The End of Mr. Y

Magic to take you somewhere else and deeper within 2010-07-07

Reviewer: J. L. TAYLOR-JONES

This is one of the best books I have ever read. Thomas is like a new Atwood for me, melding the ability to create a dark new world with something so intrinsically human that it never seems that far from home.
Do I like this because I am a female university lecturer and research student with more than a passing interest in philosophy, quantum physics and the paranormal? It can't be discounted. But I also love the mystery and magic in this book which lies somewhere between Harry Potter and The Illusionist, the ability of the main protagonist to keep striving through adversity by creating new ideas and possibilities, and the raw filth which appears periodically to distance this book from a fluffy teen adventure.
It is fair to say that some of the descriptions of scientific and philosophical ideas are either too long or too simplistic, something difficult to gauge for an unlimited audience. Also the story when told from what appears to be embellished personal experience feels richer than that told from other positions, for example that of a non-human (to avoid spoilers).
However, these things by no mean detract from the overall feeling in the book and it was one of the very few book endings which felt satisfying to me, and was a multi-layered, paradoxical and wonderful idea.
I have read other reviews which say that the ideas within are so fanciful that it spoils the book as it is neither fantasy nor reality- I would argue that this is exactly the point- a thought experiment takes us to the limits of experience and encourages us to question what it is to be alive. Other books which may support this edge of awareness thinking are 'The Sense of Being Stared At' by Sheldrake, 'The Holographic Universe by Talbot' and 'The Field' by McTaggart.

A fantastic find for the curious.

Challenging read 2010-06-26

Reviewer: K. Golding

I had assumed from the author's name that this was going to be a chicklit book - a reminder never to make assumptions! Much of the physics in the book was a mystery (Mr Y) to me but it didn't matter - a cracking, intelligently worked out plot that makes you think about life itself, think about thinking itself even, debates the God issue and the ethics of using lab rats plus giving you an unusual, feisty heroine. Some have complained about the treatment of sex in the book. For me, Thomas has a great gift for writing about sex evocatively but without being graphically explicit and ruining it. And the ending which has annoyed some people? Worked for me, in that it explained the Dawkins/archbishop split perfectly. I loved it.

"It's time to go again to your blue room Got some questions to ask of you in your blue room" 2010-06-16

Reviewer: Oliveman

An odd book this, a melting pot of fantasy, a discourse on consciousness, thriller, time travel, philosophy, science fiction and fact. Is this is a deep book or is it pretentious? Fairly well written and can be read quickly. It starts off really well and the plot is mostly intriguing although there are moments when interest begins to wane. I found the excerpts of the 19th century book tiresome and not particularly convincing. The main character's damaged background was somewhat overdone; in fact the characters are not very believable and did not draw this reader's sympathy. The jury is still out but read it and make your own mind.

Rubbish 2010-06-11

Reviewer: R. Carter

This book was such a disappointment. What I thought was going to be an exciting read about a cursed 19th century book actually turned out to be some bizarre sci-fi adventure into a made-up world. What's worse is Thomas's seemingly constant quest to prove her academic credentials, going off into hugely long discussions of Derida, Heidegger and physics....NO ONE CARES! It's supposed to be a novel, not a philosophy/science lesson, and the didactic tone is irritating.
All in all, the book starts well and then gets worse and worse until it's nothing more than a pointless, tedious exhibition of Thomas's knowledge of various confusing subjects and a journey into an imaginary world of mice and mind-reading.

Absolutely would not recommend.

BRILLIANT! 2010-05-31

Reviewer: K. S. Arora

A solid mind-bender that just knocked my socks off, considering I read this immediately after another fantastical action caper that unfolded on the edge of consciousness in Steven Hall's Raw Shark Texts. Besides sharing the publisher, the publishing year and how much fun these seminally talented young writers have with their splendidly constructed absurdia and how inspired their covers and typographical plays are, as trips they couldn't be more dissimilar. And boy what a trip EOMY offers, I am in awe of Thomas' literary skill and cannot wait to get my hands on Popco. This is what that turgid Sophie's World should have been, but isn't.

EOMY's first act is shaky, a string of conveniences that test your suspension of disbelief to the brink of irritation, but in Ariel Manto, the main heroine: a PhD student who typifies your broke-London-student-next door, Thomas invests so much humanity and earnest curiosity in her, you don't want to be cruel and give the next chapter a try before writing this book off. And boy, are you rewarded or what. So, this student finds a rare cursed book from the 19th century (same name as the one you are reading the review of)-a book she was always insanely intrigued by, considering it involves a detailing of a vignette by a certain Mr Y as he volunteers for an out-of-body experience at a local fair, and pursues the substance that helped him enter this alternate reality where he had access to other people's minds. This also gave him a perfect means to acquire the ingredients of the said substance. Snap to the present, and the page with the ingredients turns up in a bizarre place, her mentor's missing, she's being followed by two nefarious CIA impersonators and as the neighbouring building collapses, she gets two new colleagues which starts a string of crackling conversations and an adventure spanning across two realities.

It is a stomping good ride when it gets going. Those first telepathic descriptions when Ariel invades the mind space of a mouse, then a preying cat and then another mouse astound you with their sensory accuracy, so much so that when the author increases the wattage and starts transferring her heroine's consciousness to people around her, you are taken aback by the sleight of her narrating power: all the internal monologues of the hosting mortals throb with a life all their own. From teenagers, to gays to marksmen to scientists, it is spectacular being able to enter so many heads and read about these different lives in their own distinct commentaries. All this is punctuated by some of the most mind-racking heart-to-hearts about the nature of things, where our heroine gets to have some of the most cerebral (and totally entertaining) conversations about the "big questions" of existence. Theology, quantum physics,poststructuralism,phenomenology.. they all get roped in (not just casually mentioned) as our curious protagonist bounces off concepts and actions and motivations off her new boyfriend, then her mentor's partner to determine her next set of decisions. Hell, while running from vile autistic kids and persistent assassins in the alternate reality, she even manages to share a coffee with a mouse-God every now and then to understand this separate, parallel world of thoughts where all the action's taking place. Bursting with breakthroughs and fabulously engaging epiphanies, the author has penned Ariel with as much indecision and ingenuity as any reluctant but sincere commoner might be, if thrown in her place that as she overcomes these milestones, steels up and becomes this formidable female figure traipsing through people's minds across time and space to change the course of history, (questioning even the minutest of her intentions and turns of her course), it is one jaw-dropping mission that's unputdownable to the last word.

I cannot praise Thomas' command on description or imagery enough as she conjures this parallel world with so much distinct texture and such care, (stuff like trains of various emotions, push-button consoles in Aerial's vision-field: a totally plausible universe constructed by a post-modern, internet and FX n CGI-familiar Ariel), a whole document of rules on movement, time, distance and nature of existence here, that she manages, in her own way to offer a surreally warped but infinitely exciting view of the life as we know it. Literal accounts read and throw elaborate and deliciously cool metaphors, the exactness in description and the arresting imagery: I was reading this on so many levels at one point, I had to tear my eyes away to just take a breath. And to root it all, Ariel' love and sex conquests are fearsomely real and relatable in her actual reality as magnificently epic they are in the alternate one. A genre-busting caper, sort of like Harry Potter on acid, that is as fiercely imaginative as it is pulsating with real life. What's not to like? One of the most remarkable reads of this decade.