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The Side-Step Trilogy #1
Wakers
From the New York Times bestselling author of Enders Game comes a brand-new series following a teen who wakes up on an abandoned Earth to discover that he’s a clone.
Laz is a side-stepper: a teen with the incredible power to jump his consciousness to alternate versions of himself in parallel worlds. All his life, there was no mistake that a little side-stepping couldn’t fix.
Until Laz wakes up one day in a cloning facility on a seemingly abandoned Earth.
Laz finds himself surrounded by hundreds of other clones, all dead, and quickly realizes that he too must be a clone of his original self. Laz has no idea what happened to the world he remembers as vibrant and bustling only yesterday, and he struggles to survive in the barren wasteland he’s now trapped in. But the question that haunts him isn’t why was he created, but instead, who woke him up…and why?
There’s only a single bright spot in Laz’s new life: one other clone appears to still be alive, although she remains asleep. Deep down, Laz believes that this girl holds the key to the mysteries plaguing him, but if he wakes her up, she’ll be trapped in this hellscape with him.
This is one problem that Laz can’t just side-step his way out of.
Laz is a side-stepper: a teen with the incredible power to jump his consciousness to alternate versions of himself in parallel worlds. All his life, there was no mistake that a little side-stepping couldn’t fix.
Until Laz wakes up one day in a cloning facility on a seemingly abandoned Earth.
Laz finds himself surrounded by hundreds of other clones, all dead, and quickly realizes that he too must be a clone of his original self. Laz has no idea what happened to the world he remembers as vibrant and bustling only yesterday, and he struggles to survive in the barren wasteland he’s now trapped in. But the question that haunts him isn’t why was he created, but instead, who woke him up…and why?
There’s only a single bright spot in Laz’s new life: one other clone appears to still be alive, although she remains asleep. Deep down, Laz believes that this girl holds the key to the mysteries plaguing him, but if he wakes her up, she’ll be trapped in this hellscape with him.
This is one problem that Laz can’t just side-step his way out of.
400 pages, Hardcover
First published February 22, 2022
About the author
Orson Scott Card
830 books20k followersOrson Scott Card is an American writer known best for his science fiction works. He is (as of 2023) the only person to have won a Hugo Award and a Nebula Award in consecutive years, winning both awards for his novel Ender's Game (1985) and its sequel Speaker for the Dead (1986). A feature film adaptation of Ender's Game, which Card co-produced, was released in 2013. Card also wrote the Locus Fantasy Award-winning series The Tales of Alvin Maker (1987–2003).
Card's fiction often features characters with exceptional gifts who make difficult choices with high stakes. Card has also written political, religious, and social commentary in his columns and other writing; his opposition to homosexuality has provoked public criticism.
Card, who is a great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, was born in Richland, Washington, and grew up in Utah and California. While he was a student at Brigham Young University (BYU), his plays were performed on stage. He served in Brazil as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and headed a community theater for two summers. Card had 27 short stories published between 1978 and 1979, and he won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer in 1978. He earned a master's degree in English from the University of Utah in 1981 and wrote novels in science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, and historical fiction genres starting in 1979. Card continued to write prolifically, and he has published over 50 novels and 45 short stories.
Card teaches English at Southern Virginia University; he has written two books on creative writing and serves as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest. He has taught many successful writers at his "literary boot camps". He remains a practicing member of the LDS Church and Mormon fiction writers Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Sanderson, and Dave Wolverton have cited his works as a major influence.
Card's fiction often features characters with exceptional gifts who make difficult choices with high stakes. Card has also written political, religious, and social commentary in his columns and other writing; his opposition to homosexuality has provoked public criticism.
Card, who is a great-great-grandson of Brigham Young, was born in Richland, Washington, and grew up in Utah and California. While he was a student at Brigham Young University (BYU), his plays were performed on stage. He served in Brazil as a missionary for the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints (LDS Church) and headed a community theater for two summers. Card had 27 short stories published between 1978 and 1979, and he won the John W. Campbell Award for best new writer in 1978. He earned a master's degree in English from the University of Utah in 1981 and wrote novels in science fiction, fantasy, non-fiction, and historical fiction genres starting in 1979. Card continued to write prolifically, and he has published over 50 novels and 45 short stories.
Card teaches English at Southern Virginia University; he has written two books on creative writing and serves as a judge in the Writers of the Future contest. He has taught many successful writers at his "literary boot camps". He remains a practicing member of the LDS Church and Mormon fiction writers Stephenie Meyer, Brandon Sanderson, and Dave Wolverton have cited his works as a major influence.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 383 reviews
February 18, 2022
Wakers by Orson Scott Card is a young adult science fiction fantasy novel. Wakers is listed as the first book in the The Side-Step Trilogy although this first book read as if it could of been a standalone story.
When he was younger Laz discovered that he had the ability to side-step. Laz could jump his own consciousness to alternate versions of himself in parallel worlds. This ability came in quite handy to Laz fixing mistakes he made in his life by finding a reality with the outcome that he wanted to happen instead of the choices that could have bad consequences in his life.
One day Laz wakes up in a strange box not knowing what or how he got there. Laz discovers that while he feels like himself he is in a cloning facility so Laz is actually a clone of his former self. To make matters even worse Laz finds that the town he woke up in is abandoned and has no idea what happened to the world around him.
First, I will admit I was a little leary picking up Wakers by Orson Scott Card due to reading quite a few books with alternate realities and finding them usually confusing. Finding one by such a well known and loved author though I couldn’t resist checking out Wakers and I’m glad I did. The beginning is a tad slow but I still found myself engaged and wondering more and more what would happen and by the time the story takes off I was hooked. Definitely a fun read and I would certainly return to the series.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/
When he was younger Laz discovered that he had the ability to side-step. Laz could jump his own consciousness to alternate versions of himself in parallel worlds. This ability came in quite handy to Laz fixing mistakes he made in his life by finding a reality with the outcome that he wanted to happen instead of the choices that could have bad consequences in his life.
One day Laz wakes up in a strange box not knowing what or how he got there. Laz discovers that while he feels like himself he is in a cloning facility so Laz is actually a clone of his former self. To make matters even worse Laz finds that the town he woke up in is abandoned and has no idea what happened to the world around him.
First, I will admit I was a little leary picking up Wakers by Orson Scott Card due to reading quite a few books with alternate realities and finding them usually confusing. Finding one by such a well known and loved author though I couldn’t resist checking out Wakers and I’m glad I did. The beginning is a tad slow but I still found myself engaged and wondering more and more what would happen and by the time the story takes off I was hooked. Definitely a fun read and I would certainly return to the series.
I received an advance copy from the publisher via NetGalley.
For more reviews please visit https://carriesbookreviews.com/
March 1, 2022
There was a good chunk of this book where I was ready to give it a 1 star review. It got a lot better but OSC spent WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY WAY too much time going on and on and on about how each little thing affected how they felt about it, each other, their situation, others, their dogs etc.. it was just endless. It really hurt the book. The book did get better, or maybe I just learned to tune that part out. I have to say I am not sure I would read the sequel to this, it was just so frustrating. They would be going on for what seemed like an eternity on well you feel this way or you did this because of how you think it will make me feel then finally something would happen and it would reset the this is how it felt to me barrage. This was so frustrating, I hope this is not how he plans on writing from now on.
I cant believe they delayed the final Formic War book to write this, or maybe he did not write it because he was having writers block and this is the result.
I feel like I should add that I am normally a huge Orson Scott Card fan, I love the Ender series and reread Ender's Game and Shadow every so often. I love the pathfinder series, I am enjoying the micropowers books as well. I went into this expecting another series like those. I did see too much of this in the last micropowers book and I am worried that this is where its going from here on in.
I cant believe they delayed the final Formic War book to write this, or maybe he did not write it because he was having writers block and this is the result.
