Knowing my love of time loop and time travel fiction, several people recommended a book called Recursion. Before I say anything else (very minor thematic spoilers below), I think Blake Crouch did a wonderful job with this novel, and I’d suggest it to pretty much anyone who loves character-driven, page-turning speculative fiction.
Recursion’s premise is that a small number of people are suffering from a disease in which they’re flooded with memories of lives they didn’t live. They’re hit hard with these memories–one moment they’re not there, the next they are. I can imagine this would be disorienting at best, devastating at worst.
The book follows two characters: A detective with a major loss in his past and a scientist exploring a way to map memories. In the scientist’s plotline, one of my favorite sci-fi tropes is introduced early on: A billionaire investor with a desire to bring a specific technological vision to life. I wonder if any real-life eccentric billionaires are working on sci-fi level machines.
I really don’t want to say more than that, as Crouch seems to be a master of unraveling information, and I don’t want to spoil anything more than I already have. I enjoyed the book so much that I bought and am now reading another stand-alone book by him, Dark Matter.
If you’ve read Recursion, what did you think? It’s okay to discuss spoilers in the comments if you mark them as such.
I’m interested to hear what you think about Dark Matter. I’ve read it, but not Recursion. I wonder how it compares.
I enjoyed both Recursion and Dark Matter and that each book was unique. If you enjoy time loop stories, I’d recommend The 7 1/2 Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle by Stuart Turton as well as Replay by Ken Grimwood.
Thanks Eric! I’ve read both of those. I really enjoyed Replay.
I love recursion! It’s such a great blend of sci-fi and emotion. I walked away from it having a deeper (or wanting a deeper) appreciation for my parents and learning their stories.
I knew that I had read both of these (DM & Recursion) in that order. I am not a die-hard deep in the weeds sci-fi guy and Dark Matter introduced me to some sci-fi topics that might be second nature for some. I still highly recommend both books to new and old sci-fi fans. Both had me thinking about big picture topics during and after the reading. I am always waiting for Blake Crouch’s next book.
Bought the audiobook and listened to it after reading the first couple of lines of this post. I enjoyed it a lot. Buying Dark Matter now. So thanks for that. 🙂