Review of Shield Down
1 posts
[Following is a volunteer review of "Shield Down" by William de Berg.]
What begins as a quasi-educational gander into astronomy and the politics of academia slowly blossoms into a gritty, apocalyptic struggle in William de Berg’s Shield Down.
Toying with the question, ‘would humanity survive another mass extinction event?’ the author brought to life something completely new and fascinating – with a style that I was initially uncertain about. Much of the story revolved around James Templeton, the man who would predict the end of the world, only to have his genius met with merciless backlash and alienation from the astronomic community. Soon after Templeton resigned himself to the shadows, an almost-forgotten relic, his vindication would come with the eruption of the SGR 0245+45 magnetar, and thus would begin the end of the world.
One idiomatic feature of de Berg’s work is what I can only describe as a profusion of information. The author seemed to leave no stone unturned as he delved into the world of astrophysics, making for an ostensibly credible body of work, complete with footnotes and citations. On the other controversial hand, de Berg touted the plausibility of the moon-landing being a hoax, going as far as to make the conspiracy one of the core plot points of his work. Whether or not the author shares the same views with his characters is up in the air, but it was an interesting addition to the story all the same.
Due to the nature of this book, or, perhaps, the manner which the author chose to write it, much of the first part of the novel read rather like a scientific journal. While I retain mixed feelings about the extensive groundwork the author chose to lay, I have no issue with the way it was penned. De Berg’s writing was not exactly poetry, but it still had the capacity to pull the reader, seamlessly, page-to-page.
In summary, Shield Down has earned four out of four stars in my opinion. It was well-written and riveting, though the editing could do with a little touch up. I will leave the accuracy of the science up to experts, but assuming de Berg’s reality holds any water outside the bounds of fiction, it poses an exciting and equally frightening predicament for humanity.
I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy the theoretical aspect of science fiction – the events of this novel occur long before the neon-soaked age of laser beams and deep space exploration, but it’s quite entertaining still. Besides the use of profanity, this book is generally ‘clean.’
Happy reading.
******
Shield Down
View: on Bookshelves |
What begins as a quasi-educational gander into astronomy and the politics of academia slowly blossoms into a gritty, apocalyptic struggle in William de Berg’s Shield Down.
Toying with the question, ‘would humanity survive another mass extinction event?’ the author brought to life something completely new and fascinating – with a style that I was initially uncertain about. Much of the story revolved around James Templeton, the man who would predict the end of the world, only to have his genius met with merciless backlash and alienation from the astronomic community. Soon after Templeton resigned himself to the shadows, an almost-forgotten relic, his vindication would come with the eruption of the SGR 0245+45 magnetar, and thus would begin the end of the world.
One idiomatic feature of de Berg’s work is what I can only describe as a profusion of information. The author seemed to leave no stone unturned as he delved into the world of astrophysics, making for an ostensibly credible body of work, complete with footnotes and citations. On the other controversial hand, de Berg touted the plausibility of the moon-landing being a hoax, going as far as to make the conspiracy one of the core plot points of his work. Whether or not the author shares the same views with his characters is up in the air, but it was an interesting addition to the story all the same.
Due to the nature of this book, or, perhaps, the manner which the author chose to write it, much of the first part of the novel read rather like a scientific journal. While I retain mixed feelings about the extensive groundwork the author chose to lay, I have no issue with the way it was penned. De Berg’s writing was not exactly poetry, but it still had the capacity to pull the reader, seamlessly, page-to-page.
In summary, Shield Down has earned four out of four stars in my opinion. It was well-written and riveting, though the editing could do with a little touch up. I will leave the accuracy of the science up to experts, but assuming de Berg’s reality holds any water outside the bounds of fiction, it poses an exciting and equally frightening predicament for humanity.
I would recommend this book to readers who enjoy the theoretical aspect of science fiction – the events of this novel occur long before the neon-soaked age of laser beams and deep space exploration, but it’s quite entertaining still. Besides the use of profanity, this book is generally ‘clean.’
Happy reading.
******
Shield Down
View: on Bookshelves |
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