I feel like I should add that I am normally a huge Orson Scott Card fan, I love the Ender series and reread Ender's Game and Shadow every so often. I love the pathfinder series, I am enjoying the micropowers books as well. I went into this expecting another series like those. I did see too much of this in the last micropowers book and I am worried that this is where its going from here on in.
February 24, 2022
Boring. So much potential!!! I was really excited to read this book, but he spends so much time trying to legitimize his sci-fi process. The story between the two main characters never felt real or realistic. I almost quit reading (audiobook) this book, but due to my love of other OSC books, i finished. I won't read the series. I won't recommend this book.
January 18, 2022
So with this book I had to put aside my love for his Ender’s Game series in order to not compare it. It’s a new work and new world and it is beautiful. The loneliness of our main character is sad he talks to himself and the dogs and has debates with himself on whether or not he should wake the only other person he knows to be alive. He’s left pondering on the morals and he explores the town he’s left in with his newfound pack of dogs. Finally has no choice but to wake her up and they learn from each other. Once awake they hide from the New Place and try to figure out why they are cloned. They eventually are told what they are meant to do , but not what they’re originals had done. All I can say without spoiling anymore is this is going to be next required high school reading in another couple of years. This is such a great book!
May 23, 2022
Stars: 2 out of 5.
DNF at 70%, so you darn right I'm leaving a review for this, since I put so much effort into this book!
I am very disappointed. I loved The Ender's Game by the same author so I had high hope for this story as well.
And the beginning was pretty good actually: intriguing and suspenseful. I was along for the ride with Laz, and even his constant monologue and the tendency to over-analyze every little thing to death wasn't all that annoying at first. He was looking for answers, after all, and we, as the reader were looking for them with him. Yes, the pacing was rather slow, but I was willing to forgive that as long as I got the answers I was looking for in the end.
Then Laz finally wakes up Ivy... and things took a nosedive from there.
First of all, the pace, which was already slow, became glacial. I mean the story progression grinded to a halt to be replaced by pages and pages of mindless and mind-numbing dialogue between two obnoxious teenagers. It was pointless. It wasn't interesting. It didn't bring ANYTHING useful to the story. It made my eyes roll back in my head and make me want to take a nap every time I opened the book. It's an endless stream of verbal vomit between two people who I found more and more unlikeable the further in the book I got.
Because most of the book is written in these horrible dialogues, the author does a lot of telling, but almost no showing. The characters debate scientific theories, explain to each other things that should be self-evident for them just so the reader can catch up with the science here. Problem is, the reader has checked out ten pages ago.
I got no sense of the world, because the descriptions are almost non-existent. It's all just Laz made a snide remark, Ivy retorted with something the author meant to sound smart, but just made her sound like a spoiled brat, Laz retaliated in the same fashion, blah, blah, blah.... twenty pages later we still haven't learned anything new and the story hasn't progressed an inch. Heck, I don't even know what the dogs in the pack of four look like because mighty Laz didn't care enough about it to talk about it.
I understand that this is a YA book, but I still didn't particularly appreciate how all adults are described as complete idiots. Seriously, Laz and Ivy have this "better then everyone else" attitude to them when they talk to anybody else that would never have worked in the real world. You might be smart and possess a unique ability, but you are still a teenager, no you are a clone with fake memories, so if you talk to me this way, you will get smacked.
I think that's my biggest pet peeve with the author's approach - you CAN create smart and resourceful teenagers without making them disrespectful at the same time. It made me hate the main characters more and more, and by the end I didn't care about them or finding the answers to the big questions enough to read through the last 30% of obnoxious dialogue.
I will not continue with the series. I will definitely not recommend this book. And if this is the author's new style of writing, I doubt I will try any of his newer book going forward. I'd rather re-read the Ender's Game.
PS: I received a free copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
DNF at 70%, so you darn right I'm leaving a review for this, since I put so much effort into this book!
I am very disappointed. I loved The Ender's Game by the same author so I had high hope for this story as well.
And the beginning was pretty good actually: intriguing and suspenseful. I was along for the ride with Laz, and even his constant monologue and the tendency to over-analyze every little thing to death wasn't all that annoying at first. He was looking for answers, after all, and we, as the reader were looking for them with him. Yes, the pacing was rather slow, but I was willing to forgive that as long as I got the answers I was looking for in the end.
Then Laz finally wakes up Ivy... and things took a nosedive from there.
First of all, the pace, which was already slow, became glacial. I mean the story progression grinded to a halt to be replaced by pages and pages of mindless and mind-numbing dialogue between two obnoxious teenagers. It was pointless. It wasn't interesting. It didn't bring ANYTHING useful to the story. It made my eyes roll back in my head and make me want to take a nap every time I opened the book. It's an endless stream of verbal vomit between two people who I found more and more unlikeable the further in the book I got.
Because most of the book is written in these horrible dialogues, the author does a lot of telling, but almost no showing. The characters debate scientific theories, explain to each other things that should be self-evident for them just so the reader can catch up with the science here. Problem is, the reader has checked out ten pages ago.
I got no sense of the world, because the descriptions are almost non-existent. It's all just Laz made a snide remark, Ivy retorted with something the author meant to sound smart, but just made her sound like a spoiled brat, Laz retaliated in the same fashion, blah, blah, blah.... twenty pages later we still haven't learned anything new and the story hasn't progressed an inch. Heck, I don't even know what the dogs in the pack of four look like because mighty Laz didn't care enough about it to talk about it.
I understand that this is a YA book, but I still didn't particularly appreciate how all adults are described as complete idiots. Seriously, Laz and Ivy have this "better then everyone else" attitude to them when they talk to anybody else that would never have worked in the real world. You might be smart and possess a unique ability, but you are still a teenager, no you are a clone with fake memories, so if you talk to me this way, you will get smacked.
I think that's my biggest pet peeve with the author's approach - you CAN create smart and resourceful teenagers without making them disrespectful at the same time. It made me hate the main characters more and more, and by the end I didn't care about them or finding the answers to the big questions enough to read through the last 30% of obnoxious dialogue.
I will not continue with the series. I will definitely not recommend this book. And if this is the author's new style of writing, I doubt I will try any of his newer book going forward. I'd rather re-read the Ender's Game.
PS: I received a free copy via NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.
August 3, 2022
A solidly interesting sci-fi setup dragged down by annoying relationship development and a less than satisfying ending. Card seems to repeatedly start books with high enthusiasm, totally lose interest, and begrudgingly finish writing.
Oh crap; this is supposed to be a trilogy? Card really needs to negotiate better contracts.
Oh crap; this is supposed to be a trilogy? Card really needs to negotiate better contracts.
February 26, 2022
Analyze This...
No spoilers. 2 stars. I'll start off this review by saying this: I only got to 22% and found the story so boring that I didn't want to go into the weekend still struggling with it...
The plot is futuristic and centers around a teenager named Lazarus (Laz) who is a clone waking up to a world where he believes he's the last human on Earth...
Lazarus come forth...
There is a teenage girl in another pod where Lazarus was stored who looks alive and he goes back and forth on waking her...
In fact...
Laz analyzes and over-analyzes EVERYTHING including where to sleep, get food and water, the animals, who are strangely alive when humankind is dead...
He even analyzes where to sh*t...
Well you get the point...
For further analyzation, Lazarus has the unique ability to side step into other timestreams to escape unwanted situations and their consequences...
Whew! Boring!...
I rarely stop reading a book once I start it but this was an exception. I gave up at 22% because the story went over and over.... and over the same ground and it just wasn't entertaining (and isn't that why we read... to relax and be entertained on some level?).
Consider yourselves warned. HOMEBODY by this author was a much better story. If you're looking for a good story centering around cloning, CONSTANCE by Matthew Fitzsimmons is excellent.
