Book review: Helix
15 Oct 2011 11:04![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
nwhikerHelix by Phyl G.
How do you create a dystopian world? What words do you use, what phrases define it? That was my first shock with Helix. I knew I was in a dystopian future, knew it clearly and convincingly, but I could not say what terms, what words brought me there. And that, in my option, is one Phyl's gifts: she brings you places and you're there, and you know you should be there, but the bringing was so... organic, you didn't even feel it. It never feels contrived, this futures, and most chillingly, it feels so very plausible, it's scary. Because I can see how we'd get from here to there.
But that's just the setting.
The book opens with the death by suicide of a twin, and the anguish of the twin left behind. And starts with, really, a simple search of understanding, to figure out why.
And goes from there to a story that is both international thriller, and philosophical musing on the interplay of religion, society, and our basic humanity.
Taking straight from Phyl's own description of the book:
And that's the question Peter, the twin left behind, really sets off to answer. His explorations takes him deep into his own life, into his and his brother's, his family's past, into our past..
How to describe a book like this? Well, I can talk about my reactions. I cried, at times. I sat there with my hands trembling, at times. I went to wikipedia, at times. I got out, and walked around the house, thinking about what I had just read, how it fit in with my worldview, and how I felt about what was being said, discovered. But then I had to quickly get back to the story. It was that compelling. You never get a break, and this is good. Most books have down times, and I'm sure this one did too, but I don't remember them, nothing felt extraneous, and as a result, I was engaged from pretty much the time I started start until the very last paragraphs. I completely missed my leave time for picking up my kids the first afternoon, and later that day, continued to read on my phone. I'd have read all night, actually, but the past few weeks have left me so sleep deprived, I just could not, knowing I had to be up at 6am the next morning.
When I finished the book, I was wrung out, feeling emotionally drained, but in a thoughtful away. I still feel the need to mull over things that I read.
Note: I've known the author, Phyl, for a long time, online. She did not request this review and if this book had fallen into my hands in the random way books often do, I'm quite certain that my opinions would be the same. But full disclosure and all that. I just wish I could do a better job at reviews beyond saying I really liked it. Go buy it and read it!.
How do you create a dystopian world? What words do you use, what phrases define it? That was my first shock with Helix. I knew I was in a dystopian future, knew it clearly and convincingly, but I could not say what terms, what words brought me there. And that, in my option, is one Phyl's gifts: she brings you places and you're there, and you know you should be there, but the bringing was so... organic, you didn't even feel it. It never feels contrived, this futures, and most chillingly, it feels so very plausible, it's scary. Because I can see how we'd get from here to there.
But that's just the setting.
The book opens with the death by suicide of a twin, and the anguish of the twin left behind. And starts with, really, a simple search of understanding, to figure out why.
And goes from there to a story that is both international thriller, and philosophical musing on the interplay of religion, society, and our basic humanity.
Taking straight from Phyl's own description of the book:
If we suppress the impulses that inspire religious terrorism, do we also eliminate the spiritual impulses that lead to transcendent acts? Do they stem from the same source in the human soul, intertwining like the helix of our DNA, condemning us to an endless, deadly either/or choice?
And that's the question Peter, the twin left behind, really sets off to answer. His explorations takes him deep into his own life, into his and his brother's, his family's past, into our past..
How to describe a book like this? Well, I can talk about my reactions. I cried, at times. I sat there with my hands trembling, at times. I went to wikipedia, at times. I got out, and walked around the house, thinking about what I had just read, how it fit in with my worldview, and how I felt about what was being said, discovered. But then I had to quickly get back to the story. It was that compelling. You never get a break, and this is good. Most books have down times, and I'm sure this one did too, but I don't remember them, nothing felt extraneous, and as a result, I was engaged from pretty much the time I started start until the very last paragraphs. I completely missed my leave time for picking up my kids the first afternoon, and later that day, continued to read on my phone. I'd have read all night, actually, but the past few weeks have left me so sleep deprived, I just could not, knowing I had to be up at 6am the next morning.
When I finished the book, I was wrung out, feeling emotionally drained, but in a thoughtful away. I still feel the need to mull over things that I read.
Note: I've known the author, Phyl, for a long time, online. She did not request this review and if this book had fallen into my hands in the random way books often do, I'm quite certain that my opinions would be the same. But full disclosure and all that. I just wish I could do a better job at reviews beyond saying I really liked it. Go buy it and read it!.
![[identity profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/openid.png){kind=small}
![[community profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/community.png){kind=small}
no subject
Date: 17 Oct 2011 19:02 (UTC)Thank you for the very kind and enthusiastic review!