Full disclosure: An old friend wrote that he was publishing his first full length novel and did anyone with a blog want to read and review it? I do, I do! (To my long time readers, all 6 of you, you know I am kind of a book whore.)
So I really didn't know if I could expand my very limited idea of what a good novel is and enjoy something billed as a sci-fi meta novel. I am a pretty literal reader and don't like a lot of extraneous distractions from the plot, but I'm game, and in the name of supporting new writers and old friends, I put it on my stack.
First, let me say that this is a very funny book. If you are up on your current events (especially politics since the Nixon administration) you will probably laugh a lot. Many of the jokes pertain to the antics of Dick Cheney (time traveler and our hero), Donald Rumsfeld (an alien), Joe Lieberman (a robot), Ralph Nadar (time traveling spoil-sport) and of course, Al Gore (who?).
Dick Cheney travels back in time and while there decides to please his old man from the 27th century and make sure Al Gore never gets elected. Several nefarious agents and time travelers are in on the scheme for various reasons and they all come together on one madcap night in November of 2000 (remember that night?) so that good prevails over evil and time can be re-written so that Al Gore does not become president which will lead to the ultimate evil...which I cannot reveal, or it would spoil it for you, dear reader, and that is part of the fun.
I also loved the varying discussions about the ins and outs of time travel (fueled by yogurt) and the future history regarding the regulation of time travel and some of the problems that arise in the future because we are so able to change history. It makes just enough sense to be fun and thought provoking.
The meta novel part appealed to me as well. Ryan Forsythe, the author, chronicled what I assume is a semi-autobiographical tale of how he came to write and publish this time traveling caper novel on the same day that the real Dick Cheney published his memoirs. I really hope that John Stewart gets a hold of this because Ryan Forsythe would be an excellent guest on the Daily Show. There would be much hilarity.
So friends, you can find this lovely little time traveling sci-fi adventure novel on amazon or you can borrow it from me. Please support a young aspiring novelist, and I might be able to get you his autograph.
1 comment:
You write SO well about an unfamiliar genre, no small feat. This book sounds like a lot of fun, and you can put me in the queue to borrow your copy. Let me know when he's going to be on The Daily Show! MKP
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