No spoilers. 2 stars. I'll start off this review by saying this: I only got to 22% and found the story so boring that I didn't want to go into the weekend still struggling with it...
The plot is futuristic and centers around a teenager named Lazarus (Laz) who is a clone waking up to a world where he believes he's the last human on Earth...
Lazarus come forth...
There is a teenage girl in another pod where Lazarus was stored who looks alive and he goes back and forth on waking her...
In fact...
Laz analyzes and over-analyzes EVERYTHING including where to sleep, get food and water, the animals, who are strangely alive when humankind is dead...
He even analyzes where to sh*t...
Well you get the point...
For further analyzation, Lazarus has the unique ability to side step into other timestreams to escape unwanted situations and their consequences...
Whew! Boring!...
I rarely stop reading a book once I start it but this was an exception. I gave up at 22% because the story went over and over.... and over the same ground and it just wasn't entertaining (and isn't that why we read... to relax and be entertained on some level?).
Consider yourselves warned. HOMEBODY by this author was a much better story. If you're looking for a good story centering around cloning, CONSTANCE by Matthew Fitzsimmons is excellent.
March 6, 2022
Like his last few books, OSC has way too much speculative dialog to really enjoy this book. To explore every possibility of a set of circumstances gets extremely tedious. However, it was an interesting idea to explore. Just wish it had more progression to the characters and the plot. I was going to rate this story two stars, but when I got to the end and discovered to my delight it is a stand alone, bumped my rating up to a three star.
January 14, 2022
I was excited to read something new by Sci-Fi great, Orson Scott Card. The opening of the story grabbed my attention and I was drawn to Laz as he "had risen into a life" as a clone. As he found solutions and workarounds for how to navigate this isolated place he discovered himself, the reader bonds with his thoughtful actions and inner dialogue. And, even as the story unfolds to include others, I was still hanging on; interested in how this would all turn out... however, at about 60% it just becomes too much science to be an escape. My brain hurt trying to keep up with what was developing and I just wasn't enjoying the plot as much. Eventually, by the end of the story, I've rediscovered my love of the characters and who they are, but... wow... could have done with getting there a little faster. Orson Scott Card may just be too brilliant to be considered entertaining in this latest standalone.
April 15, 2022
*Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC. All opinions expressed are my own.*
Because he was a teenager, and teenagers take pleasure in exploring wacky ideas, Laz Hayerian had wondered since the sixth grade whether we are the same person when we wake up that we were when we went to sleep.
-first line
The idea of a person who can sidestep into different time streams intrigued me and had amazing potential, but the book just didn’t live up to my expectations.
When Laz wakes up in a cloning facility alone, he explores the empty town. He wonders where all the people are and what exactly happened. As he tries to figure things out, he moves to a different time stream whenever something bad happens. Eventually, he finds another clone, wakes her up, and then they work together. When they finally find out why they were cloned and what is expected of them, it becomes an almost entirely new story.
The beginning of the book is a bit slow but still fascinating. Laz reflects on how he has always been able to sidestep his way out of trouble - get lost, sidestep into a time stream where you went another direction, get a bad grade, sidestep to one where you got an A, get into trouble, sidestep to one where you made different choices or didn’t get caught.
It took me forever to get through this book, because while the premise is compelling, the storytelling is a bit clumsy, and the dialogue is awful. The back and forth between Laz and Ivy is irritating, to say the least. I like Laz’s sarcastic nature and while Ivy can be a bit prickly, I didn’t mind her character either. The problem was, that anytime they had a conversation, I wanted to throw the book across the room.
Because he was a teenager, and teenagers take pleasure in exploring wacky ideas, Laz Hayerian had wondered since the sixth grade whether we are the same person when we wake up that we were when we went to sleep.
-first line
The idea of a person who can sidestep into different time streams intrigued me and had amazing potential, but the book just didn’t live up to my expectations.
When Laz wakes up in a cloning facility alone, he explores the empty town. He wonders where all the people are and what exactly happened. As he tries to figure things out, he moves to a different time stream whenever something bad happens. Eventually, he finds another clone, wakes her up, and then they work together. When they finally find out why they were cloned and what is expected of them, it becomes an almost entirely new story.
The beginning of the book is a bit slow but still fascinating. Laz reflects on how he has always been able to sidestep his way out of trouble - get lost, sidestep into a time stream where you went another direction, get a bad grade, sidestep to one where you got an A, get into trouble, sidestep to one where you made different choices or didn’t get caught.
It took me forever to get through this book, because while the premise is compelling, the storytelling is a bit clumsy, and the dialogue is awful. The back and forth between Laz and Ivy is irritating, to say the least. I like Laz’s sarcastic nature and while Ivy can be a bit prickly, I didn’t mind her character either. The problem was, that anytime they had a conversation, I wanted to throw the book across the room.
March 11, 2022
Wakers checks all the YA tropes and it just wasn't for me. The more I listened the more I didn't like it but I stuck it out to the end because I was curious and that's what I do.
Our story opens with teenaged Laz waking up inside some sort of pod in an abandoned city in North Carolina. He has no idea why he's there or how long the people have been gone. There is no fresh food so he eats out of old cans he finds in supermarkets and tries to avoid the wild animals and feral dogs who are after him. But danger doesn't matter, you see, because Laz is a side-stepper and can, at any time, slide in to an alternate reality in which there isn't a bear, or didn't have an accident, etc. So he's never, ever, *really* in danger. Well, Laz finds one other living person in a pod, a young teenaged lady. You can guess where this all goes.
I was surprised how boring the slowly unraveled science-fiction mystery was to me. We ultimately find out who Laz really is (but why was he abandoned with no food or protection?!?!) and what his purpose is. I have so many questions about so much that happened in this novel. So much just didn't make any sense to me.
In true YA fashion many adults are dumb-dumbs (Laz's step-dad's nickname is "Doofus") and the petulant teens tell us all about their "horny" feelings and what kissing is like when the aren't having one of their long, numerous, arguments.
This was written for a fifteen year-old boy and not some old crab cake.
Our story opens with teenaged Laz waking up inside some sort of pod in an abandoned city in North Carolina. He has no idea why he's there or how long the people have been gone. There is no fresh food so he eats out of old cans he finds in supermarkets and tries to avoid the wild animals and feral dogs who are after him. But danger doesn't matter, you see, because Laz is a side-stepper and can, at any time, slide in to an alternate reality in which there isn't a bear, or didn't have an accident, etc. So he's never, ever, *really* in danger. Well, Laz finds one other living person in a pod, a young teenaged lady. You can guess where this all goes.
I was surprised how boring the slowly unraveled science-fiction mystery was to me. We ultimately find out who Laz really is (but why was he abandoned with no food or protection?!?!) and what his purpose is. I have so many questions about so much that happened in this novel. So much just didn't make any sense to me.
In true YA fashion many adults are dumb-dumbs (Laz's step-dad's nickname is "Doofus") and the petulant teens tell us all about their "horny" feelings and what kissing is like when the aren't having one of their long, numerous, arguments.
This was written for a fifteen year-old boy and not some old crab cake.
February 16, 2022
Language: PG13 (22 swears, 0 “f”); Mature Content: PG13; Violence: PG
Laz (17yo) wakes up alone in a box in a lab. Getting out of his box shows that there are other boxes with people in them, but they’re dead. Leaving the lab only raises more questions when Laz discovers that he’s the only living person in the city and that there isn’t any writing anywhere – no books, no magazines, no ads, no trash. Is this all a coincidence, or is someone putting Laz through this on purpose?
