on the path

Professor Chandra Follows His Bliss by Rajeev Balasubramanyam
Rating: 4 stars (out of 5)
Genre: fiction
Review: I'm not sure what bliss Professor Chandra is following, or how he's following it, but he's an interesting guy to read about.  A distinguished professor of economics, has just been denied the Nobel Prize (again), he is hit by a bicycle and suffers a heart attack, forcing him to take a break, under doctor's orders.  And he does try.  He tries to reconnect with his children, and attends a mindfulness retreat.  He learns a lot about himself, and his children, but I didn't really see where the bliss comes in, since he's mostly just as conflicted at the end as he is in the beginning, if a bit gentler about it.

Bliss, not so much, but Chandra himself does come to understand and accept a lot about himself and his past mistakes.  His journey, with all its missteps and imperfections, is very believable, and you'll find yourself rooting for Chandra to find a way, not to bliss, but to more happiness.  Or maybe just contentment?  Or self-awareness?  Whatever he's on the path to, it's an enjoyable journey, for the reader, at least.

One thing that really stood out to me is the very subtle way that Balasubramanyam points out the ways in which Chandra was a terrible father.  His casual cruelties to his children are reported as straight facts; there is no extended narrative exposition explaining the effects of his words, allowing readers to make their own judgments without interference.  This is a mark of a good author, one who truly shows, rather than tells, and he does this with aplomb throughout the book.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.

two out of three ain't bad

Here and Now and Then by Mike Chen
Rating: 3.5 stars (out of 5)
Genre: science fiction
Review: Writing a time travel novel is kind of like writing a vampire novel - there are certains rules that must be followed, but other than that, the only thing an author must do is create a world with internal cohesion.  Mike Chen has definitely created a world that holds together.  His time travel agents have strict rules they must follow in order to prevent the timeline from corruption, and even the more technical explanations (of things like the "grandfather paradox") are eminently understandable.

Unfortunately, his characters and their relationships don't get the same attention.  At first, I thought the lack of depth in the future was deliberate, to reflect Kin's initial feelings of disconnect when he returns to his own time, but I didn't begin to feel more connected to those characters as he apparently did.  We're told that his feelings return for his fiancee return, but never really shown it.  On the other hand, the present-day characters felt much more fleshed out, but we don't actually have much interaction with them once Kin returns to the future.

So, it's a plus for world-building, a negative for characters, and there's another plus for the actual action of the story.  Kin's various attempts to reconnect with and then save his daughter shine through with his intensity, and Chen's determination to stay within the rules that he's created add a sense of urgency and truth to his actions.  If you do the math, world-building + action - character development = an eminently readable book, if not one of the best time travel books I've ever read.

FTC Disclaimer: I received this book from the publisher in exchange for this review.