John McWilliams (4)

This is an ideal read for sci-fi nerds which mixes a fair dash of action-adventure in with his near-future ‘what if?’ thought experiment.
So if the idea of stroking Schrödinger's cat for a couple of hundred pages fills you with dread then don’t worry: there’s ultra-fast jets, trips to the ISS, semi-psychotic FBI agents (chosen for their limited empathy cos that makes them more efficient in the field), and über-nerds who not only figure out how to send messages back in time, but also happen to be top-dan martial artists and zen philosophers to boot.

The writing is crisp and accessible, the characters and situations lightly sketched with just enough detail to grab the gist of the plot without being weighed down by stacks of back-story. The bantering dialogue between the FBI guys is crisp and witty; the exposition about time paradoxes – and how they can’t happen – is less digestible, but it’s a necessary part of the plot. The dazzlingly attractive protagonists, all white teeth, square jaws and high IQs, all came straight out of central casting…

Landfall neatly jumps back n forth between two narratives in time, the later one picking up the threads of what happened 30 years earlier. The mystery itself isn’t too puzzling, but the gradual reveal of the stages leading up to the Big Moment is a lot of fun. There’s scope for the author to play around with some interesting debates provoked by future knowledge.

The writing doesn’t go kneedeep into equations, but you do get the impression this story could’ve started out as a late-night debate between mildly spliffed-up post-grads, with much scribbling on serviettes and earnest scratching of beards.

The plot, dialogue and central conceit were more than enough to keep me entertained and to see past the occasional moments of short-cut characterisation which stretch credibility. I definitely enjoyed the intellectual debate, jazzed up in its action-adventure wrapper, and will happily read more by this author.
7/10

There's some more thoughts on the book over at
https://murdermayhemandmore.wordpress.com/2015/09/02/landfall-an-action-packed-a...… (altro)

A very interesting premise and decent storytelling combine to make this an above average tale of the possibilities for sending messages backwards through time.

The story opens as a space capsule is discovered in the Canadian Rockies. It appears to contain parts of a reverse messaging experiment that had been on an orbiting space station blown up 30 years in the past (our present) by the scientist doing the experiment. All of the major militaries want the technology because of the huge advantage it would provide - if it works. The capsule is retrieved by two rather deadly FBI agents, who suspect that the time experiment is still being run and nearing its conclusion. In alternating chapters the reader is given the events leading up to the explosion.

There's little character development here, but this isn't the kind of story that needs it. The action's the thing, and both narratives move the story forward quickly to give the novel its tension and to explain the theories involved so that the conclusion, which fits perfectly, makes sense. A very enjoyable quick read.… (altro)