Review: A really nice reprieve from the formulaic novels of the genre
Rating: 3 out of 5
Date: 10 2, 2013
I'm new to the genre, but out of the 40 or so I've read, I've found there are a lot of common elements (Delta Force-like hero, violence, pseudo-science instead of real science, etc.).  Anomaly breaks with all of the tired traditions to give you something really new and unique.  It was nice to read something that's different, that probes really interesting scientific questions, and keeps the science (at least the Earth science) real and believable.The only criticism I have for this novel is that the character called Mason is not consistent with his own back story.  When a story gives a character a PhD in science, you have to expect him/her to be one of the sharpest pencils in the drawer.  The character Mason is used to draw scientific explanations out of the school teacher, but with a PhD in science he comes off like an idiot (which the story is not trying to portray him as).  Mason should have been a military captain with a background in music or history in order for his character to fit the story better.But I really liked the story.  I read the last 6-8 chapters without being able to put the book down.  I love a book that does that.Thanks, Peter, for a really original sci-fi first-encounter book.  It was very enjoyable.