Orson Scott Card has done it again – need I say more? Somehow, Card is able to strike a balance between complicated plots and scifi imaginings without overwhelming his readers. While I can’t honestly say that everything made sense and none of the theorizing went over my head, the questions that I have compelled me to keep reading to figure out the answers. I have enough questions left for a sequel to be a welcome continuation, but the ending of Wakers is also conclusive enough to be satisfying and let me ponder my remaining questions on my own. The mature content rating is for nudity and innuendo; the violence rating is for descriptions of corpses.
Reviewed for https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/
Laz (17yo) wakes up alone in a box in a lab. Getting out of his box shows that there are other boxes with people in them, but they’re dead. Leaving the lab only raises more questions when Laz discovers that he’s the only living person in the city and that there isn’t any writing anywhere – no books, no magazines, no ads, no trash. Is this all a coincidence, or is someone putting Laz through this on purpose?
Orson Scott Card has done it again – need I say more? Somehow, Card is able to strike a balance between complicated plots and scifi imaginings without overwhelming his readers. While I can’t honestly say that everything made sense and none of the theorizing went over my head, the questions that I have compelled me to keep reading to figure out the answers. I have enough questions left for a sequel to be a welcome continuation, but the ending of Wakers is also conclusive enough to be satisfying and let me ponder my remaining questions on my own. The mature content rating is for nudity and innuendo; the violence rating is for descriptions of corpses.
Reviewed for https://kissthebook.blogspot.com/
July 14, 2023
An interesting plot and likable characters, but TONS of introspection and theory, mostly with internal dialog of the main character. "What if?"
March 6, 2022
First sentence: Because he was a teenager, and teenagers take pleasure in exploring wacky ideas, Laz Hayerian had wondered since the sixth grade whether we are the same person when we wake up that we were when we went to sleep. Specifically, he wondered if he was the same person, because sometimes his dreams persisted in memory as if they had been real events. Did dream memories change him the way real memories did?
Premise/plot: Laz, our protagonist, wakes up in a coffin-like box alone in a warehouse of clones or would-be-clones. The other coffins/beds are either empty or with dead clones. He finds his way to an exit only to discover that he is alone. Not just alone, but a long-long-long-long time alone. From what he can deduce, humans haven't been living in this town/city for years--decades. So he has to find clothes, food, water, shelter. And a way to protect himself against wild animals--including pack dogs that have had generations without human ownership, care, or interaction.
Some of this plays out day by day by day by day by day. But some plays out in what would be a montage sequence. After months on his own, he goes back to his beginning...and discovers that out of all the clones (or would-be-clones) there is one--a young teen girl about his own age--that is not dead, whose coffin-bed is still functioning. She is his only chance of a companion...but being the last two people doesn't mean that she's his Eve and he's her Adam.
Both have different powers that make them "weird." He can side-step into different time-streams (think of them as being alternate realities). She can see other time-streams (sorta; she can see all the options and how they would play out in time-streams). Their weird gifts complement each other. She seems to know all about his gift; he has no clue about hers.
Long story short--these two carry a heavy burden, if "the world" (aka "the human race") is to be saved, they will have to work together and find a way to use their gifts in a way that they have never ever been used before.
My thoughts: If I had to sum up this book in one word--TEDIOUS. But of course, I am going to let it go at just one word. In all honesty, this four hundred page book felt like it had a thousand pages, each one just as slow and boring as watching grass grow.
The first third of the book had survival vibes. It was all about Laz using a long-abandoned remnants of modern society to try to survive. He had no answers to his questions. He didn't even know what questions to ask. He spent a LOT of time in his head and we readers were along for the ride. After Laz was joined by Ivy, well, the questions doubled, the answers remained elusive. But the tedium quadrupled. Seriously, you would think the fact that he now has human companionship would make the book more interesting, the plot move faster, but, nope. The dialogue was SO tedious and weighted with science-y science talk. Theoretical. Hypothetical. Speculative. Even when readers discover that the survival of the human race depends on these two, the plot stays as thick and sluggish as can be.
I think if you were looking for a premise-driven novel, you'd be disappointed by the slow pace. The world building is not as substantive as the premise would call for. We learn nothing about how this future world works. The development of the world, the peopling of the world, its strengths and flaws. The premise remains shallow.
I think if you were looking for an action/plot-driven novel, you'd be disappointed. It is very little action, all dialogue. And there is nothing compelling about the pacing. At all. I am not saying that there might not be a few readers who get super excited about the speculative theoretical nature of all this science-y science talk. Maybe there are.
I think you were looking for a character-driven novel, you'd be disappointed. We get to know two characters. And I won't lie and say that these two characters lack development. They are developed. It is just that that development doesn't necessarily make them fascinating, interesting, compelling, relatable, enjoyable. Neither is conventionally likeable. Perhaps that isn't fair. Ivy and Laz relate to each other. Ivy and Laz like each other. Ivy and Laz trust each other.
Quote: "When you invent a story to explain all the known facts, then of course the known facts will fit the story," said Laz, "It's a reciprocal arrangement."
March 10, 2022
Laz can side-step, which means if he gets an F on a test, he can just side-step into a parallel time where he got an A.
Laz wakes up in a cloning facility and quickly realizes he is... a clone. All of the other clones are dead, except 1 who is still marked as 'pending'. Kind of like that movie Passengers with Chris Pratt - Laz moves about his abandoned local finding food, water, and friendship in a pack of wild dogs - all waiting for the status of the other container to change.
THIS IS WHERE THE SYNOPSIS FOR THE BOOK STOPS. But what it really comes down to is that the Earth has been abandoned and some future or original self of Laz was able to project his side-stepping ability and move the people from a doomed Earth to another time where they are less doomed, so they can now find another timeline where they will truly not be doomed for good this time.
Apparently, this is supposed to be a series. I say meh to that.
I am a fan of Orson Scott Card so it is with deep regret that I say this book is actually annoying AF.
This book is very similar in style to the last micropowers book Duplex which just came out in September 2021. In fact, the character Laz in this book, Ezekiel from Micropowers #1, and Ryan from Micropowers #2 are very nearly the same character. They evoke the same feelings in the reader. That unsure guy who is actually really smart and worthwhile. That is all 3 of them.
This story and Duplex are definitely written in the same style - so much so that this book really could have been in the micropowers world with a couple of tweaks. The part that makes this one annoying and now retroactively Duplex is the way OSC has his characters talking constantly about the why and then circling around the same minute detail why why why. Well this didn't worth because blah blah blah, reply yes but blah blah blah, but then blah blah blah, of course but blah blah blah.
I had to skim-read or else suffer an aneurysm. Since I'm still here you know which avenue I took.
I won't be reading the rest of this series and now I won't be reading any more of the micropowers series.
I think I will read a book in the Ender series for a nice cleanse.
What happened:
Laz wakes up in a cloning facility and quickly realizes he is... a clone. All of the other clones are dead, except 1 who is still marked as 'pending'. Kind of like that movie Passengers with Chris Pratt - Laz moves about his abandoned local finding food, water, and friendship in a pack of wild dogs - all waiting for the status of the other container to change.
THIS IS WHERE THE SYNOPSIS FOR THE BOOK STOPS. But what it really comes down to is that the Earth has been abandoned and some future or original self of Laz was able to project his side-stepping ability and move the people from a doomed Earth to another time where they are less doomed, so they can now find another timeline where they will truly not be doomed for good this time.
Apparently, this is supposed to be a series. I say meh to that.
I am a fan of Orson Scott Card so it is with deep regret that I say this book is actually annoying AF.
This book is very similar in style to the last micropowers book Duplex which just came out in September 2021. In fact, the character Laz in this book, Ezekiel from Micropowers #1, and Ryan from Micropowers #2 are very nearly the same character. They evoke the same feelings in the reader. That unsure guy who is actually really smart and worthwhile. That is all 3 of them.
