book review

Last week I read a book written by Adam Fawer titled Improbable. It was published in the US in 2005 and is the author's first book.

I enjoyed this book a lot. I was very impressed with the sophistication of the writing considering that this is Fawer's first novel. The only "rookie mistake" I noticed is that the ending was a little slack. Like Greg Bear in his novel Vitals--a book that Improbable reminds me of--there was a little too much futuristic twist at the end to remain believable. I still enjoyed both books despite the "gee-wow" endings.

In many ways it seemed like Fawer wrote this book with me specifically in mind. The major plot elements are all concepts that I'm fascinated with. The book deals with the way that the mind is organized--illustrated by means of epileptic episodes, psychosis, drug treatments and theapy--as well as the mechanics of the physical laws of the universe. Fawer's take on quantum mechanics is quite entertaining and thought provoking. It's quite easy at times to forget this is a novel since there's so much science within.

I've got a MA in philosophy and a lot of the impetus for my getting that degree was my interest in metaphysics. That area is quite well served by Improbable. The book examines concepts like Occam's Razor, Heisenberg's Uncertainty Principle, and Berkeley's conundrums. For me it's like being in a candy store but I can easily imagine it'd not be everyone's cup of tea.

So, if you like novels with lots of science, danger, sexy spys, evil and altruistic scientists, high stakes poker, Russian mobsters, hitmen, and more spys plus some fires and explosions--then this is your book! Do give it a try.