For fans of Blake Crouch, the propulsive first book in the genre-bending Silvers trilogy, in which six ordinary people become extraordinary when they find themselves the sole survivors of an apocalypse that lands them on an Earth far different from our own—one on which they have X-Men-like powers to manipulate time.
Without warning, the world comes to an end. The sky looms frigid white. The electric grid falters. Airplanes everywhere crash to the ground, and finally, the sky comes down in a crushing sheet of light, taking out everything and everyone with it—except for Hannah and Amanda Given. Saved from destruction by three fearsome and powerful beings who adorn them each with an irremovable silver bracelet, the Given sisters suddenly find themselves on a strange new Earth where restaurants move through the air like flying saucers and the fabric of time itself is manipulated by common household appliances.
Upon arrival to this alternate America, Hannah and Amanda are taken to a science laboratory where they meet four other survivors from their world, all of whom wear matching silver bracelets—a mordant cartoonist, a shy teenage girl, a brilliant young Australian, and a troubled ex-prodigy. While being poked and prodded by scientists who may be friends or enemies, the group discovers that it’s not only their world that is different—they are different. Each has the power to manipulate time with their bare hands…a power they can’t always control. With no one but each other to trust, “the Silvers” must find out what exactly happened to their world and why it was that they were spared. But with unexpected new enemies emerging from around every corner, their quest for answers will quickly become a cross-country quest for survival.
Wow ... I just ... what did I just read? And more importantly ... where has this book been my whole life? As a fan of Sci Fi in my TV/Movie choices, it always baffles me that I generally shy away from it in my books. But something about the blurb of THE FLIGHT OF THE SILVERS by Daniel Price fascinated me. So I gave it a shot. I'd never heard of Price, which isn't surprising since this is his first foray into the SciFi/Paranormal genre. I'd honestly never heard of the book until the review request came in. But I took a chance. And after hearing my thoughts I hope you will too. I am going to try and be as vague as possible, the story I think would lose some of it's exceptional qualities if things were spoiled for you.
The story starts off introducing us to the Given family. They experience an unexplained event that they try to forget, and are mostly successful. Jump forward to the sisters as adults and suddenly shit really hits the fan. While there is a large focus on the Given sisters, I hesitate to say they are the main characters. There is a group of six, referred to as The Silvers (See? the title comes into play!) that the whole story revolves around. I would almost say the reader is an invisible seventh character in the story, as the narrative takes you on a journey with Amanda, Hannah, Mia, Theo, Zack, and David. You may see things they don't notice as important, but you learn about the new world they are thrust into as they do. It can be fascinatingly frustrating at times, but that frustration gives you a deeper connection to The Silvers that you would not have had otherwise.
Something I feel like I have to address - yes the book is Sci Fi. Which means there is some "science" explained as the world is. However, there is not on large info dump. And not all the characters are traditionally "smart" in the sense of book smarts. So as long as you pay attention and learn the lingo you will be able to "keep walking" along with the characters just fine.
Something that was a wonderful surprise for me as a character driven reader was the complexity of the bad guys. I use that term loosely, because as you go along, you will develop an certain empathy, and maybe even understand their motives. At least some of them. At this point I am still unsure who exactly is a bad guy and who is a good guy. But rather than frustrate me, it is wonderful. I usually like knowing what's what, but the way this story is told I am actually more than ok with being somewhat in the dark.
I don't really know what to say to convince you to give THE FLIGHT OF THE SILVERS a try. You should just try it. today. While obviously not EVERYTHING is resolved in book one (there would be no reason for a book two if that was the case!) there is enough resolution that the wait for book two will be tolerable. But just barely.
Reading updates
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Started reading
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5 January, 2015:
Finished reading
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5 January, 2015:
Reviewed