What do you think?
Rate this book
Wyman Ford #2
Blasphemy
The world's biggest supercollider, locked in an Arizona mountain, was built to reveal the secrets of the very moment of creation: the Big Bang itself.
The Torus is the most expensive machine ever created by humankind, run by the world's most powerful supercomputer. It is the brainchild of Nobel Laureate William North Hazelius. Will the Torus divulge the mysteries of the creation of the universe? Or will it, as some predict, suck the earth into a mini black hole? Or is the Torus a Satanic attempt, as a powerful televangelist decries, to challenge God Almighty on the very throne of Heaven?
Twelve scientists under the leadership of Hazelius are sent to the remote mountain to turn it on, and what they discover must be hidden from the world at all costs. Wyman Ford, ex-monk and CIA operative, is tapped to wrest their secret, a secret that will either destroy the world…or save it.
The countdown begins…
The Torus is the most expensive machine ever created by humankind, run by the world's most powerful supercomputer. It is the brainchild of Nobel Laureate William North Hazelius. Will the Torus divulge the mysteries of the creation of the universe? Or will it, as some predict, suck the earth into a mini black hole? Or is the Torus a Satanic attempt, as a powerful televangelist decries, to challenge God Almighty on the very throne of Heaven?
Twelve scientists under the leadership of Hazelius are sent to the remote mountain to turn it on, and what they discover must be hidden from the world at all costs. Wyman Ford, ex-monk and CIA operative, is tapped to wrest their secret, a secret that will either destroy the world…or save it.
The countdown begins…
381 pages, Hardcover
First published January 8, 2008
489 people are currently reading
4218 people want to read
About the author
Douglas Preston
178 books13.4k followersDouglas Preston was born in Cambridge, Massachusetts, in 1956, and grew up in the deadly boring suburb of Wellesley. Following a distinguished career at a private nursery school--he was almost immediately expelled--he attended public schools and the Cambridge School of Weston. Notable events in his early life included the loss of a fingertip at the age of three to a bicycle; the loss of his two front teeth to his brother Richard's fist; and various broken bones, also incurred in dust-ups with Richard. (Richard went on to write The Hot Zone and The Cobra Event, which tells you all you need to know about what it was like to grow up with him as a brother.)
As they grew up, Doug, Richard, and their little brother David roamed the quiet suburbs of Wellesley, terrorizing the natives with home-made rockets and incendiary devices mail-ordered from the backs of comic books or concocted from chemistry sets. With a friend they once attempted to fly a rocket into Wellesley Square; the rocket malfunctioned and nearly killed a man mowing his lawn. They were local celebrities, often appearing in the "Police Notes" section of The Wellesley Townsman. It is a miracle they survived childhood intact.
After unaccountably being rejected by Stanford University (a pox on it), Preston attended Pomona College in Claremont, California, where he studied mathematics, biology, physics, anthropology, chemistry, geology, and astronomy before settling down to English literature. After graduating, Preston began his career at the American Museum of Natural History in New York as an editor, writer, and eventually manager of publications. (Preston also taught writing at Princeton University and was managing editor of Curator.) His eight-year stint at the Museum resulted in the non-fiction book, Dinosaurs in the Attic, edited by a rising young star at St. Martin's Press, a polymath by the name of Lincoln Child. During this period, Preston gave Child a midnight tour of the museum, and in the darkened Hall of Late Dinosaurs, under a looming T. Rex, Child turned to Preston and said: "This would make the perfect setting for a thriller!" That thriller would, of course, be Relic.
In 1986, Douglas Preston piled everything he owned into the back of a Subaru and moved from New York City to Santa Fe to write full time, following the advice of S. J. Perelman that "the dubious privilege of a freelance writer is he's given the freedom to starve anywhere." After the requisite period of penury, Preston achieved a small success with the publication of Cities of Gold, a non-fiction book about Coronado's search for the legendary Seven Cities of Cibola. To research the book, Preston and a friend retraced on horseback 1,000 miles of Coronado's route across Arizona and New Mexico, packing their supplies and sleeping under the stars--nearly killing themselves in the process. Since then he has published several more non-fiction books on the history of the American Southwest, Talking to the Ground and The Royal Road, as well as a novel entitled Jennie. In the early 1990s Preston and Child teamed up to write suspense novels; Relic was the first, followed by several others, including Riptide and Thunderhead. Relic was released as a motion picture by Paramount in 1997. Other films are under development at Hollywood studios. Preston and Child live 500 miles apart and write their books together via telephone, fax, and the Internet.
Preston and his brother Richard are currently producing a television miniseries for ABC and Mandalay Entertainment, to be aired in the spring of 2000, if all goes well, which in Hollywood is rarely the case.
Preston continues a magazine writing career by contributing regularly to The New Yorker magazine. He has also written for National Geographic, Natural History, Smithsonisan, Harper's,and Travel & Leisure,among others.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/dougla...
