Review of Exodus
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Review of Exodus
[Following is a volunteer review of "Exodus" by Jean Hackensmith.]
Exodus, written by parent-child co-authors Jean Hackensmith and Joseph McDowell, is a sci-fi thriller that puts a unique spin on an age-old story. It's 2023, and a neutron star, dubbed Ulysses, is on a collision course with Earth, resulting in the total annihilation of humanity and the planet itself. Unstoppable and due to hit in just under five years, humanity's only hope for survival is for a small portion of the global population to flee the Armageddon Ulysses promises in a fleet of Noah's Ark-esque spaceships in search of a new homeworld.
The project to flee Earth is made possible by the work of astrophysicist Garrett Long, who has developed warp drive technology theorised to allow spaceships to travel faster than light, enabling access to previously unimaginable parts of the universe. Garrett's warp drives, however, are a new and untested technology, so the race is on for nations across the globe to build the ships, aiming to save just 100,000 people from Ulysses' wrath.
Sci-fi fans and fans of end-of-the-world stories are sure to find the premise captivating, along with the promise of blending real science with sci-fi elements. Upon reading the synopsis, I was certainly captivated and intrigued. However, the execution left much to be desired.
Any potential Exodus had was marred by a litany of editing mistakes, which began in the very first chapter. Particular lowlights included a nonsensical sentence in the first chapter, the climax chapter being headed with the wrong date, and several passages of text being in a slightly different colour, which were almost unreadable on a device in dark mode.
Editing errors are an annoyance that can be overlooked if the story itself is of high quality, but this cannot be said of Exodus. It seemed that the authors had a great idea for the story's premise and knew how they wanted it to end but struggled to craft anything compelling to fill the space in between. The result was a book full of filler, in which the characters moved from one predictable, quickly resolved issue to the next, none of which had lasting impact on the characters or story as a whole.
The characterisation in Exodus also left much to be desired for several reasons. Aside from the protagonist and one or two others, the characters were largely one-dimensional, lacking any real personality aside from a single trait. While the more prominent characters had slightly more depth, the execution was poor. An example of this was the case of Rebecca McCann, the president of the U.S., who transitioned from a harsh but fair leader, driven to succeed in the mission at all costs, to a highly empathetic and compassionate advocate for those who would remain behind on Earth. This would be a compelling character arc if it happened over the span of the entire story, but the transition happened very suddenly, within the span of a few sentences.
Protagonist Garrett also bears mentioning, largely due to his behaviour not seeming to match the character the authors appeared to be portraying. I found Garrett to be largely unlikeable: hot-headed, impulsive, vengeful, unsupportive, and selfish. I have no issue with a flawed protagonist, but aside from the vengefulness, none of his flaws were acknowledged, and the perception other characters had of him did not seem to match his personality. I also found myself actively hoping he would be unsuccessful in the pursuit of his love interest, as his courtship seemed more akin to sexual harassment at times, which, again, went unacknowledged. Additionally, the communication between characters often felt stale, with few meaningful conversations or relationship dynamics. When relationships did change, they did so suddenly.
The last criticism I'll make is regarding a very specific conversation in the second chapter, in which President McCann informs Garrett of the impending catastrophe and the evacuation project. McCann lists the various other nations that have been collaborating on the project, prompting Garrett to speculate that this was the reason there had been no major conflicts in the past 40 years, and why the U.S. had done little to intervene in resolving unrest in the Middle East. McCann confirms this and states, "Needless to say, leaders in the Middle East are unaware of the impending danger posed by Ulysses and have just continued to do what they do best—namely, terrorizing the rest of the world."
I found this passage to be quite problematic, as it clearly insinuates that President McCann believes the leaders of all Middle Eastern nations are responsible for terrorism and that, therefore, no Middle Eastern citizens are worth saving. While some Middle Eastern leaders have indeed been responsible for acts of terror, the region also includes U.S. allies like Israel and Saudi Arabia, EU member Cyprus, and several peaceful nations. While I acknowledge that Exodus is a work of fiction and that, in this version of the world, all Middle Eastern nations could be led by terrorists, this is in no way indicated. Real-world events, including 9/11, are mentioned, giving the impression that only events directly related to Ulysses differ from the real world. I'd therefore regard McCann's words as racially prejudiced, which wouldn't be problematic if it were in line with McCann's personality, but this is not the case. McCann often speaks to the importance of multiculturalism, and no other character even remotely suggests that she holds racist beliefs. This leads me to the much more concerning assumption that McCann's words are more reflective of the racial prejudices of the authors.
As I am sure is clear by now, despite my initial intrigue, I did not particularly enjoy reading Exodus, and I regretfully give it a rating of 2 out of 5 stars.
