek. I do want to read more of the books from this universe that Clines has written.

3.5 stars. The literary equivalent of a hamburger. Would go well with a long-haul flight.

Well done. Lots of big ideas and surprises.It reminded me slightly of [b:The Gods Themselves 41821 The Gods Themselves Isaac Asimov https://i.gr-assets.com/images/S/compressed.photo.goodreads.com/books/1351076141l/41821.SY75.jpg 1253407].I'm going to read more of his books.

This book was fine, but it had enough of my pet peeves to mean that I didn't end up enjoying it. The writing style is pretty simplistic, there's a few too many elements I need to seriously suspend my disbelief for, and Clines just feels it way too necessary to keep pointing out that his protagonist looks like young Severus Snape. Once is too much. As turn your brain off action sci-fi, it has some fun bits and would probably work well as an episodic series, but as a novel it just wasn't for me.

This is my kind of science fiction book; heavy on the science and a good fiction plot. I found the premise of the science intriguing to consider, and I did throw a mental penalty flag about the last few pages. Come on! An homage? Really?

The concept was excellent. The ending felt rushed or very condensed and confusing. I got things mixed up and it was a tad harder to follow. The universe implied and the continuing story implied is something I'd be interested in if ever continued.

First half was a lot better than the second.

Messing with worm holes
side effects: memory loss,
agonizing death.

Jus the finished and shook my head, started with so much promise. OK so folding a paper in two is has been over used in sci-fi to explain worm holes but I was eager to know where the book would lead me. In the end I was left with a feeling that it didn't truly explore any of the ideas that came up.Granted not every one can be Neal Stephenson but he seemed in a hurry to finish off the book as of on a deadline.

My Amazon review -

http://www.amazon.com/review/R22ZNL6FE1H12R/ref=cm_cr_rdp_perm

This was on track to be one of my favorite books of the year. Unfortunately, the last quarter of the book went off the rails. I found myself quickly skimming passages to make it to the end. Sad, since the first 3/4 of the book was brilliant!

I really enjoyed this book. It was a fun sci-fi read that grabbed me from the instant I started reading it.

Fairly predictable but well-written scientists-gone-wrong tale. Enjoyed it.

Better than average hard science fiction. The beginning is very well written but gets a little loose at the end.

Quite a clever book that I called from the start as to what the ‘door' was. It kept me locked in most of the way but near the end it got a little goofy, hence the three stars. Overall, a solid book with good writing and pretty good characters.

Accessible Science Fiction! That, my friends, is exactly what The Fold delivers. Quite well in fact, if I do say so myself. As a fair-weather reader of Sci Fi, I tend to shy away if things get too technical. I love the ideas that this genre puts forth. Especially because so much of what it offers up is actually plausible! Still, when I can't comprehend some of what I'm reading I tend to loose interest. The Fold walked that beautiful line between facts, and fiction. It gave me characters that I could love and understand. It gave me chilling mystery, and profound moments too. Long story short? This was a great read!

Although I've never known anyone like Mike, with his staggering IQ and eidetic memory, he was so likable that I felt like we were friends. Imagine having a brain like a super computer. Able to recall anything that you've ever seen, heard, or even tasted. What would you do with such a power? If you're Mike, you'd work as a high school English teacher. I won't get into the particulars, since I'd rather you discover them for yourself, but trust me when I say that Mike is one fascinating individual. Watching him slowly unravel all the secrets surrounding the “Albequerque Door” had me riveted. Not two weeks before I read this book, I was reading an article about scientists working with dark matter, and looking at folds in space. After reading this book? Well, I'll simply say that I really hope things don't turn out that way they do in here.

I think what makes this book so accessible, honestly, is that it doesn't just dwell on the scientific aspect of things. The team working on this project feel like real people. We see how they interact with one another, along with their strengths and flaws. Every time it seemed like things might be getting a bit too heavy, something would happen to pull me back. I had such an investment in the characters of this book, such a deep need to see them through, that I couldn't stop reading. I knew what they were doing was dangerous, I just didn't realize how right I was. The twist here is amazing!