As they grew up, Doug, Richard, and their little brother David roamed the quiet suburbs of Wellesley, terrorizing the natives with home-made rockets and incendiary devices mail-ordered from the backs of comic books or concocted from chemistry sets. With a friend they once attempted to fly a rocket into Wellesley Square; the rocket malfunctioned and nearly killed a man mowing his lawn. They were local celebrities, often appearing in the "Police Notes" section of The Wellesley Townsman. It is a miracle they survived childhood intact.
After unaccountably being rejected by Stanford University (a pox on it), Preston attended Pomona College in Claremont, California, where he studied mathematics, biology, physics, anthropology, chemistry, geology, and astronomy before settling down to English literature. After graduating, Preston began his career at the American Museum of Natural History in New York as an editor, writer, and eventually manager of publications. (Preston also taught writing at Princeton University and was managing editor of Curator.) His eight-year stint at the Museum resulted in the non-fiction book, Dinosaurs in the Attic, edited by a rising young star at St. Martin's Press, a polymath by the name of Lincoln Child. During this period, Preston gave Child a midnight tour of the museum, and in the darkened Hall of Late Dinosaurs, under a looming T. Rex, Child turned to Preston and said: "This would make the perfect setting for a thriller!" That thriller would, of course, be Relic.
In 1986, Douglas Preston piled everything he owned into the back of a Subaru and moved from New York City to Santa Fe to write full time, following the advice of S. J. Perelman that "the dubious privilege of a freelance writer is he's given the freedom to starve anywhere." After the requisite period of penury, Preston achieved a small success with the publication of Cities of Gold, a non-fiction book about Coronado's search for the legendary Seven Cities of Cibola. To research the book, Preston and a friend retraced on horseback 1,000 miles of Coronado's route across Arizona and New Mexico, packing their supplies and sleeping under the stars--nearly killing themselves in the process. Since then he has published several more non-fiction books on the history of the American Southwest, Talking to the Ground and The Royal Road, as well as a novel entitled Jennie. In the early 1990s Preston and Child teamed up to write suspense novels; Relic was the first, followed by several others, including Riptide and Thunderhead. Relic was released as a motion picture by Paramount in 1997. Other films are under development at Hollywood studios. Preston and Child live 500 miles apart and write their books together via telephone, fax, and the Internet.
Preston and his brother Richard are currently producing a television miniseries for ABC and Mandalay Entertainment, to be aired in the spring of 2000, if all goes well, which in Hollywood is rarely the case.
Preston continues a magazine writing career by contributing regularly to The New Yorker magazine. He has also written for National Geographic, Natural History, Smithsonisan, Harper's,and Travel & Leisure,among others.
http://us.macmillan.com/author/dougla...
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 888 reviews
June 27, 2019
3.5 to 4 stars
Well, this was a very different Douglas Preston book. I was enthralled, but he also managed to make me quite uncomfortable.
I have mentioned in previous reviews, posts, etc. that the ongoing (and increasingly aggressive) battle between religion and science disturbs me. At times, it disturbs me to the point of nausea. If an issue is causing physical distress, then you know you are personally invested! I am both religious and love science, so the fact that this book pitted religious-wackos against science (some of which I will say, without too much spoilerishness, ends up being questionable) got my stomach rumbling.
So . . . I will leave the subject with one final thought before continuing the review. Be prepared if you read this for what I mention above. Maybe it does not matter to you at all, which will be perfect for your enjoyment of this novel. But, if you are religious or get passionate about the debate of science vs religion, be prepared for some strong feelings.
Onward to the rest of the review!
This book was very riveting and intense. I give it a lot of credit for keeping me interested the entire time. It was also very creative in the story and its progression. I was left guessing up until the very end. That is one of the things I love about Preston: he makes the impossible seem impossible. Whenever you read one of his books, usually the main plot seems explainable and impossible to resolve. That was the exact same thing with this book! Be prepared to be surprised!
I recommend this book to fans of Preston’s other works. I also recommend it to fans of techno-thrillers.
Be prepared to be thrilled, but also possibly shocked or uncomfortable to your very core. There is a lot of emotion here and that is what makes it a decent and unforgettable read.
Well, this was a very different Douglas Preston book. I was enthralled, but he also managed to make me quite uncomfortable.
I have mentioned in previous reviews, posts, etc. that the ongoing (and increasingly aggressive) battle between religion and science disturbs me. At times, it disturbs me to the point of nausea. If an issue is causing physical distress, then you know you are personally invested! I am both religious and love science, so the fact that this book pitted religious-wackos against science (some of which I will say, without too much spoilerishness, ends up being questionable) got my stomach rumbling.
So . . . I will leave the subject with one final thought before continuing the review. Be prepared if you read this for what I mention above. Maybe it does not matter to you at all, which will be perfect for your enjoyment of this novel. But, if you are religious or get passionate about the debate of science vs religion, be prepared for some strong feelings.
Onward to the rest of the review!
