Wednesday 14 February 2007

CSFF Blog Tour for February - wherethemapends.com

Review of Jefferson Scott’s ”Terminal Logic“ (1997)
for the CSFF Blog Tour

I hope you will all excuse me for reviewing another “old” book. Yet having just read it for the first time, I believe its contribution to the Lost Genre is significant. I came upon it at wherethemapends , where there’s a great list of Bib-spec-fic classics. Funnily enough, the author of this book happens to be the owner of wherethemapends too. He offers a lot of good tips for writers, and as I am getting towards publishing my novel Faith Awakened I would like to get Jeff to do an editorial review. So I thought it might be a good idea to read something he wrote before I hire him.

I’m not disappointed. This guy claims to be an expert, and I think that’s justified. He writes so well that he’s invisible; it felt like I was watching a movie rather than reading a book. Okay, so it’s set in 2006 – old hat for something supposed to be in the future – but everything else is blockbuster quality. This is the second book of a trilogy, but it stands on its own as well.

The story is chillingly realistic. Programmable characters from multi-user online games are released into the Web and go about wreaking havoc in a world they are not equipped to understand. One particularly powerful character “decides” logically that it’s time to wipe out life on Earth and begin again, unaware of the difference between the virtual world and the real one. There is a lot of interaction with computers, edge-of-your-seat action both in VR and outside it, and a well-founded spiritual basis for the plot.

It starts getting scary when you realise the similarities to many games that exist today. The scenarios start sounding very familiar and distinctly possible. The Christian characters ask themselves if the devil could be behind this – but no one knows for sure. The reader is left to decide for himself, amidst disobedient appliances, skeptical army generals, undercover cowboys, and whiz kids. I find it better this way than if everything was pinned down too precisely. It leaves a pleasant sense of “what if”.

The ending is a little predictable – the heroes save the human race and get to meet the President of the USA. But to be honest, that’s the only way this plot could have ended. It’s nice how the President’s Christian values come through.

Well worth a read, if you haven’t come across this one yet. And do take a look at wherethemapends for all sorts of fascinating writing stuff.

Grace Bridges

12 comments:

chrisd said...

Sounds like a good book--am sort of itching to read something right now.

Where the Map ends will be on the blog tour-what an excellent way to start it off--nice job, Grace!

Jefferson Scott said...

Hi, Grace! Thanks for reviewing Terminal Logic. Because it was the least popular of my six novels I have a special place in my heart for it.

You're right about 2006 being kind of lame as the date mentioned in the book. But hey, back in 1995 when I was writing it, 2006 sounded very futuristic! I figured we'd all be flying around in jet cars and stuff.

I love my first trilogy, of which TL is #2. I wouldn't change a thing--except I'd change all the dates to about 20 more years into the future.

Thanks again for pointing your readers to www.WhereTheMapEnds.com. Interested folks can also check out my author site, www.jeffersonscott.com.

Thanks again, and blessings!

Jeff

Unknown said...

Thanks for the review! I haven't had the chance to read Jeff's work yet and was wondering what it was like.

Rachel A. Marks said...

What a great way to start the tour, Grace. I've read one of his Operation: Firebrand books and really enjoyed it.

Mirtika said...

And, Grace, if you want a shot at winning a five-page crit from Jeff, drop by Mirathon. I'm taking entries for that giveaway.

Mir

John said...

Hi Grace!

I hired Jeff to look over a novel proposal before I went to last year's ACFW conference and he did a terrific job. He was very encouraging but also very insightful. I'm sure he'll do an excellent job for you!

Daniel I Weaver said...

Great work here, Grace. This is a unique way to launch the tour and provides a great insight for readers as we draw focus to Jeff's hard work. No one should forget this guy's a great author when enjoying the hard work he's done to promote the genre.

God bless,
Daniel I Weaver
www.danieliweaver.com

Rebecca LuElla Miller said...

Yep, I agree. This review is an outstanding addition to the blog tour. Thanks for making the extra effort to post before you took off to warmer climes for the week.

Becky

James Somers said...

Great review, Grace...nice to see another CFRB tour person over on this tour too.

Christopher Hopper said...

I think this: "He writes so well that he’s invisible; it felt like I was watching a movie rather than reading a book"is the ultimate comment for any author. Well said. And Jeff, you should be honored.

Blessings!

CH

Nicole said...

Nice review! Probably my favorite thing about joining this Blog Tour is finding a bunch of authors I wouldn't have found otherwise.

Thanks!
~Nicole
http://dragonlady4.wordpress.com

Gene Curtis said...

Thanks for the review, Grace. That's another one to add to my buy list.