Wednesday, November 07, 2012

'The Testimony' by James Smythe

I reviewed James Smythe's forthcoming 'The Explorer' a few posts ago. Smythe writes 'proper fiction', that is, he creates interesting and believable characters and puts them in situations.

He's classified as science-fiction because his situations are, well, unusual.

Suppose one day pretty much everyone on Earth heard a mysterious message in their heads .. "My Children" ... . And suppose this coincided with terrorist attacks on America. And then there were follow-up messages. What would happen?

Smythe charts the collision of politics, theology and nukes as the world goes to hell. It's so plausible it hurts and one despairs at the stupidity of the human condition.
An engrossing, insightful and thought-provoking novel which I'm pleased I bought.