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A review by richardrbecker
The Chaos Principle by Nathan Johnson
3.0
2.5 stars, rounded up. Nathan Johnson serves up a great take on a philosophical-metaphysical concept of sorts in The Chaos Principle — one fun enough for four stars had the execution not fallen into its own simulation of uneven and, at times, overwritten chaos. And while that may sound harsh, let me also assure you that Johnson is a talented writer with a promising future.
So what went right? The Chaos Principle is a philosophical murder mystery in a world where Artificial Intelligence has taken over the planet and given people (homebodies) a new virtual reality that is further powered by their collective minds. The AI is called "Annie" or ANI, and it is powerful enough to influence the physical world as much as the immersive worlds most people have fused themselves into.
The protagonist, Ansel, is one of the last human detectives in the world. He is tasked with finding out who murdered five homebodies. To do it, he must travel in both the physical world as well as some of the virtual worlds where most of humankind has retreated as a means to deal with resource scarcity.
Pretty cool, right? It would be if Ansel channeled more cyberpunk or crime noir coolness. As a protagonist, he starts strong until undergoing some seemingly abrupt transformations that make him seem less cool and much more in line with some average joe. It also doesn't help that the chapters are nonlinear, which means you have to put his story on hold to meet a neverending cycle of new characters (none of whom you'll ever really care about) that could possibly be anywhere on the timeline. Even Callista, whom Ansel finds to be the most exciting person he meets on his quest for the truth, isn't all that interesting. And that's probably because Johnson forgets that crime noir has different requirements than a thought experiment (which is what the author was really working on in this book).
More than that, however, Johnson takes too long to find his voice as an author in this first book. While it eventually evens out, expect some work deciphering his prose on the front end, e.g., "The steady shines of envoy vessels streak along the horizon, leaving thin trails of light across his wet-fatigued vision." "The accumulated winds of the sweeping prairie played across the open windows of their vehicle as if it were a wind instrument, shifting unpredictably north and east in uncontrolled gusts and flittering through a range of howling octaves." "The man walks towards Ansel with short steps, hard-soled heels clicking against a vaguely luminescent black floor."
Every time you have to define "vaguely luminescent" or "wet-fatigued" or "flattering ... howling octaves," you stop dead in your tracks. And it happens way too much on the front end, making the experience feel like work. Later in the book, it's not as problematic, but that assumes someone has decided to stick with it. And that may be as good as any reminder to keep the storytelling simple, so the prose doesn't draw more attention to itself than the plot.
The bottom line? The Chaos Principle is perfect for someone looking for a thought experiment story, provided they are willing to surf through a few hundred pages or so to do it. The reward is two-fold: 1. It could potentially raise some interesting discussions with like-minded friends. 2. You support the early work of an author who is just getting started, which is why I rounded up to 3 stars. I know Johnson has it in him to write a genuinely fantastic book. There are several scenes in this one that prove it. Time is on his side, especially space-time if he can noodle it.
So what went right? The Chaos Principle is a philosophical murder mystery in a world where Artificial Intelligence has taken over the planet and given people (homebodies) a new virtual reality that is further powered by their collective minds. The AI is called "Annie" or ANI, and it is powerful enough to influence the physical world as much as the immersive worlds most people have fused themselves into.
The protagonist, Ansel, is one of the last human detectives in the world. He is tasked with finding out who murdered five homebodies. To do it, he must travel in both the physical world as well as some of the virtual worlds where most of humankind has retreated as a means to deal with resource scarcity.
Pretty cool, right? It would be if Ansel channeled more cyberpunk or crime noir coolness. As a protagonist, he starts strong until undergoing some seemingly abrupt transformations that make him seem less cool and much more in line with some average joe. It also doesn't help that the chapters are nonlinear, which means you have to put his story on hold to meet a neverending cycle of new characters (none of whom you'll ever really care about) that could possibly be anywhere on the timeline. Even Callista, whom Ansel finds to be the most exciting person he meets on his quest for the truth, isn't all that interesting. And that's probably because Johnson forgets that crime noir has different requirements than a thought experiment (which is what the author was really working on in this book).
More than that, however, Johnson takes too long to find his voice as an author in this first book. While it eventually evens out, expect some work deciphering his prose on the front end, e.g., "The steady shines of envoy vessels streak along the horizon, leaving thin trails of light across his wet-fatigued vision." "The accumulated winds of the sweeping prairie played across the open windows of their vehicle as if it were a wind instrument, shifting unpredictably north and east in uncontrolled gusts and flittering through a range of howling octaves." "The man walks towards Ansel with short steps, hard-soled heels clicking against a vaguely luminescent black floor."
Every time you have to define "vaguely luminescent" or "wet-fatigued" or "flattering ... howling octaves," you stop dead in your tracks. And it happens way too much on the front end, making the experience feel like work. Later in the book, it's not as problematic, but that assumes someone has decided to stick with it. And that may be as good as any reminder to keep the storytelling simple, so the prose doesn't draw more attention to itself than the plot.
The bottom line? The Chaos Principle is perfect for someone looking for a thought experiment story, provided they are willing to surf through a few hundred pages or so to do it. The reward is two-fold: 1. It could potentially raise some interesting discussions with like-minded friends. 2. You support the early work of an author who is just getting started, which is why I rounded up to 3 stars. I know Johnson has it in him to write a genuinely fantastic book. There are several scenes in this one that prove it. Time is on his side, especially space-time if he can noodle it.