Books

One of my favorite authors, Steven Gould, has finally written another book. His debut book Jumper was published in 1985, and he has written several others since. But his newest book is a sequel to his first.

Now, when I say that it is a science fiction book, that is a half of the description. Probably enough to put a lot of people off of it, but it is more complicated of a plot. In Jumper, the basic premise is that David Rice an 18 year old kid living in Ohio has been the victim of his alcoholic father's verbal and physical abuse for years. Suddenly before a few different instances of what promise to be vicious beatings he involuntarily "flinches" away. He teleports to the safest place that he ever knew: his local public library. After a few more jumps he realizes that it is something that he can control, and boy does Steven Gould present a fully-realized and clearly-described world in which Davy can teleport anywhere. There are limits, though. He can only teleport to somewhere that he has been and clearly remembers (solution: Davy buys a video camera and lots of tapes for acquiring jump sites in dozens of different airports). Jumper one of my favorite books, and of course I had to read it again, in preperation for this new book.

Reflex picks up ten years after the events in Jumper and I am already a good portion in after a couple hours. I love it, and I think I love it more, due to the updated technology. A lot has changed in the almost twenty years since Jumper was written, and so far it looks like Gould has put a lot of thought into the different technology that would be availible to the protagonist, as well as the antagonist. I can't wait to finish the book....in fact, why am I typing when I could have my eyes rubbing along the lines?