This book was very riveting and intense. I give it a lot of credit for keeping me interested the entire time. It was also very creative in the story and its progression. I was left guessing up until the very end. That is one of the things I love about Preston: he makes the impossible seem impossible. Whenever you read one of his books, usually the main plot seems explainable and impossible to resolve. That was the exact same thing with this book! Be prepared to be surprised!
I recommend this book to fans of Preston’s other works. I also recommend it to fans of techno-thrillers.
Be prepared to be thrilled, but also possibly shocked or uncomfortable to your very core. There is a lot of emotion here and that is what makes it a decent and unforgettable read.
August 22, 2014
While tidying up my desk and figuring out how to make a review of this book, a friend approached me and tells me what she knew after making a little research on God:
THERE IS NO GOD...
THERE IS NO HEAVEN...
NO HELL...
NOT EVEN A PURGATORY...
DANTE ALIGHIERI WAS A FAILED POLITICIAN WITH A VERY IMAGINATIVE BUT DEMENTED MIND.
ALL THAT HAPPENS HERE DOES NOT REALLY HAPPENED FOR A REASON.
WHEN YOU DIE, THERE WILL BE NOTHING. AS IN NADA, ZERO, NULL, ZIP!
YOU'D BE LIKE A CANDLE BLOWN OUT...
OR A SWITCH BEING TURNED OFF.
WHEN YOU DIE, NOT A SOUL WOULD COME OUT OF YOU AND YOUR CONCSIOUSNESS WOULD DIE OUT AS WELL.
YOU WILL NOT BECOME A PART OF A COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS THAT THE SCIENTISTS IN THIS BOOK TRIED TO EXPLAIN.
WHEN YOU DIE, YOUR BODY WILL BE A FERTILIZER TO THE SOIL AND FOOD FOR THE WORMS.
YOUR BODY WILL DECOMPOSE.
RELIGION WAS ALWAYS A PROPAGANDA, TO MAKE A PURPOSE OUT OF YOUR INSIGNIFFICANT EXISTENCE!
TO MAKE YOU BELIEVE YOU ARE WORTHY OF SOMETHING.!
My reaction to her tirade:
Of course a lot has happened in my life to be passed out as a mere circumstance. Once, a friend never woke up when called for dinner. Everyone was shocked to see her NOT breathing in bed. They brought her to the hospital, and the doctor declared her dead after hours of trying to revive her.
Her father however, who was still in shock, did not allow her body to be brought to the mortuary yet. He strongly believes her daughter was still asleep, and does not want to have her embalmed. He insisted on bringing her body to the chapel instead. And asked everyone to keep praying that she might wake up. Exactly 42 hours later (..almost two days later), she did woke up. Asked for water as she was extremely thirsty. Everyone was baffled, including the doctors. They did not have an explanation for it.
When after she had consumed almost a litre of water and tried to sit up, she tells a story all of us was surprised to hear. It goes like this:
"I saw a blinding light. That was exactly after I fell asleep. I followed it and found myself in a barren mountain. With no one to talk to, none to ask directions for, I was lost. I walked and walked, till sweat was dripping down my back. Never have I felt so lost before. I called to God but Nobody answered. Till despair sets in and I sat down and wept. I asked for forgiveness for all the things I have done in the past. I asked Whoever was listening to please show me the way back.
After like an etertinity, someone did came. An old man. Someone I have not seen before, and looked too common for him to make an impression. No, I do not remember his face. I did not even asked for his name. I just asked for a way out. And he did show me the way. He said follow this particular road and never look back. I did what I was told, and found myself in the chapel. I woke up panting and thirsty."
Who was that man? Where was that place? I do not know. And I do not presume to know. All I know was the girl who slept for almost two days, and came back with that story to tell.
Blasphemy is irreverence toward holy personages, religious artifacts, customs, and beliefs. This is a direct quote from wikipedia. Why this book was titled that, I have no freaking idea. But this was good enough not to make me sleep for the whole night. Not a page was skipped. Not even a word was missed. This gets a five from me.
ps. I do not own that pic! I got that off the net..
THERE IS NO GOD...
THERE IS NO HEAVEN...
NO HELL...
NOT EVEN A PURGATORY...
DANTE ALIGHIERI WAS A FAILED POLITICIAN WITH A VERY IMAGINATIVE BUT DEMENTED MIND.
ALL THAT HAPPENS HERE DOES NOT REALLY HAPPENED FOR A REASON.
WHEN YOU DIE, THERE WILL BE NOTHING. AS IN NADA, ZERO, NULL, ZIP!
YOU'D BE LIKE A CANDLE BLOWN OUT...
OR A SWITCH BEING TURNED OFF.
WHEN YOU DIE, NOT A SOUL WOULD COME OUT OF YOU AND YOUR CONCSIOUSNESS WOULD DIE OUT AS WELL.
YOU WILL NOT BECOME A PART OF A COLLECTIVE CONSCIOUSNESS THAT THE SCIENTISTS IN THIS BOOK TRIED TO EXPLAIN.
