layawaydragon
Written on Sep 5, 2022
'A fantastic read' – Andy Weir, author of The Martian
A compulsive, breathtaking exploration of memory and what it means to be human, Recursion is a mind-bending thriller from the author of Dark Matter, Blake Crouch.
* * *
At first, it looks like a disease. An epidemic that spreads through no known means, driving its victims mad with memories of a life they never lived.
But the force that’s sweeping the world is no pathogen. It’s just the first shockwave, unleashed by a stunning discovery – and what’s in jeopardy is not just our minds.
In New York City, Detective Barry Sutton is closing in on the truth – and in a remote laboratory, neuroscientist Helena Smith is unaware that she alone holds the key to this mystery . . . and the tools for fighting back.
Together, Barry and Helena will have to confront their enemy – before they, and the world, are trapped in a loop of ever-growing chaos.
* * *
'Recursion takes mind-twisting premises and embeds them in a deeply emotional story about time and loss and grief and most of all, the glory of the human heart' – Gregg Hurwitz, author of Orphan X
'Blake Crouch's fantastic, mind-blowing philosophical thriller' – Yahoo News
'This is a mind-twisting exploration of memory and what it means to be human. If you're into thoughtful, fluidly written science fiction, this one will hit the mark' – ES Magazine
- ISBN10 1509866671
- ISBN13 9781509866670
- Publish Date 9 January 2020 (first published 11 June 2019)
- Publish Status Active
- Publish Country GB
- Publisher Pan Macmillan
- Imprint Pan Books
- Format Paperback (B-Format (198x129 mm))
- Pages 432
- Language English
Reviews
bearley
Written on Jul 28, 2021
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.
nora
Written on Oct 31, 2020
I never connected with the characters as they felt pretty flat, and any time they died I knew they would come back in a different timeline. So that really put a damper on any of the suspense. I know the story encompasses bigger consequenses than the events experienced by single characters, but it felt almost too big, and I just couldn't bring myself to care about this one. Which is a shame, because Dark Matter by the same author was one of my favourite reads last year.
Renee
Written on Jan 14, 2020
Also, the large science aspect of this book relies on the belief of the reader that making a person relive their memory somehow becomes time travel. Don’t ask anyone how, because it is never explained. Everyone just accepts it. Alter one part of the brain and... poof! You are suddenly in a new timeline.
Sure, often in sci-fi the break through is not scientifically correct. But, from what I have seen so far, does not take such a giant leap without any explanation throughout the whole book.
Oh, there were also some plot holes.
mitabird
Written on Jan 6, 2020
wcs53
Written on Aug 24, 2019
sokodomo
Written on Jul 25, 2019
When you think things are crazier/bad enough, it goes BEYOND.
Well, I say the same about Dark Matter but I found that this one is solid from the very start while Dark Matter takes a while to truly get going.
Blake Crouch's writing is just so good.
I think I put this book down for 2 days because I didn't want it to end. Lol
Anyway, Blake Crouch is awesome. Recursion is awesome. Read it.
ross91
Written on Jul 13, 2019
jesstheaudiobookworm
Written on Jul 3, 2019
I heard and devoured Dark Matter by Blake Crouch two years ago, so I didn't wait very long after the release of Recursion to begin listening. Blake Crouch tackles science fiction in such a tactile manner, that it becomes extremely easy for novices such as myself to digest and appreciate all the science fiction-y goodness, or as Doctor Who would put it "Timey Wimey" stuff.
Also Recursion doesn't exactly deal with time travel, it's more of an alternate universe (AU) deal, similar to Dark Matter. Even so, it's enough to make your head hurt. I'd be willing to bet a hefty amount that no one on this planet fully understands the concept of time travel or alternate universe theory and all the intricacies that accompany it. Yet, Crouch does a well enough job of keeping the reader/listener up to speed on his spin on the concept. Is it flawless? No. Do I have more questions than answers? Probably.
Crouch does something a lot of other science fiction authors missed the memo on: He includes his audience in the explorations. He doesn't assume that we all have a certain level of knowledge about these things. His novels are extremely digestible for the average partaker and I say this as an average partaker (and someone who watches Doctor Who, for whatever that's worth). I was able to breeze through the first 3/4 of Recursion with minimal head scratching and while my focus was divided most of the time (because what audio listener doesn't multitask?). As far as science-fiction goes, this is among the most reader-friendly stuff I've come across.
Although I think I enjoyed Dark Matter just a tad bit more, I can see how Crouch's style has slightly changed since his last release. My largest complaint with Dark Matter was that I felt like Crouch had written himself into a literary corner and the climax was a little underwhelming. With Recursion, Crouch seemed to over correct. He again found himself in that literary corner (which George RR Martin knows all about), but this time the ending was overly dramatic and unnecessarily prolonged.
He had me until the last quarter of the book. Part Four got weird. It was a redundant pattern of disaster after disaster and I got tired of it pretty quickly. It actually seemed to slow the book down, even though the pacing was the same. The repetition of events, à la Groundhog Day, got quickly became old and exhausting and I was just ready for a resolution and the end of the book by then. The resolution, when it came, it was definitely underwhelming. There hadn't been a lot of explanatory build up for it, so it kind of came out of left field. No matter, I was glad that it came at all. Crouch's imaginings of various apocalyptic resolutions were inventive and intriguing, I just think he had too many of them.
I enjoyed the first 3/4 enough that the slogging last quarter can be filed away as irrelevant. I'll definitely still be picking up any Blake Crouch novels to come. I enjoy the way he writes science fiction and I'm hoping he's still figuring out how to untangle these seeming "plot knots" he creates. He writes some of the most digestible science fiction out there, so I definitely recommend Recursion and Dark Matter to SciFi newbies and anyone else who doesn't critique the genre too seriously.
Narration review: Recursion was a dual narration from Jon Lindstrom and Abby Craden. Although I've never heard anything from either of them before, I wouldn't hesitate to listen to either of them again. Both narrators did an excellent job. I would've listened to it even if Recursion was single narration, but having two narrators was a perfect fit. It made the alternating chapters, POVs, and simultaneous timelines much easier to follow. That can't be emphasized enough. Anything narrators and audiobook producers can do to make this sort of plot easier on the listener is always appreciated. For that reason alone, I 100% recommend Recursion on audiobook. ♣︎
BookeryBliss
Written on Jun 20, 2019
You don't have to know science in order to understand the quantum physics this book explains, but it is crucial to pay attention to it's explanations in order to fully appreciate this book's plot.
The theory behind the plot is described so well that you can't help but wonder...... could it actually be possible? I literally couldn't put it down!
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