This story and Duplex are definitely written in the same style - so much so that this book really could have been in the micropowers world with a couple of tweaks. The part that makes this one annoying and now retroactively Duplex is the way OSC has his characters talking constantly about the why and then circling around the same minute detail why why why. Well this didn't worth because blah blah blah, reply yes but blah blah blah, but then blah blah blah, of course but blah blah blah.
I had to skim-read or else suffer an aneurysm. Since I'm still here you know which avenue I took.
I won't be reading the rest of this series and now I won't be reading any more of the micropowers series.
I think I will read a book in the Ender series for a nice cleanse.
What happened:
May 19, 2022
Laz is a side-stepper, someone with the ability to find other parallel worlds and seamlessly "side step" into them to escape the world he's in for a different world where he made other decisions. He wakes up in a cloning facility on an abandoned earth. His only human company are lots of other bodies at the facility, all dead except one: a girl about his age. He struggles trying to figure out what happened to the world around him, then works with the girl, Ivy, after she wakes up, only to discover that together they may hold the key to saving the rest of humanity.
This started off promising, then quickly took a nosedive. The first quarter or so of the book was just Laz exploring the world on his own, occasionally talking to himself or sharing a memory or writing in his "plog" (paper blog; previously known as a diary). Pretty much nothing happened, and although I was curious about the world, reading was rather tedious. I was about to stop reading the book when Ivy woke up and there started to be actual human interaction and a bit more explanation about what might be going on in the world. My interest was piqued, and I was glad I hadn't set the book aside, as it really picked up for a short time. But then it started to disintegrate. I ended up finishing the book, but that was more out of morbid curiosity and willpower than any real enjoyment.
I liked the premise of this book but don't think the book delivered. The story itself was decent, while the execution of it suffered from a lack of character development, heavy-handed exposition, and an awkward to painful romance subplot. This book is supposed to be YA, but it felt like it was written by someone decades past their own teenage experience. For example, when Laz reminisces about his old self (or what he remembers about his former life), he thinks about his stepfather, who is referred to as "Doofus" every time he's mentioned. When Laz falls in love with Ivy, he proclaims his love to her regularly and even wonders if they'll have kids together when they figure out how to save humanity. These parts were painful to read and felt so forced.
There were a few interesting bits in here, but overall, it didn't much hold my interest. I skimmed a good chunk of this to make it to the end. Parts were decent, but as a whole, this was uneven.
This started off promising, then quickly took a nosedive. The first quarter or so of the book was just Laz exploring the world on his own, occasionally talking to himself or sharing a memory or writing in his "plog" (paper blog; previously known as a diary). Pretty much nothing happened, and although I was curious about the world, reading was rather tedious. I was about to stop reading the book when Ivy woke up and there started to be actual human interaction and a bit more explanation about what might be going on in the world. My interest was piqued, and I was glad I hadn't set the book aside, as it really picked up for a short time. But then it started to disintegrate. I ended up finishing the book, but that was more out of morbid curiosity and willpower than any real enjoyment.
I liked the premise of this book but don't think the book delivered. The story itself was decent, while the execution of it suffered from a lack of character development, heavy-handed exposition, and an awkward to painful romance subplot. This book is supposed to be YA, but it felt like it was written by someone decades past their own teenage experience. For example, when Laz reminisces about his old self (or what he remembers about his former life), he thinks about his stepfather, who is referred to as "Doofus" every time he's mentioned. When Laz falls in love with Ivy, he proclaims his love to her regularly and even wonders if they'll have kids together when they figure out how to save humanity. These parts were painful to read and felt so forced.
There were a few interesting bits in here, but overall, it didn't much hold my interest. I skimmed a good chunk of this to make it to the end. Parts were decent, but as a whole, this was uneven.
February 27, 2022
Oh, where to start with this book?
It receives 2 stars because after about 1/3 of it, I thought it was awful. But it created enough curiosity in me to want to finish it. Also, it's not hard to read.
I should ding it another half a star because he brought in this whole Ivy-O/OrigiLaz story line that was just dropped to obviously be picked up in another book. It's a pet peeve of mine.
I never fully bought the world building. It's earth in the near enough future that the food and clothes and products haven't changed. But the technology is advanced enough for cloning, fast growing of clones in a box, and brain mapping. It just didn't seem real.
I read a lot of things where people have fantastic powers. But the rest of the book somehow "matches" the fantastic powers. Or the person with the superpower is an alien, like Superman. In this case, somehow this one dude had one power and this one girl had this other power. And they are the only ones with these complimentary powers. And they happen to have th egg m bestowed at the time of a cataclysmic event. And they happen to realize that they can work together. Then they save the world. But the people in charge 20 years earlier didn't do a good job. So they have these clones with brain maps that don't make sense fast grown in a kooky situation. Then they have to just figure it out. And figure out how to totally change their powers to do it differently. I don't buy it.
Lazy writing. Even the characters see that the writing was lazy with the Harris Teeter trucker coming by when he did.
Why the grocery store to have the toilet and light? Why a dead guy in a car outside the facility? Why not just put a suitcase in the back seat? Why not have a selection of clothes in a room adjacent the wake up room? Was there no toilet in that building? Why not have a break room with food in there?
The more I think about this, the more the story makes no sense. Card knows how to write a book about a teen who saves the world. It's too bad he didn't do it here.
I think there is 0% chance I will read the sequel.
It receives 2 stars because after about 1/3 of it, I thought it was awful. But it created enough curiosity in me to want to finish it. Also, it's not hard to read.
I should ding it another half a star because he brought in this whole Ivy-O/OrigiLaz story line that was just dropped to obviously be picked up in another book. It's a pet peeve of mine.
I never fully bought the world building. It's earth in the near enough future that the food and clothes and products haven't changed. But the technology is advanced enough for cloning, fast growing of clones in a box, and brain mapping. It just didn't seem real.
I read a lot of things where people have fantastic powers. But the rest of the book somehow "matches" the fantastic powers. Or the person with the superpower is an alien, like Superman. In this case, somehow this one dude had one power and this one girl had this other power. And they are the only ones with these complimentary powers. And they happen to have th egg m bestowed at the time of a cataclysmic event. And they happen to realize that they can work together. Then they save the world. But the people in charge 20 years earlier didn't do a good job. So they have these clones with brain maps that don't make sense fast grown in a kooky situation. Then they have to just figure it out. And figure out how to totally change their powers to do it differently. I don't buy it.
Lazy writing. Even the characters see that the writing was lazy with the Harris Teeter trucker coming by when he did.
Why the grocery store to have the toilet and light? Why a dead guy in a car outside the facility? Why not just put a suitcase in the back seat? Why not have a selection of clothes in a room adjacent the wake up room? Was there no toilet in that building? Why not have a break room with food in there?
The more I think about this, the more the story makes no sense. Card knows how to write a book about a teen who saves the world. It's too bad he didn't do it here.
I think there is 0% chance I will read the sequel.
January 18, 2024
The initial chapters were interesting and the concept had a lot of potential. However, this was one of the most disappointing books I have ever read. I liked the main character but it was hard to root for him because there were no risks or thrill in his decisions.
October 12, 2022
If this were a Shakespearean play, I would be in the stands, throwing rotten tomatoes at the actors.
June 6, 2024
Oké weer echt een beetje mixed feelings. Het begon echt super interessant en spooky en het pakte echt m'n aandacht maar het hele side stepping plot (ja ik weet dat dat het hele boek is) was gewoon niet echt 'het'. Kijk het was wel interessant maar AGAIN leuk idee, zeer matige uitwerking. Was echt matrix vibes aan het begin, love de apocalypse overleven in je uppie en oh er is toch nog een ander mens op aarde. Maar ja nadat ze door die portal gingen naar de new world was het gewoon een beetje saai geworden. Ivy-O's gekke sidequest wordt ook nooit uitgelegd/opgelost??? Ja gewoon echt jammer :/
2.8 sterren⭐️
2.8 sterren⭐️
February 5, 2024
There was too much dialog, and while it was better than the Pathfinder series. It still was a tedious read.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 5, 2023
Sadly...only three stars and a big old DNF about halfway into chapter eight.