WHEN YOU DIE, YOUR BODY WILL BE A FERTILIZER TO THE SOIL AND FOOD FOR THE WORMS.
YOUR BODY WILL DECOMPOSE.
RELIGION WAS ALWAYS A PROPAGANDA, TO MAKE A PURPOSE OUT OF YOUR INSIGNIFFICANT EXISTENCE!
TO MAKE YOU BELIEVE YOU ARE WORTHY OF SOMETHING.!
My reaction to her tirade:
Of course a lot has happened in my life to be passed out as a mere circumstance. Once, a friend never woke up when called for dinner. Everyone was shocked to see her NOT breathing in bed. They brought her to the hospital, and the doctor declared her dead after hours of trying to revive her.
Her father however, who was still in shock, did not allow her body to be brought to the mortuary yet. He strongly believes her daughter was still asleep, and does not want to have her embalmed. He insisted on bringing her body to the chapel instead. And asked everyone to keep praying that she might wake up. Exactly 42 hours later (..almost two days later), she did woke up. Asked for water as she was extremely thirsty. Everyone was baffled, including the doctors. They did not have an explanation for it.
When after she had consumed almost a litre of water and tried to sit up, she tells a story all of us was surprised to hear. It goes like this:
"I saw a blinding light. That was exactly after I fell asleep. I followed it and found myself in a barren mountain. With no one to talk to, none to ask directions for, I was lost. I walked and walked, till sweat was dripping down my back. Never have I felt so lost before. I called to God but Nobody answered. Till despair sets in and I sat down and wept. I asked for forgiveness for all the things I have done in the past. I asked Whoever was listening to please show me the way back.
After like an etertinity, someone did came. An old man. Someone I have not seen before, and looked too common for him to make an impression. No, I do not remember his face. I did not even asked for his name. I just asked for a way out. And he did show me the way. He said follow this particular road and never look back. I did what I was told, and found myself in the chapel. I woke up panting and thirsty."
Who was that man? Where was that place? I do not know. And I do not presume to know. All I know was the girl who slept for almost two days, and came back with that story to tell.
Blasphemy is irreverence toward holy personages, religious artifacts, customs, and beliefs. This is a direct quote from wikipedia. Why this book was titled that, I have no freaking idea. But this was good enough not to make me sleep for the whole night. Not a page was skipped. Not even a word was missed. This gets a five from me.
ps. I do not own that pic! I got that off the net..
September 11, 2023
A superb thriller that is DEFINITELY destined for mixed reviews!
Isabella is a giant superconducting supercollider particle accelerator, the most expensive and probably the largest scale scientific experiment ever devised by man, designed to examine the state of the universe at the very moment of its creation, mere millionths of a second after the explosion of the Big Bang. Isabella is supposed to be the poster child achievement of a president in the final months of his first term in office so it's a major political concern when it consistently fails to operate as it's supposed to. Presidential science advisor, Stanton Lockwood, sends in ex-CIA agent Wyman Ford undercover as an anthropologist to root out the problem and report back. So what would one expect from the pen of the likes of best-selling author Douglas Preston - nothing less than the supercharged, high speed, dynamic, breathless thriller that he has consistently produced for his fans. BLASPHEMY doesn't let them down!
If one bothers to look at a novel like BLASPHEMY with a literary eye, an English major might suggest the over-riding them is "conflict" - the perennial dispute between science and religion (fundamentalist right wing Christians led by bible-thumping southern televangists call the scientists "secular humanists" who believe that the universe was created by accident without the guiding hand of an all-powerful God); the ongoing difficulties between North American aboriginal peoples and white politicians with the endless string of broken promises, broken treaties, land disputes and governance problems; and, of course, the endless conflict between big budget science and the exigencies of modern life's demands on politics and politicians.
I enjoyed Preston's homespun philosophy and his attempt to portray the possibility that science may ultimately BE the modern religion of choice. His suggestion that the Big Bang was not in conflict with creationism and the existence of God, that the Big Bang was only the obtuse and perhaps ultimately inscrutable method chosen for creation by a God whose motives and philosophy are beyond our ken, certainly matched my own thinking. But Preston certainly will not have created any friends among the fundamentalist Christians. His portrayal of their religion as a collection of fanatical wild-eyed zealots willing to label even Roman Catholics as idolaters destined for the endless torment of Hell because of their reverence for Mary was perhaps a trifle overbearing.
If this review can help, I'll make a suggestion. If you class yourself as a member of the fundamentalist Christian movement in North America, do yourself a favour. DO NOT READ THIS BOOK! It will only give you an ulcer.
