Books : The Edge of Reason

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Author name: Melinda Snodgrass

: The Edge of Reason
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Type of bind: Hardcover
Dewey Decimal Number: 813.54
EAN num: 9780765315168
ISBN number: 0765315165
Label: Tor Books
Manufacturer: Tor Books
Quantity: 1
Page Count: 384
Printing Date: May 13, 2008
Publishing house: Tor Books
Release Date: May 13, 2008
Sale Popularity Level: 297136
Studio: Tor Books



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Editor's Notes and Comments:

Product Description:
Since the dawn of consciousness, a secret war has been fought between the forces of magic and religious fanaticism, and the cause of reason, understanding, and technology. On one side are the Old Ones, malign entities that feed on the suffering of mankind. On the other are the Lumina, an ancient order dedicated the liberation of the human spirit.

Officer Richard Oort of the Albuquerque Police Department is caught in the middle of this primal battle when he rescues a mysterious teenage girl from a trio of inhuman hunters. Recruited by the Lumina to serve as their latest paladin, Richard ends up fighting beside a handful of unlikely allies, including an adolescent sorceress, an enigmatic philanthropist, a sexy coroner, and a homeless god with multiple personalities.

The Old Ones and their mortal pawns are determined to destroy Richard–or subvert him to their cause. And they have all powers of magic and organized religion at their disposal. As the gates between the universes shred apart, it may be up to Richard to save humanity from the endless horror of a new Dark Age.

Provocative as The Golden Compass or the Illuminatus! trilogy, The Edge of Reason dramatizes the fundamental conflict behind the hot-button issues of today...and the future of the human race.




Customer Reviews
User popularity level: out of 5 stars

Rated by buyers 1 out of 5 stars - boring, read excerpt at author homepage before buying
Interesting concept, but definitely not a thriller.

Read the 169 page excerpt at the author's homepage before buying and see if the story grabs you more than it did me. Concept is original, granted and maybe further installments will provide better plot and character evolution.

Meanwhile, rather read Pullman, Hitchens or Gailman for much more entertaining treatments of what the gods are doing (His dark materials, God is not great, American Gods).

Some more detailed criticism for those who care: Hard to relate to the main character as mentioned above, most questions solved in the very first 50 pages, remaining plot not really interesting (who cares about the hero-pianist's family history, or police-station-banter when the big mysteries appear mostly solved already?). Also no shades of gray in the very first 150 pages, characters are grey and white as in a children book.


Rated by buyers 1 out of 5 stars - Too too pretty
You kind of know you're in trouble with a book when you discover that one of the protagonist's big problems in life is that he's just so pretty. I only wish I was making this up, but there it is, just after he's rescued The Girl:

"Now he was standing subsequent to a woman who matched his extraordinary good looks. 'And I wonder if it's been as much of a burden to her as it has been for me?'"

Feel his pain! How can you not empathize with him? He's just your average concert pianist with a Master in Arts turned police officer after the requisite stints at Cornell and the Rome Academy who also spent time in fencing, gymnastics and also did some yachting with his dad back in the day. Just your regular Joe Six Pack, except for that interesting six month gap in his records.

I'd probably have a lot more vested in this obviously extraordinary character and his difficulties if the writing elevated the story at all. Instead, we learn his backstory in a fashion that is only slightly less interesting than my summary. We are literally told all of this as one of the big movers of the plot reads it out of a file. And there is the biggest problem with the book: we are not shown that things have meaning or feeling. Instead we are told, over and over again in a shrill, tone deaf authorial voice that our heroes are heroic (but with cliched Dramatic Problems) and that the villains, though beguiling, are in fact so Wrong that they should really be twirling their mustaches (a la Snidely Whiplash).

Which is a real shame because the story about the various magical and scientific forces battling over the Earth could make for a fascinating book, but this really isn't it. This is bad fanfic. Never mind the extended sequences when the plot is set aside so the characters can have token moments to get over their pasts, how else can you describe one action packed sequence where one of the Powers That Be finally gets riled up enough to chew out Our Hero's father for being a bad parent? "You don't deserve him!" Maybe.

You definitely deserve to save your attentions for a better book.


Rated by buyers 5 out of 5 stars - Wow!
I read a lot and most books are only good. This book is excellent and I can't wait for the subsequent one. Many things are left to be resolved! Not since The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss have I read anything of this quality.


Rated by buyers 5 out of 5 stars - Hope this is Vol I
I love Sci-Fi and Fantasy. Always have.

It has been years since I picked up a book I couldn't put down. I read this in two evenings. It has everything: conspiracy, fantasy, magic, science, monsters, twists, cops, robbers, etc. It is very well written with good detailed descriptions that are not long enough to become "page fillers".

It is not exactly correct to call it a story of good vs evil but it is not incorrect either. It is "good" vs "evil" with a twist.

It has no ending. It just quits. Leaving the world hanging from the edge of a cliff clawing desperately to keep from falling.

It makes the reader scream for Volume II. I hope to see it soon.




Rated by buyers 5 out of 5 stars - terrific action-packed apocalypse thriller
Former concert pianist but now Albuquerque police officer Richard Oort may be stunned by what he sees, but he reacts. Naked strange beings, obviously not human though what they are Robert is not sure of, chase after a young girl. His efforts to rescue a sorceress are noticed by affluent Kenntnis, who thinks he may have finally found the perfect warrior in his eternal war with the Old Ones.

Richard learns just who recruited him as Kenntnis has been called the Serpent and Lucifer amongst other derogatory names. The cop also finds out that the Old Ones encourage human religions as they feed on the emotional frenzy and suffering of diehard believers. Kenntnis and his Lumina supporters insist they want free will for mankind while their opponents need human dependency. As his mother commits suicide, Richard with no time to grieve, has doubts that he is fighting for the good guys as he has been indoctrinated throughout his life that Lucifer is the tricky devil while his new commander in chief insists the opponents won the propaganda war.

This is a terrific action-packed apocalypse thriller that will have the audience pondering the roles in society of organized religion, formal education, Lovecraftian mythos, and the Albuquerque Police Department. The story line is fast-paced yet readers will empathize with the beleaguered human hero as he struggles with comprehending a supernatural war that has gone on from the moment Eve seduced Adam into taking a bite and has spilled onto the streets of his hometown. His dealings with the stick man and associates, a homeless bum who happens to be a God (the RFK theory of the deity comes to mind) and a new Dark Age driven by the Old Ones but supported by human fundamentalists who see power in the golden rule of those with the gold make the rule are fascinating to watch. Melinda Snodgrass provides a strong thriller that will send her readers over THE EDGE OF REASON.

Harriet Klausner



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