******
Exodus
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Exodus, written by parent-child co-authors Jean Hackensmith and Joseph McDowell, is a sci-fi thriller that puts a unique spin on an age-old story. It's 2023, and a neutron star, dubbed Ulysses, is on a collision course with Earth, resulting in the total annihilation of humanity and the planet itself. Unstoppable and due to hit in just under five years, humanity's only hope for survival is for a small portion of the global population to flee the Armageddon Ulysses promises in a fleet of Noah's Ark-esque spaceships in search of a new homeworld.
The project to flee Earth is made possible by the work of astrophysicist Garrett Long, who has developed warp drive technology theorised to allow spaceships to travel faster than light, enabling access to previously unimaginable parts of the universe. Garrett's warp drives, however, are a new and untested technology, so the race is on for nations across the globe to build the ships, aiming to save just 100,000 people from Ulysses' wrath.
Sci-fi fans and fans of end-of-the-world stories are sure to find the premise captivating, along with the promise of blending real science with sci-fi elements. Upon reading the synopsis, I was certainly captivated and intrigued. However, the execution left much to be desired.
Any potential Exodus had was marred by a litany of editing mistakes, which began in the very first chapter. Particular lowlights included a nonsensical sentence in the first chapter, the climax chapter being headed with the wrong date, and several passages of text being in a slightly different colour, which were almost unreadable on a device in dark mode.
Editing errors are an annoyance that can be overlooked if the story itself is of high quality, but this cannot be said of Exodus. It seemed that the authors had a great idea for the story's premise and knew how they wanted it to end but struggled to craft anything compelling to fill the space in between. The result was a book full of filler, in which the characters moved from one predictable, quickly resolved issue to the next, none of which had lasting impact on the characters or story as a whole.
The characterisation in Exodus also left much to be desired for several reasons. Aside from the protagonist and one or two others, the characters were largely one-dimensional, lacking any real personality aside from a single trait. While the more prominent characters had slightly more depth, the execution was poor. An example of this was the case of Rebecca McCann, the president of the U.S., who transitioned from a harsh but fair leader, driven to succeed in the mission at all costs, to a highly empathetic and compassionate advocate for those who would remain behind on Earth. This would be a compelling character arc if it happened over the span of the entire story, but the transition happened very suddenly, within the span of a few sentences.
Protagonist Garrett also bears mentioning, largely due to his behaviour not seeming to match the character the authors appeared to be portraying. I found Garrett to be largely unlikeable: hot-headed, impulsive, vengeful, unsupportive, and selfish. I have no issue with a flawed protagonist, but aside from the vengefulness, none of his flaws were acknowledged, and the perception other characters had of him did not seem to match his personality. I also found myself actively hoping he would be unsuccessful in the pursuit of his love interest, as his courtship seemed more akin to sexual harassment at times, which, again, went unacknowledged. Additionally, the communication between characters often felt stale, with few meaningful conversations or relationship dynamics. When relationships did change, they did so suddenly.
The last criticism I'll make is regarding a very specific conversation in the second chapter, in which President McCann informs Garrett of the impending catastrophe and the evacuation project. McCann lists the various other nations that have been collaborating on the project, prompting Garrett to speculate that this was the reason there had been no major conflicts in the past 40 years, and why the U.S. had done little to intervene in resolving unrest in the Middle East. McCann confirms this and states, "Needless to say, leaders in the Middle East are unaware of the impending danger posed by Ulysses and have just continued to do what they do best—namely, terrorizing the rest of the world."
I found this passage to be quite problematic, as it clearly insinuates that President McCann believes the leaders of all Middle Eastern nations are responsible for terrorism and that, therefore, no Middle Eastern citizens are worth saving. While some Middle Eastern leaders have indeed been responsible for acts of terror, the region also includes U.S. allies like Israel and Saudi Arabia, EU member Cyprus, and several peaceful nations. While I acknowledge that Exodus is a work of fiction and that, in this version of the world, all Middle Eastern nations could be led by terrorists, this is in no way indicated. Real-world events, including 9/11, are mentioned, giving the impression that only events directly related to Ulysses differ from the real world. I'd therefore regard McCann's words as racially prejudiced, which wouldn't be problematic if it were in line with McCann's personality, but this is not the case. McCann often speaks to the importance of multiculturalism, and no other character even remotely suggests that she holds racist beliefs. This leads me to the much more concerning assumption that McCann's words are more reflective of the racial prejudices of the authors.
As I am sure is clear by now, despite my initial intrigue, I did not particularly enjoy reading Exodus, and I regretfully give it a rating of 2 out of 5 stars.
******
Exodus
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: Shanghai'd by Curtis Stephen Burdick
