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A review by bunrab
Afterparty by Daryl Gregory
4.0
First person unreliable is a difficult voice for an author to pull off, but Gregory not only manages to do it well, he makes it seem as though that's the only possible way this story could have properly been told. The insertions by "G.I.E.D." are a cool way to see parts of the story from another angle, although we still can't entirely depend on their reliability, all things considered. (You'll figure out what GIED stands for, no problem.)
The acknowledgments include Antonio Damasio and Oliver Sacks, as well as the Four Horsemen of the Atheist Apocalypse (well, not by that title, but by their names.) If you've never heard of these guys, then you might want to brush up on your "is there a neural basis for humans' tendency to believe in gods?" before reading the novel, because the science of that question is at the heart of it.
And in spite of that serious a topic, there are some great touches of humor, in a sly and dry way as well as occasionally in a physical-farce way.
BTW, Goodreads seems to think the main classification of this book is mystery - that's how it's suggesting that I recommend it to my friends - but it is science fiction, and medium-hard science at that, first and foremost.
The acknowledgments include Antonio Damasio and Oliver Sacks, as well as the Four Horsemen of the Atheist Apocalypse (well, not by that title, but by their names.) If you've never heard of these guys, then you might want to brush up on your "is there a neural basis for humans' tendency to believe in gods?" before reading the novel, because the science of that question is at the heart of it.
And in spite of that serious a topic, there are some great touches of humor, in a sly and dry way as well as occasionally in a physical-farce way.
BTW, Goodreads seems to think the main classification of this book is mystery - that's how it's suggesting that I recommend it to my friends - but it is science fiction, and medium-hard science at that, first and foremost.