That said, Preston has produced one heck of a thriller that doesn't fail to pull its readers from one page to the next for even the briefest second. Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
Isabella is a giant superconducting supercollider particle accelerator, the most expensive and probably the largest scale scientific experiment ever devised by man, designed to examine the state of the universe at the very moment of its creation, mere millionths of a second after the explosion of the Big Bang. Isabella is supposed to be the poster child achievement of a president in the final months of his first term in office so it's a major political concern when it consistently fails to operate as it's supposed to. Presidential science advisor, Stanton Lockwood, sends in ex-CIA agent Wyman Ford undercover as an anthropologist to root out the problem and report back. So what would one expect from the pen of the likes of best-selling author Douglas Preston - nothing less than the supercharged, high speed, dynamic, breathless thriller that he has consistently produced for his fans. BLASPHEMY doesn't let them down!
If one bothers to look at a novel like BLASPHEMY with a literary eye, an English major might suggest the over-riding them is "conflict" - the perennial dispute between science and religion (fundamentalist right wing Christians led by bible-thumping southern televangists call the scientists "secular humanists" who believe that the universe was created by accident without the guiding hand of an all-powerful God); the ongoing difficulties between North American aboriginal peoples and white politicians with the endless string of broken promises, broken treaties, land disputes and governance problems; and, of course, the endless conflict between big budget science and the exigencies of modern life's demands on politics and politicians.
I enjoyed Preston's homespun philosophy and his attempt to portray the possibility that science may ultimately BE the modern religion of choice. His suggestion that the Big Bang was not in conflict with creationism and the existence of God, that the Big Bang was only the obtuse and perhaps ultimately inscrutable method chosen for creation by a God whose motives and philosophy are beyond our ken, certainly matched my own thinking. But Preston certainly will not have created any friends among the fundamentalist Christians. His portrayal of their religion as a collection of fanatical wild-eyed zealots willing to label even Roman Catholics as idolaters destined for the endless torment of Hell because of their reverence for Mary was perhaps a trifle overbearing.
If this review can help, I'll make a suggestion. If you class yourself as a member of the fundamentalist Christian movement in North America, do yourself a favour. DO NOT READ THIS BOOK! It will only give you an ulcer.
That said, Preston has produced one heck of a thriller that doesn't fail to pull its readers from one page to the next for even the briefest second. Highly recommended.
Paul Weiss
September 9, 2025
This book is less than an adventure story as it is a preachy story of how science and religion can be reconciled. Science is the study of the natural world with religion dealing with spritual matters which are two different things. The main villains that got the plot in motion were a self serving lobbyist who wanted more money from the Navajo Nation and the televangalist that he mainipulates into getting a CERN like super collider project declared an affront to Christian beliefs by secular humanist scientists out to prove creation was not the work of God. That sets into motion events leading to a disaster of Biblical proportions with the Navajo Nation in the middle of it. The other villian is the based on CERN project Isabella who wastes $40 billion of taxpayer money to create a new religion using an AI that masquerades as God with a new message as science as a new religion. It is amazing that people can be manipulated by a few demogogues into unleashing a reign of terror as well as a new religious movement.
December 9, 2012
As a thriller, BLASPHEMY is a pretty good read. As a philosophical novel...not so much. Over the course of 500 pages, author Douglas Preston squanders an interesting plot premise by infusing the book with what quickly becomes the most unabashedly cynical take on fundamentalist Christianity I've ever seen outside of a B-grade horror movie. Why, even God Himself seemingly shows up at one point to congratulate a group of atheistic scientists on a job well done, even going so far as to inform them that science should be the new world religion. (You'll have to read the book for yourself to discover whether or not it really IS God talking, or just some cheap impersonator like in STAR TREK V. To me, wondering about that was the most intriguing aspect of the novel.)
Anyway, that's basically my review: BLASPHEMY is an entertaining story with some goofy ideas. And now I'm feeling a long-winded rant coming on, so you may want to proceed on to the next review before I talk your ear off. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Christians in this book are portrayed as being demented psychopaths who are generally armed to the teeth (some even have ninja stars!) and ready to bring back the Salem Witch Trials at a moment's notice. This makes much of the second half of the book quite unintentionally humorous. Imagine fundamentalist, "Big-Bang"-hating Christians chucking ninja stars at random scientists and quoting Revelation out of context. That, in a nutshell, is why this book isn't very good. Zombies in a George Romero film show more empathy than do the hordes of Christians in this book.
Somehow I get the feeling that Douglas Preston was one of those people who thought that movie theater screenings of THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST were going to lead to bands of unruly Christians rioting in the streets and lynching any Jewish people who happened nearby. Even more absurd, BLASPHEMY asks readers to believe that some kooky pastor can send out an obviously bogus email claiming Armageddon is nigh, and before you know it legions of Christians will drive across the country for the honor of hunting down and massacring the Anti-Christ and his followers.
Of course, in the novel, the Anti-Christ and his evil minions are just a bunch of scientists doing important experiments on a particle accelerator, but you can't expect your typical Christian to be smart enough to realize that.