I say sadly because I was REALLY interested in this and once I'd gotten through the first few chapters I was SO EXCITED to see where this was going.
But, disappointed is a thing.
Not all books go the way you hoped they would.
:(
Not saying this wasn't a TERRIBLE book, but it really wasn't for me after a bit.
Quick spoiler free review: Nothing wholly inappropriate, there is a whole...um...situation that has to do with...clothes not being around....nothing bad happens and it's super quick since Laz is a decent guy, but still...it gets brought up.
And uh if kissing bothers people there was some of that as far as I got.
(Not saying who kissed whom or if it even meant anything)
And there's a...
How do I say this without spoiling....
Character A offers to do something we don't do before marriage with character B, which goes absolutely nowhere because character B shoots that down, but still. It was said, in not super descriptive words so you can ignore it.
I think that's it for those related things-
Ummm....there's no gore for as far as I got, not sure for the rest of the book though.
There is a mention of dead people if that bothers anyone.
OH! Wait, for gore there was a part near the beginning of the book with some...old bodies...that um...fell apart really easily-
And if this is a trigger for anyone, it is thought by the main character that some dead people he found had um...killed themselves because there was an empty pill bottle in their car-
I think that's it for all those things.
Plot is interesting, Laz is a good character, a decent guy, ummm...
I'd say give it a shot if you're interested.
I stopped because I HATED a certain character and the plot got boring for me.
I stopped caring.
NOW ONTO MY SPOILER RIDDEN REVIEW WHICH EXPLAINS WHY I STOPPED IN MORE DETAIL.
Let's talk about the first reason why I was ready to drop the book (and did).
IVY
If only you'd actually been like how Laz imagined you.
Then I would have liked you as a character.
Grrrr...where to start...
First off, she's so-
Ugh-
She's rude, annoying, cold, lacking empathy.
I think it's a wall to hide how scared she is or whatever,
But it really only succeeded in making me dislike her.
Up to where I stopped, Laz didn't like her either. They only decided to be 'friends' so they'd stop acting like jerks to each other.
Oh! And her miss know-it-all-ness is also very annoying, but not because UGH SHE KNOWS EVERYTHING, it's more how she shares her knowledge. It's in a very, I'm better than you because I know the answers, which I HATE. I just felt bad for Laz because he's been slowly going insane for three months surviving alone and greets her when she wakes up so she doesn't have to go through it alone like he did and ALL SHE DOES IS ACT KINDA SNIPPY AND ROLLS HER EYES AT HIM.
DUDE!
And don't even get me started when she read Laz's private 'Plogs' and left that comment about how he can just side step so nothing bad happened.
BRO.
He still has to live with the memory of what happened and was going to happen.
He's still allowed to feel scared and unsure of what to do and feel nervous about the future and whatever else that plog was about because I forgot!
(Psst: Plog is short for paper blog if you're confused).
There were probably more examples of why I hate her that I've forgotten.
Onto the second thing that made me drop the book.
THE PLOT
I kind of knew I was going to feel at least a little disappointed once Laz figured everything out.
And I was right.
So everyone evacuated Earth through a portal to a version of Earth in another dimension that was not going to be affected by a giant ball of ice messing with the gravitational pull of the other planets, eventually causing everything to be pulled into the sun.
That's...it?
And now Ivy and Laz probably have too find a way to recreate what they're original and adult selves did for reasons I never figured out. Because I didn't care!
(Oh yeah, Ivy and Laz are clones btw....WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN COOLER IF EXECUTED DIFFERENTLY....like it got kinda shunted, but not shunted to the side at the same time? Sorry it's one a.m. and my brain isn't working).
Sigh...there's more to the story, I'm not explaining it well, but I just got bored is the bottom line of all this.
Bored and I hated Ivy and wanted to stop reading about her.
Okay....that's all...thanks for coming to my TED talk...
Goodnight! Peace out my homies ✌
[2 minute later edit]
ALSO! NO ONE WAS EVER DESCRIBED IN THE BOOK!
Laz, Ivy, the pack of four (a group of dogs), I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT ANYBODY LOOKED LIKE!
Which is kind of annoying because I like at least something vague so I can build off of it!
The end.
I say sadly because I was REALLY interested in this and once I'd gotten through the first few chapters I was SO EXCITED to see where this was going.
But, disappointed is a thing.
Not all books go the way you hoped they would.
:(
Not saying this wasn't a TERRIBLE book, but it really wasn't for me after a bit.
Quick spoiler free review: Nothing wholly inappropriate, there is a whole...um...situation that has to do with...clothes not being around....nothing bad happens and it's super quick since Laz is a decent guy, but still...it gets brought up.
And uh if kissing bothers people there was some of that as far as I got.
(Not saying who kissed whom or if it even meant anything)
And there's a...
How do I say this without spoiling....
Character A offers to do something we don't do before marriage with character B, which goes absolutely nowhere because character B shoots that down, but still. It was said, in not super descriptive words so you can ignore it.
I think that's it for those related things-
Ummm....there's no gore for as far as I got, not sure for the rest of the book though.
There is a mention of dead people if that bothers anyone.
OH! Wait, for gore there was a part near the beginning of the book with some...old bodies...that um...fell apart really easily-
And if this is a trigger for anyone, it is thought by the main character that some dead people he found had um...killed themselves because there was an empty pill bottle in their car-
I think that's it for all those things.
Plot is interesting, Laz is a good character, a decent guy, ummm...
I'd say give it a shot if you're interested.
I stopped because I HATED a certain character and the plot got boring for me.
I stopped caring.
NOW ONTO MY SPOILER RIDDEN REVIEW WHICH EXPLAINS WHY I STOPPED IN MORE DETAIL.
Let's talk about the first reason why I was ready to drop the book (and did).
IVY
If only you'd actually been like how Laz imagined you.
Then I would have liked you as a character.
Grrrr...where to start...
First off, she's so-
Ugh-
She's rude, annoying, cold, lacking empathy.
I think it's a wall to hide how scared she is or whatever,
But it really only succeeded in making me dislike her.
Up to where I stopped, Laz didn't like her either. They only decided to be 'friends' so they'd stop acting like jerks to each other.
Oh! And her miss know-it-all-ness is also very annoying, but not because UGH SHE KNOWS EVERYTHING, it's more how she shares her knowledge. It's in a very, I'm better than you because I know the answers, which I HATE. I just felt bad for Laz because he's been slowly going insane for three months surviving alone and greets her when she wakes up so she doesn't have to go through it alone like he did and ALL SHE DOES IS ACT KINDA SNIPPY AND ROLLS HER EYES AT HIM.
DUDE!
And don't even get me started when she read Laz's private 'Plogs' and left that comment about how he can just side step so nothing bad happened.
BRO.
He still has to live with the memory of what happened and was going to happen.
He's still allowed to feel scared and unsure of what to do and feel nervous about the future and whatever else that plog was about because I forgot!
(Psst: Plog is short for paper blog if you're confused).
There were probably more examples of why I hate her that I've forgotten.
Onto the second thing that made me drop the book.
THE PLOT
I kind of knew I was going to feel at least a little disappointed once Laz figured everything out.
And I was right.
So everyone evacuated Earth through a portal to a version of Earth in another dimension that was not going to be affected by a giant ball of ice messing with the gravitational pull of the other planets, eventually causing everything to be pulled into the sun.
That's...it?
And now Ivy and Laz probably have too find a way to recreate what they're original and adult selves did for reasons I never figured out. Because I didn't care!
