Friday, May 14, 2010

Flashforward

Been listening to the audiobook Flashforward. I'm about halfway through it. It's OK, though the author does put forth an interesting idea. Oh, in case you're unfamiliar with the novel plot (or the TV adaption, which is slightly different, I hear), a science experiment lets every person on Earth experience life 20 years or so in the future for a few minutes. The author (Sawyer, is it?) hypothesizes, via his main characters, that the future is fixed, just like the past. An idea to mull over. . . . And he mentions Niven's Law, named after the sci-fi writer. Apparently, it means that time travel is impossible because as soon as somebody figures it out, the universe ends to prevent any paradoxes. Fascinating! Sorry to say, I probably won't read/listen to anything else from this Flashforward writer. His characters are too two-dimensional for my tastes, and his plotting needs work. The novel would've been a million times better if instead of all these sorry-sort characters whining about their futures, how about everybody keeps seeing glimpses of their future? Maybe to keep things simple, have the future-seers be a small group of people -- perhaps the cabal of scientists who kick-started it all. Yes, I suffer from the Robert B. Parker affliction where whatever I read/watch I'm criticizing with how I would write it.

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