Had Douglas Preston written this book about Muslim extremists, the Anti-Defamation League would've been all over his ass. Embassies might have been raided, diplomats might have been killed. But, since he wrote this book about Christian extremists instead, all that happened was he got some angry letters, some of which he grumpily responds to in an Afterword in the paperback edition of this novel. You see, Preston made the hero of the story nominally Catholic (Preston calls him "devout," thereby demonstrating a total lack of understanding as to the meaning of the word "devout"), so what more could Christians want from him? Oh, and by the way, don't bother pointing out any fundamental differences between "Christians" and "Catholics" because then--according to Preston--YOU are the one being a bigot.
Yes, that's right. Preston wrote a 500 page novel about Christians murdering car-loads of innocent people by using rocks, guns, and Molotov cocktails (and, of course, ninja stars!), but you're the one lacking in sensitivity if you point out that being a Christian and being a Catholic aren't exactly the same thing.
Preston also responds to critics by pointing out that the scientists in the story have character flaws, too. They can be "arrogant, manipulative, and gullible," he explains. "No group is singled out for unfair criticism."
Right. Except that none of the scientists brutally murder anybody.
Preston is one of those guys who combats intolerance by garishly stereotyping groups of people whom he feels are not as enlightened as him. Sure, there are a lot of bad people out there calling themselves Christians. Some of them are crazy, some violent. But I don't think it's anywhere near the epidemic that Preston seems to envision. People like Preston still reference the Inquisition and the Crusades like they happened yesterday. It's getting boring. I mean, a hypocritical televangelist who secretly bangs hookers and accepts bribes? Clever! A mentally-unbalanced pastor who thinks the End of Days has arrived? Wow! Mr. Preston, how do you think of this stuff?
If Preston wants to become known as the next Michael Crichton, he's gonna need to work a lot harder than this. In addition to being a better writer, Crichton never wasted his time criticizing such easy targets.
Anyway, that's basically my review: BLASPHEMY is an entertaining story with some goofy ideas. And now I'm feeling a long-winded rant coming on, so you may want to proceed on to the next review before I talk your ear off. Don't say I didn't warn you.
Christians in this book are portrayed as being demented psychopaths who are generally armed to the teeth (some even have ninja stars!) and ready to bring back the Salem Witch Trials at a moment's notice. This makes much of the second half of the book quite unintentionally humorous. Imagine fundamentalist, "Big-Bang"-hating Christians chucking ninja stars at random scientists and quoting Revelation out of context. That, in a nutshell, is why this book isn't very good. Zombies in a George Romero film show more empathy than do the hordes of Christians in this book.
Somehow I get the feeling that Douglas Preston was one of those people who thought that movie theater screenings of THE PASSION OF THE CHRIST were going to lead to bands of unruly Christians rioting in the streets and lynching any Jewish people who happened nearby. Even more absurd, BLASPHEMY asks readers to believe that some kooky pastor can send out an obviously bogus email claiming Armageddon is nigh, and before you know it legions of Christians will drive across the country for the honor of hunting down and massacring the Anti-Christ and his followers.
Of course, in the novel, the Anti-Christ and his evil minions are just a bunch of scientists doing important experiments on a particle accelerator, but you can't expect your typical Christian to be smart enough to realize that.
Had Douglas Preston written this book about Muslim extremists, the Anti-Defamation League would've been all over his ass. Embassies might have been raided, diplomats might have been killed. But, since he wrote this book about Christian extremists instead, all that happened was he got some angry letters, some of which he grumpily responds to in an Afterword in the paperback edition of this novel. You see, Preston made the hero of the story nominally Catholic (Preston calls him "devout," thereby demonstrating a total lack of understanding as to the meaning of the word "devout"), so what more could Christians want from him? Oh, and by the way, don't bother pointing out any fundamental differences between "Christians" and "Catholics" because then--according to Preston--YOU are the one being a bigot.
Yes, that's right. Preston wrote a 500 page novel about Christians murdering car-loads of innocent people by using rocks, guns, and Molotov cocktails (and, of course, ninja stars!), but you're the one lacking in sensitivity if you point out that being a Christian and being a Catholic aren't exactly the same thing.
Preston also responds to critics by pointing out that the scientists in the story have character flaws, too. They can be "arrogant, manipulative, and gullible," he explains. "No group is singled out for unfair criticism."
Right. Except that none of the scientists brutally murder anybody.
Preston is one of those guys who combats intolerance by garishly stereotyping groups of people whom he feels are not as enlightened as him. Sure, there are a lot of bad people out there calling themselves Christians. Some of them are crazy, some violent. But I don't think it's anywhere near the epidemic that Preston seems to envision. People like Preston still reference the Inquisition and the Crusades like they happened yesterday. It's getting boring. I mean, a hypocritical televangelist who secretly bangs hookers and accepts bribes? Clever! A mentally-unbalanced pastor who thinks the End of Days has arrived? Wow! Mr. Preston, how do you think of this stuff?
If Preston wants to become known as the next Michael Crichton, he's gonna need to work a lot harder than this. In addition to being a better writer, Crichton never wasted his time criticizing such easy targets.