(Oh yeah, Ivy and Laz are clones btw....WHICH COULD HAVE BEEN COOLER IF EXECUTED DIFFERENTLY....like it got kinda shunted, but not shunted to the side at the same time? Sorry it's one a.m. and my brain isn't working).
Sigh...there's more to the story, I'm not explaining it well, but I just got bored is the bottom line of all this.
Bored and I hated Ivy and wanted to stop reading about her.
Okay....that's all...thanks for coming to my TED talk...
Goodnight! Peace out my homies ✌
[2 minute later edit]
ALSO! NO ONE WAS EVER DESCRIBED IN THE BOOK!
Laz, Ivy, the pack of four (a group of dogs), I HAVE NO IDEA WHAT ANYBODY LOOKED LIKE!
Which is kind of annoying because I like at least something vague so I can build off of it!
The end.
February 25, 2022
There is a big difference between telling us what you want us to think about the story and storytelling. Card is a master story teller. Clear, inventive, caring. There is always something that makes me hope for the best in his characters.
I'm hooked. The writing. The characters. The premise.
I found myself dragging my feet to make the experience last longer because I didn't want it to end.
I'm hooked. The writing. The characters. The premise.
I found myself dragging my feet to make the experience last longer because I didn't want it to end.
December 13, 2021
Thank you to Netgalley and Simon and Schuster children’s publishing/Margaret K. McElderry Books for a review copy of this book.
I’ve been a fan of Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game book since I was a teenager, so I was excited to have the opportunity to review and read this novel.
This book was exactly what I was hoping and expecting from a book written by Card. The high concept about Laz being able to step into different versions of himself, essentially moving within the multiverses, was explained well and in an understanding way, but also interesting enough to be different.
The story really built the world well and you wanted Laz and Ivy to succeed and save everyone, but also to be together and get answers. Are they successful? Well you’ll have to read to find out!
I’ve been a fan of Orson Scott Card’s Ender’s Game book since I was a teenager, so I was excited to have the opportunity to review and read this novel.
This book was exactly what I was hoping and expecting from a book written by Card. The high concept about Laz being able to step into different versions of himself, essentially moving within the multiverses, was explained well and in an understanding way, but also interesting enough to be different.
The story really built the world well and you wanted Laz and Ivy to succeed and save everyone, but also to be together and get answers. Are they successful? Well you’ll have to read to find out!
June 28, 2022
This novel was written for a YA audience, so romantic interests go no further than kisses. But that in no way constrains the potential of drama.
Wakers has a great premise, though it's not a great story. The author presents it as the first novel in the "Side Step" series, so I look forward to its further development.
It is told from the perspective of a pair of clones with transplanted memories of experiences they didn't live through.
The main character, Laz, has the ability to, at will, move immediately to a different "timestream." This isn't time travel. He doesn't go backward or forward in time. Rather he switches to a different now, and with a little help from a friend, Ivy, he learns to see a bit ahead in alternate streams before he takes a leap. So, if he is facing a difficult situation and needs to escape, he change jump to a story line with an outcome more to his liking. With this ability, he might be able to save mankind from annihilation.
Here's a sampling of passages that I found intriguing, several of which appear on the first two pages. (This book can catch your interest in a hurry.)
"... Laz Hayerian had wondered since the sixth grade whether we are the same person when we wake up that we were when we went to sleep." p. 1
"Since Laz had memories that came, not from dreams, but from timestreams he had stepped out of, did his intertwined memories of other realities make him less sane? Or more experienced? Or both? Since, as far as he knew, no one else in the world had the ability to side step from one timestream to another, there was no one he could ask, and no philosopher who had written about it." p. 1
"So Laz did what he had always done since his earliest memories of childhood. He searched for the alternate paths through time that were always close enough for him to take hold and shift, changing the story of events in bold or barely perceptible ways. It didn't matter which, as long as it got him into a place where things made more sense. For the first time in his life he could not find any of the alternate timestreams. ... He was afraid. He had never reached out and found that all his pasts and all his futures were identical. It meant he had no choices. Whatever as going on right now, he was like other people -- he was trapped." p. 2
"... every decison point makes a new stream. As long as I exist in another timestream, I can side step into it. I don't go back and change anything. I simply move into a timestream where it's already been changed." p. 74
"Who is the 'I' that side steps and remembers? And are the lef-behind versions of me still me?" p. 77
"Nobody should do the same job for more than ten years. You start to think that's who you are." p. 101
"So nothing I do can hold back time, or move me through time any faster than the normal one-second-per-second rate of time travel that everybody uses." p. 296
"... but ay explanation that explains everything probably explains nothing." p. 297
"Such are the sad dreams of the somewhat depressive high school senior who finds himself having to do, not a man's job, but a god's job. That's right, you heard me. Gods are supposed to have infinite knowledge, or at least they should know which questions to google." p. 331
"'It feels like you're just making up a story now.'
"'of course I am,' said Ivy. 'That's what science is. And history, and philosophy, and everything else. Making up stories to explain the evidence, and then testing the story against the evidence, and against new evidence, to see if it fits." p. 341
Wakers has a great premise, though it's not a great story. The author presents it as the first novel in the "Side Step" series, so I look forward to its further development.
It is told from the perspective of a pair of clones with transplanted memories of experiences they didn't live through.
The main character, Laz, has the ability to, at will, move immediately to a different "timestream." This isn't time travel. He doesn't go backward or forward in time. Rather he switches to a different now, and with a little help from a friend, Ivy, he learns to see a bit ahead in alternate streams before he takes a leap. So, if he is facing a difficult situation and needs to escape, he change jump to a story line with an outcome more to his liking. With this ability, he might be able to save mankind from annihilation.
Here's a sampling of passages that I found intriguing, several of which appear on the first two pages. (This book can catch your interest in a hurry.)
"... Laz Hayerian had wondered since the sixth grade whether we are the same person when we wake up that we were when we went to sleep." p. 1
"Since Laz had memories that came, not from dreams, but from timestreams he had stepped out of, did his intertwined memories of other realities make him less sane? Or more experienced? Or both? Since, as far as he knew, no one else in the world had the ability to side step from one timestream to another, there was no one he could ask, and no philosopher who had written about it." p. 1
"So Laz did what he had always done since his earliest memories of childhood. He searched for the alternate paths through time that were always close enough for him to take hold and shift, changing the story of events in bold or barely perceptible ways. It didn't matter which, as long as it got him into a place where things made more sense. For the first time in his life he could not find any of the alternate timestreams. ... He was afraid. He had never reached out and found that all his pasts and all his futures were identical. It meant he had no choices. Whatever as going on right now, he was like other people -- he was trapped." p. 2
"... every decison point makes a new stream. As long as I exist in another timestream, I can side step into it. I don't go back and change anything. I simply move into a timestream where it's already been changed." p. 74
"Who is the 'I' that side steps and remembers? And are the lef-behind versions of me still me?" p. 77
"Nobody should do the same job for more than ten years. You start to think that's who you are." p. 101
"So nothing I do can hold back time, or move me through time any faster than the normal one-second-per-second rate of time travel that everybody uses." p. 296
"... but ay explanation that explains everything probably explains nothing." p. 297
"Such are the sad dreams of the somewhat depressive high school senior who finds himself having to do, not a man's job, but a god's job. That's right, you heard me. Gods are supposed to have infinite knowledge, or at least they should know which questions to google." p. 331
"'It feels like you're just making up a story now.'
"'of course I am,' said Ivy. 'That's what science is. And history, and philosophy, and everything else. Making up stories to explain the evidence, and then testing the story against the evidence, and against new evidence, to see if it fits." p. 341
February 21, 2022
Written with grabbing details and background, this is a dystopian read which more than hooks into an alternate world.
