Review: More Perfect Than You Think
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 10 17, 2013
I'm amazed about how Patrick Hatt can continue to come up with such incredible, imaginative storylines for his books. I've already read a few of them, and it seems like there are always more to pick up when I'm done. In fact, I'm not even amazed—I'm worried! Maybe he's an alien too, from a planet where every idea is solid gold and heartpounding action is just something that happens on a daily basis. I mean, how else could someone continue to write stories so rich in texture and excitement?Well, alien or not, he's done it again with A Not So Perfect World. I bought this book immediately after finishing A Not So Barren World, but unfortunately it's taken me a few days to find the time to sit down and read it. I know once I start I'll be up late a few nights in a row, burning the midnight desk lamp, so to speak. The science fiction aspect of this one is extremely highlighted, and we're treated to everything from alien armies to time travel, with a healthy mix of the now-familiar mythology thrown in to shake everything up a bit.If you enjoy science fiction from the likes of Card, Clarke, and Asimov, you'll be in good hands with this book. I think what really turns a science fiction story into a classic is the human aspect; put a regular person in an otherworldly environment and work out the ways they would naturally react to being there. With so much potential and bizarre creatures in science fiction, the humanity of a story grounds it and helps you relate to what's going on. This book (and so far the other ones in this series) have pulled that off with flying colors. I can't help but sit on my couch and root for Jack and Emily as absolutely NOTHING seems to go their way. Just when they think they're out of the frying pan, they feel the searing touch of flames licking at their sneakers and you know the story is about to get that much crazier.There are pieces of this that might be hard to follow if you're starting with this book before reading the previous ones, but like the Ender series, you can still manage to figure out what's going on well enough to enjoy it on its own. I basically read the Ender series backwards, starting with Xenocide, then Speaker for the Dead, and finally Ender's Game, then going back up to Children of the Mind. Even so, I thoroughly enjoyed each of the books, and it gave me a chance to reread the series in the correct order afterwards. A Not So Perfect World is very similar to that. It helps if you've read the earlier books first, but even if you haven't you're still going to get so wrapped up in this book you'll find it hard to put it down.