My final verdict is a simple one, and that's simply that this book needs a spot on your reading list. While it wasn't perfect, it was a ton of fun to read! It's not often that I power through a Sci Fi book, but this one made it impossible not to. I hope there's a follow up, because I could definitely read more about Mike.

Didn't like this as much as 14 the “side-quel” to The Fold. It was still an interesting book with great sci-fi aspects. I liked Mike but wished “the ants” were mentioned a bit less. I also felt supporting characters could have been a little better but it's a small qualm. I did like the ending few chapters especially. That of course is where everything hits the fan in an exciting way.

If you've ever wanted an episode of Fringe with more contemporary pop-culture references and a more obvious sense of humor – yet with all the mind-bendy science and disturbing images, this just might be the book for you.

Reggie Magnus is in a bind – he's some muckety-muck in DARPA and a secret project he's been funding to develop teleportation has diverged a bit from its original design and started generating unbelievable results. At the same time . . . he knows something's just not right out there at the development facility – he has no idea what's wrong, but he knows something is. What's a guy to do? Well, considering that he's spent billions (yup, with a “b”) on this project, he needs to make sure he delivers something. Thankfully, Reggie's got a genius friend with a few months free to send out to California, see what's going on – hopefully fix the problem and help Reggie to justify the budget for this program.

Enter Mike (Leland Erikson, actually, but he answers to Mike – long story). He is a genius, with a photographic memory (a frighteningly detailed one), a curious streak a mile wide, and....three months off to do this since he's a High School English teacher just done for the summer. So, he goes to California, meets some legendary scientists (and a few others no one has head of), and then excitement ensures.

While I was reading the second chapter, I scrawled the note: “The tonal shift between chaps 1 & 2 was enough to give me Whiplash (and I'm talking the kind where J K Simmons slaps you repeatedly, not the kind you get a TV lawyer to help with). Think it bodes well for the book.” And it did. After the jarring sensation between the first two chapters (think of the typical NCIS/Bones/etc. type opening wherein someone going about their routine, daily life stumbles on to a body before we join our heroes bantering around the office), things calmed down. The plot unwinds at a good pace – building up a good head of steam until everything goes cuckoo bananas. Eventually, all the pieces come together – but the explanation doesn't end things, it only sets up a action-packed, mind-scrambling conclusion.

Like Mike, we get a nice orientation to the research facility and its team. Most come thi-i-i-i-s close to being right out of Central Casting, but Clines tweaks them just enough to keep them from being a frightening cliché. Ditto for Reggie, actually. This is not to say that Clines spends all that much time fully developing these characters – he comes close with Dr. Arthur Cross and Jamie Parker.

Jamie's your basic attractive blond with severe emotional issues, when she's not being a ultra-professional uber-computer scientist, that is. Dr. Cross is the 4th most popular scientist in the world – behind Neil deGrasse Tyson, Stephen Hawking and Bill Nye. He writes books for popular audiences and heads up research projects like this one (to over-do the Fringe comparisons, he's William Bell). When he's not being dark and mysterious, he's the kind of scientist you want to learn from, dropping lines like: “Almost any concept or idea in the world can be expressed through comparison with a classic Warner Bros. cartoon,” and then goes on to demonstrate just that.

Actually, it may not be character development. Those two might be the characters we spend the most time with. This sounds like a criticism, but it's not really. It's not that type of book, all it requires are characters to move the plot along, not people you get too invested in.

Now, Mike is another story, he's fully fleshed out. He is sort of a Robert Langdon type character – brilliant, in the right place at the right time, driven, and courageous enough to jump into danger, yada yada yada. – but with one significant difference: I liked Mike from the moment I met him, and I never, not for one sentence (over two books) liked Langdon. He's charming, down-to-earth (in his own way), and is desperate just to be a regular guy. It's hard not to respond to that.

It's an engaging story, told well, filled with likeable characters doing out-of-this-world things. Solid SF work. Give this one a shot.

Disclaimer: I received this book from the nice folks over at Blogging for Books for this review. Not sure they got their money's worth, but I came out pretty good on the deal.