September 21, 2024
Who are the False Prophets
Wyman Ford having long ago left the CIA and then decided he wasn’t destined to be a monk, went to Washington D. C. and hung up has shingle as a private detective. His first customer was a science lobbyist who hired him as a consultant and spy for the particle accelerator project called Isabella. After looking at the dossiers on the scientists working on the Isabella Project, Wyman Ford knew that it wasn’t his stellar background in the special forces and the CIA they got him the position. A scientist named Kate that he had once been in love with was a vital part of the Isabella Project, and if he had no other way to get inside information, she would be it.
Meanwhile, other forces are at work, both for and against the Isabella Project. A televangelist stirs the faithful against scientists trying to disprove God, and on the Navajo reservation nearby are residents concerned for their safety. The pot begins to stir and it starts at a slow boil and stays that way for a lot of the book and boils over at the end.
I did not enjoy this book as much as I have enjoyed most of this author’s work, and I had to ask myself if it was the mostly good look that Preston gave to the scientists whereas all of the religious leaders were criminals? Or that religion was absolutely downplayed, especially by the interview of the author at the end? I decided that didn’t bother me, because I have my own opinions and that being that God himself is a scientist and not a magician. ”I am fearfully and wonderfully made”
The writing wasn’t bad and the characters were well written, but most of this story was very slow. It got good at the end and Preston did an excellent job with tying it all up. I give it a 3.5 and round it up to 4.
Wyman Ford having long ago left the CIA and then decided he wasn’t destined to be a monk, went to Washington D. C. and hung up has shingle as a private detective. His first customer was a science lobbyist who hired him as a consultant and spy for the particle accelerator project called Isabella. After looking at the dossiers on the scientists working on the Isabella Project, Wyman Ford knew that it wasn’t his stellar background in the special forces and the CIA they got him the position. A scientist named Kate that he had once been in love with was a vital part of the Isabella Project, and if he had no other way to get inside information, she would be it.
Meanwhile, other forces are at work, both for and against the Isabella Project. A televangelist stirs the faithful against scientists trying to disprove God, and on the Navajo reservation nearby are residents concerned for their safety. The pot begins to stir and it starts at a slow boil and stays that way for a lot of the book and boils over at the end.
I did not enjoy this book as much as I have enjoyed most of this author’s work, and I had to ask myself if it was the mostly good look that Preston gave to the scientists whereas all of the religious leaders were criminals? Or that religion was absolutely downplayed, especially by the interview of the author at the end? I decided that didn’t bother me, because I have my own opinions and that being that God himself is a scientist and not a magician. ”I am fearfully and wonderfully made”
The writing wasn’t bad and the characters were well written, but most of this story was very slow. It got good at the end and Preston did an excellent job with tying it all up. I give it a 3.5 and round it up to 4.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
December 10, 2021
Naja....Durchschnittsthriller mit schwachen Charakteren und wildem Handlungsverlauf...
Wissenschaftler erforschen per Teilchenbeschleuniger "Isabella" schwarze Löcher und Co....doch irgendwann meldet sich aus dem Off eine Stimme...und verkündet eine neue Heilsgeschichte.
Könnte es sein, dass hier Gott spricht?
Der undercover eingeschleuste Agent Ford beginnt seine Spurensuche und entdeckt eine Leiche, seine alte Liebe Kate und skurrile Menschen im angrenzenden Indianer Reservat....
Ich war etwas enttäuscht 😞...spannend und rasant erzählt ist sie schon, diese "Schöpfungsgeschichte"...bleibt aber sehr oberflächlich und insgesamt zu reisserisch und zu typisch amerikanisch....
Schade!
Kann man lesen....muss man aber nicht!
Wissenschaftler erforschen per Teilchenbeschleuniger "Isabella" schwarze Löcher und Co....doch irgendwann meldet sich aus dem Off eine Stimme...und verkündet eine neue Heilsgeschichte.
Könnte es sein, dass hier Gott spricht?
Der undercover eingeschleuste Agent Ford beginnt seine Spurensuche und entdeckt eine Leiche, seine alte Liebe Kate und skurrile Menschen im angrenzenden Indianer Reservat....
Ich war etwas enttäuscht 😞...spannend und rasant erzählt ist sie schon, diese "Schöpfungsgeschichte"...bleibt aber sehr oberflächlich und insgesamt zu reisserisch und zu typisch amerikanisch....
Schade!
Kann man lesen....muss man aber nicht!
September 9, 2018
There's a supercollider in the hills of New Mexico. Things aren't going well. The Native Americans living nearby are protesting, and garnering national attention to a top secret project. The computer systems crash when the particles accelerate to a certain speed.
The feds send in Wayman Ford. It turns out one of the scientists is one of his former lady loves.
There's a reunion romance, and from there, it's a boring episode of Coast to Coast AM.
The feds send in Wayman Ford. It turns out one of the scientists is one of his former lady loves.
There's a reunion romance, and from there, it's a boring episode of Coast to Coast AM.
