The Oracle Year
Ratings44
Average rating3.7
THE ORACLE YEAR is a captivating debut novel from comic author and attorney Charles Soule. The premise is fascinating: Will Dando awakes from a dream in which voices of unknown origin have revealed 108 things yet to be...and he soon discovers that each of these predictions will come true. In many ways The Oracle Year explores significant themes such as faith, choice, and the ways in which we are all connected. Although the book seemed, at times, to be a bit critical of organized religion, Soule nevertheless poses deep questions of spiritual and philosophical import for the reader to ponder about free will, destiny, belief, and the influence of forces beyond our understanding...perhaps revealing this book to have greater depth than expected from a freshman effort in the soft SFF category. Of course, it is only truly a debut in the sense that it is Soule's first time writing in this format, as he is an established comic book author. Soule's plotting and prose were generally very strong throughout, though I did like the first half better than the second. There were occasional moments and scenes that lacked the ring of truth or shine of polish, and some characters that seemed a bit under or unevenly developed...but none of this significantly diminished my interest in the narrative or overall enjoyment. Simply put, the blurb on the cover is correct: this book is a page turner, and I don't think anyone would regret reading it. I especially recommend The Oracle Year to fans of Chuck Wendig, Scott Meyer, etc.
“It was like trying to play chess in a pitch-dark room, where you had to determine your opponent's moves by sense of smell alone. And you had a cold. And your opponent was God.”
― Charles Soule, The Oracle Year
How can 108 predictions destroy the world? In a wildly exciting and entertaining way. The real question is whether that world can be born anew from the ashes?
The Oracle Year is the story of Will Dando, struggling bassist and all around regular guy who happens upon 108 prophecies. He received in a dream. With the help of his Best friend Hamza, they create an anonymous website and release the prophesies slowly to the world, allowing each of them time to come true. What happens, is what always happens in a story when someone has ultimate power. The real forces in the world want that power and will do everything to get it back. It's a fascinating thought experiment. What would you do if you knew what was going to happen? Would you try to make money? Would you try to save the world, or would you decide to change the world? Soule does an excellent job of making Will into a real character with real decisions and choices. Will isn't brilliant, he's a dude who likes music, and as the story progresses, Will's personality changes and makes choices that the reader won't see coming. As does the side characters Hamza and Miko. Characters grow and change, and it is well done. As much as I enjoyed Will, I think in most of the scenes where Hamza played Will's foil, Hamza stole the show. Hamza is both Honda is both clever and intelligent in ways Will is not, and I enjoyed the pairing of these two.
“None of us are meant for anything, and none of us are meant for nothing. Life is chaos, but it's also an opportunity, risk, and how you manage them.”
― Charles Soule, The Oracle Year
I know that Comic fans of Soules previous work in Star Wars and Red Devil will enjoy the style in which this story is written. It's a very approachable book. It's exciting, interesting, and sophisticated and I very much enjoyed it. Even though it started a little bit slow the narrative style and the dialogue style picked up and became thrilling. Although there are familiar tropes sprinkled throughout the story it still is a very original concept I think that anybody who checks it out will enjoy it. I am glad I picked this story up on a lark and gave it a chance, and I hope you will too.
What happens when 1 person gets 108 pieces of information about the next year? That's the promise or Oracle Year. What I appreciated about the story was how well the story followed what someone would do with that knowledge in today's electronic age - with parts dark web, corporate profit and government intrigue.
I really loved this book! It was fun, unpredictable and I'm a sucker for the unlikely hero stories. Great and unique concept and twists and turns that make you want to get up and applaud for the wins!
A couple of months ago I was reading about a new book coming out titled “The Oracle Year” by Charles Soule (the “e” is silent) and what caught my attention in the review was that the writer was also a writer for comic books such as “Daredevil”, “She-Hulk” and others. I haven't really read any new comics in the past decade, at least, so I haven't read any of his comic book work but I usually enjoy novels written by comic book writers. I love Neil Gaiman, and have been impressed by Peter David, Steve Englehart and others, so I made a mental note to look into “The Oracle Year” when it was published.
Fast forward to a couple of weeks ago when I was looking over the list of authors coming to Book People bookstore here in Austin to do readings and signings, and there was the note that Charles Soule would be there on Wednesday evening, April 25th to read and sign his new book, which had recently hit the shelves. I knew I would be there as well.
There were only about 12-14 people present, so after Mr. Soule read the second chapter of his book (I had already read up through Chapter 7 while waiting for the event to begin), it was good to hear that the way I “heard” the characters speaking and interacting in my head was exactly how the author read them, with the same inflections and tones. Afterward we asked questions and then the book signing began.
“The Oracle Year” centers around Will Dando (The Oracle) who awakens one morning from a dream with 108 specific predictions in his head of things that will happen in the future. To protect his anonymity, he sets up a super-secure website with the help of The Florida Ladies (don't ask, just read the book) and he and his investment banker friend Hamza selectively release a few of the predictions, netting them billions of dollars from corporations looking for any advantage in their business forecast models.
But Will is not about the money at all. He's about social good and looking out for the other guy. He meets a beautiful reporter at an event that he knows will cause some people to die, hoping that his call to the police and perhaps even his anonymous presence will change the prediction, but it doesn't. In fact, Will soon discovers, with religious leaders calling him the AntiChrist and his own government leaving no stone unturned in trying to discover his identity, that the predictions work together for some reason. A reason that seems to be a nefarious one. The book leads us around the world with action, thrills, and a satisfying ending to such a complicated tale.
The characters work well, which I would expect because comic book characterization is important and Charles Soule's many admirers attest to his ability to create believable characters. The story and plot hold up well and, frankly, longer than i expected. It was a page-turner of a pleasant read and I have no doubt that Charles Soule's next novel will be even better.
I recommend “The Oracle Year” for a good read.