Laz can spring from one world to another to correct decisions or change them as he wants. He's used the shifts since he first understood what was happening and has warped those moments in his life he didn't like. But this time is different. He wakes up in a strange facility, lying in a type of capsule bed among rows of beds just like his. He finds he's still on Earth, but everyone has died long ago. He's alone and, somehow, must survive because while side-stepping still works to change the small things, it doesn't take him from the new reality.
To say that the author has done his research is an understatement. I think this one is even better laid out and support with real explanations than the author's other works, and that does make it a treat to read for fans of science. And it goes beyond that. Laz is caught up in a seemingly impossible situation with no real way out. He faces danger upon danger, makes unexpected discoveries, and rounds it all off with a tense and exciting end.
I did enjoy the details and was surprised at how much thought went into the world and situation. So much of the world around Laz was very well laid and slid along the harshness only reality can offer. So, a huge thumbs up on this end. While this was all more than well based, there were still holes in the general plot and characters' awareness or decisions. I'm not going into specifics (no spoilers), but from the very first 'I'm a clone' decision to several other big moments, Laz seems to decide something is fact without any solid evidence to strongly support it. These felt like forced plot-tweaks and did bother me a bit.
Laz's character is very well done, and we also get to know the others as they trickle in with time. This does take awhile, since the first half or so of the read is about Laz settling, more or less, into the world. And this part did draw out, especially for those who aren't into science and survival details. I also never warmed up to his later 'friend', but she was well fleshed-out. The last third-or-so of the read is where the real action finally begins and leads to an intriguing twist with all of the tension a read like this needs.
This is a very well done read, which will especially grab the interest of time travel, alternate reality, and physic fans. For more relaxed readers, it may or may not be the right read. I received an ARC and, of course, loved diving into this read.
Laz can spring from one world to another to correct decisions or change them as he wants. He's used the shifts since he first understood what was happening and has warped those moments in his life he didn't like. But this time is different. He wakes up in a strange facility, lying in a type of capsule bed among rows of beds just like his. He finds he's still on Earth, but everyone has died long ago. He's alone and, somehow, must survive because while side-stepping still works to change the small things, it doesn't take him from the new reality.
To say that the author has done his research is an understatement. I think this one is even better laid out and support with real explanations than the author's other works, and that does make it a treat to read for fans of science. And it goes beyond that. Laz is caught up in a seemingly impossible situation with no real way out. He faces danger upon danger, makes unexpected discoveries, and rounds it all off with a tense and exciting end.
I did enjoy the details and was surprised at how much thought went into the world and situation. So much of the world around Laz was very well laid and slid along the harshness only reality can offer. So, a huge thumbs up on this end. While this was all more than well based, there were still holes in the general plot and characters' awareness or decisions. I'm not going into specifics (no spoilers), but from the very first 'I'm a clone' decision to several other big moments, Laz seems to decide something is fact without any solid evidence to strongly support it. These felt like forced plot-tweaks and did bother me a bit.
Laz's character is very well done, and we also get to know the others as they trickle in with time. This does take awhile, since the first half or so of the read is about Laz settling, more or less, into the world. And this part did draw out, especially for those who aren't into science and survival details. I also never warmed up to his later 'friend', but she was well fleshed-out. The last third-or-so of the read is where the real action finally begins and leads to an intriguing twist with all of the tension a read like this needs.
This is a very well done read, which will especially grab the interest of time travel, alternate reality, and physic fans. For more relaxed readers, it may or may not be the right read. I received an ARC and, of course, loved diving into this read.
March 25, 2022
Overall I enjoyed the premise of the book and it had some interesting twists and turns. Parts of the book, especially near the end, left me a little unsatisfied. This is probably due to the fact its a series and it leaves you hanging for more. I don't regret listening to it, and it was the first fiction book in a long time to hold my attention to the end.
June 27, 2022
And yet another DNF.
I started this book with high hopes considering I'm a fan of dystopia but was left standing considering basically nothing of interest happened until roughly halfway through the book when I just couldn't bring myself to slog through any more of it.
Yes the timestream stuff is cool but the fact that the whole first half of the book consists of Laz doing nothing except talking about his memories and drinking sludge out of old cans.
I want some sort of cool plotline - that does not consist of talking about how pineapple juice ate it's way through a can. It's surprisingly dull considering what the blurb entails. Nothing happens when he wakes up Ivy except for the fact that she's an absolute cow.
The only thing I'll give Orson credit for is his writing style, I must say as a relatively plotless book; he can write well.
Don't bother reading it, go for Skyhunter (the first one) or divergent or something that you don't have to slog your way through like a high school book. Ages 14+
I started this book with high hopes considering I'm a fan of dystopia but was left standing considering basically nothing of interest happened until roughly halfway through the book when I just couldn't bring myself to slog through any more of it.
Yes the timestream stuff is cool but the fact that the whole first half of the book consists of Laz doing nothing except talking about his memories and drinking sludge out of old cans.
I want some sort of cool plotline - that does not consist of talking about how pineapple juice ate it's way through a can. It's surprisingly dull considering what the blurb entails. Nothing happens when he wakes up Ivy except for the fact that she's an absolute cow.
The only thing I'll give Orson credit for is his writing style, I must say as a relatively plotless book; he can write well.
Don't bother reading it, go for Skyhunter (the first one) or divergent or something that you don't have to slog your way through like a high school book. Ages 14+
March 12, 2024
When I tried to look this book up to log it, it wasn’t showing up. I think I should’ve needed the advice of the Goodreads search engine, because this was BAD.
Orson Scott Card has the brilliant idea to combine time travel concepts with alternate reality, and half-asses both of them SO horrendously.
I tried so hard to like this book. The protagonist was… fine. The mystery was… intriguing, I guess.
And then we got introduced to Ivy.
Let me say I LOVE Ivy. She’s great. Unfortunately, I’m not fully convinced that the author has met a woman. Ivy reads more like a piece of cardstock than an actual person, and I’m pretty sure I was projecting a character on her whenever she showed up.
The way Laz interacts with Ivy is also very strange. Not “aww, young love” strange. More like “the only thing I know about women is from Star Wars” strange.
So fine, let’s talk about the romance in this book. I fucking hated it. Also the word “sisterly” was used more than once and I have some questions about that. Talking over.
TL;DR: Bad book. Men can’t write. Get away.
Orson Scott Card has the brilliant idea to combine time travel concepts with alternate reality, and half-asses both of them SO horrendously.
I tried so hard to like this book. The protagonist was… fine. The mystery was… intriguing, I guess.
And then we got introduced to Ivy.
Let me say I LOVE Ivy. She’s great. Unfortunately, I’m not fully convinced that the author has met a woman. Ivy reads more like a piece of cardstock than an actual person, and I’m pretty sure I was projecting a character on her whenever she showed up.
The way Laz interacts with Ivy is also very strange. Not “aww, young love” strange. More like “the only thing I know about women is from Star Wars” strange.
So fine, let’s talk about the romance in this book. I fucking hated it. Also the word “sisterly” was used more than once and I have some questions about that. Talking over.
TL;DR: Bad book. Men can’t write. Get away.
April 21, 2022
So I read some reviews saying that this was a slow book to get into. And because I love most of Orson Scott Card books I just kept on listening to the book. It's about one third of the way through that things start to pick up. Up until that point you might be wondering why you have picked up the book. Lots of unanswered questions, but the main character also has lots of unanswered questions... So we learn as he does.
The middle of the book gets better, you start to get some answers... Even though you still are like what's going on!?!
Then the last third of the book you can't put it down, and have to finish.
Now knowing this is a trilogy makes me happy that there will be more... So I will wait for the next one!
The middle of the book gets better, you start to get some answers... Even though you still are like what's going on!?!
Then the last third of the book you can't put it down, and have to finish.
Now knowing this is a trilogy makes me happy that there will be more... So I will wait for the next one!
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