CJ Reviews The Fold by Peter Clines

Title: The Fold
Author: Peter Clines
Publication Date: June 2, 2015
Format: Advanced Reader Copy
Rating: 3.75 stars

A team of scientists have discovered a way to make instantaneous travel possible, through a fold in space. With funding in question, an old friend recruits Mike Erickson to observe the process and report back on what he finds. However, what he finds is that things aren’t exactly what they seem – the doorway the team has built doesn’t work the way they think, and instead could lead to the destruction of all life on Earth.

This was a really interesting read. It took a little patience at first, but by the time I was about 100 pages or so in I was hooked and had trouble putting the book down. The story just became more and more interesting as it went on. It took a little bit of a weird turn near the end, but over all it was still a really good book – which, considering my usual aversion to “sciencey” scifi, is saying something.

Clines’ writing style is straightforward and easy to read – he doesn’t get bogged down in too many scientific details that would just go over my head. I also appreciated that the main character was new in this scientific world and therefore had to learn everything we were learning as well – though his eidetic memory made him a very quick study. It was the perfect entry point – we learned information as Mike learned it, but his ability to process it quickly meant little exposition which helped move the story along more quickly.

I haven’t read many books in which a main character has an eidetic memory, so I can’t compare the way it was written, but I found the description in this novel fascinating (and a little creepy). Mike describes his little ability as ants moving around in his mind, carrying the memories back and forth and bringing them out when he needs them.

One thing about this book I didn’t know before I read it is that it’s a sort of “side-quel” to Clines’s previous novel 14. There’s a scene near the end that seemed a little random yet intentional, introducing characters that seemed to be important in some way even though they only appear briefly at the very end. I looked it up and learned this noveltakes place in the same world as his previous novel. I enjoyed this one enough that I’m curious what his other books are like so I’ll have to check out 14 when I get a chance.

The Fold is the sixth ARC on my ARC pile to be read as part of ARC August hosted by Read.Sleep.Repeat. To see what other ARCs I am reading this month check out my initial post here. (If you’re following along down here and noticed I skipped five, that review for We’ll Never Be Apart will be posted in September, closer to the book’s publication).