December 29, 2022
The book details a $40 billion collider in the lines of CERN which seems to be interacting with God and therein lies the Blasphemy.
The team managing and running the super collider are a talented group of scientists led by a genius. Every time they juice up the collider they start getting messages in the display presumably from God and they keep stopping the experiment to identify and remove this "glitch".
In the outside world a lobbyist whose contract is terminated by his Native American clients (the area of the collider) plots a plan to push things for his renewal by pushing the buttons of a televangelist whose trysts with God has been in some decline and hence is ripe for the plucking. The plot thickens as he is made to believe backed with some good hard cash that the collider is a demonic device created to blaspheme by the anti-Christ.
This push creates a butterfly effect with a small time unknown pastor living in the shadow of the collider becoming fanatical and causing whole scale destruction.
Wyman Ford is sent by the government to understand why results and information are not forthcoming from the collider.
The book has its worth as a great read although it leaves several threads around to give an unsatisfactory abrupt ending with a new law of God.
Somehow the book has treated the super-collider as the blasphemer and seemingly its destruction renders everything back to a new normal, wholesale destruction of property and wanton deaths of thousands and billions of public money and property gone up in smoke are just fillers.
Still this is a clever bit of storytelling and somehow Preston brings across terrifying imagery while trying to answer a basic question - Is God out there.
The team managing and running the super collider are a talented group of scientists led by a genius. Every time they juice up the collider they start getting messages in the display presumably from God and they keep stopping the experiment to identify and remove this "glitch".
In the outside world a lobbyist whose contract is terminated by his Native American clients (the area of the collider) plots a plan to push things for his renewal by pushing the buttons of a televangelist whose trysts with God has been in some decline and hence is ripe for the plucking. The plot thickens as he is made to believe backed with some good hard cash that the collider is a demonic device created to blaspheme by the anti-Christ.
This push creates a butterfly effect with a small time unknown pastor living in the shadow of the collider becoming fanatical and causing whole scale destruction.
Wyman Ford is sent by the government to understand why results and information are not forthcoming from the collider.
The book has its worth as a great read although it leaves several threads around to give an unsatisfactory abrupt ending with a new law of God.
Somehow the book has treated the super-collider as the blasphemer and seemingly its destruction renders everything back to a new normal, wholesale destruction of property and wanton deaths of thousands and billions of public money and property gone up in smoke are just fillers.
Still this is a clever bit of storytelling and somehow Preston brings across terrifying imagery while trying to answer a basic question - Is God out there.
January 22, 2008
On the continuum of things blasphemous, this is maybe at the Charlie Rose end of the scale.
December 7, 2008
So, I finished this book weeks ago, but really couldn't think of much interesting to say. And maybe I was also hung up on the old adage that "if you can't say somethin' nice, don't say nothin' at all."
But I can say something nice: this book has an interesting premise, which is why I picked it up off the shelf at all. Said premise is: a bunch of scientists have created a CERN-like particle accelerator, which creates a small black hole, through which God begins speaking with them. Cool, right?
Possibly, if the execution wasn't so terrible. Really, this whole book just plays out like a geek's fantasy, complete with sexy, exotic female scientists who all want the lead character like crazy. It's also really clear that the author has some major angst toward Christianity to work out, and writing a book about a Computer God taking over the world might not be the best way to resolve that. On all levels, this book tried too hard: it tried too hard to examine theology (but really just gave a pat version of religion that makes science God); too hard to create interesting characters (look! a Native American! look, a Japanese woman scientist! look! an African American computer designer); and somehow managed to turn into a mystery rather than a Sci-Fi in the last couple chapters (if I'd have known it was going to be a whodunnit, I wouldn't have taken it off the shelf).
And wow, the female characters equaled = a pretty, exotic, smart, vulnerable Japanese scientist who had a fling with the main character and is ready to fall in love again; a Chinese scientist who is so nondescript that I was fairly far into the book before I realized she was a woman at all; a blonde bombshell scientist who is desperate for love; a stereotypical "science geek" woman with big glasses and disheveled clothes; and last, but definitely not least, a porn star with a heart of gold who dies a tragic death. Um, can we say nerd fantasy harem?
There's no need bothering to read past the back cover on this one; that's as interesting as it gets.
But I can say something nice: this book has an interesting premise, which is why I picked it up off the shelf at all. Said premise is: a bunch of scientists have created a CERN-like particle accelerator, which creates a small black hole, through which God begins speaking with them. Cool, right?
Possibly, if the execution wasn't so terrible. Really, this whole book just plays out like a geek's fantasy, complete with sexy, exotic female scientists who all want the lead character like crazy. It's also really clear that the author has some major angst toward Christianity to work out, and writing a book about a Computer God taking over the world might not be the best way to resolve that. On all levels, this book tried too hard: it tried too hard to examine theology (but really just gave a pat version of religion that makes science God); too hard to create interesting characters (look! a Native American! look, a Japanese woman scientist! look! an African American computer designer); and somehow managed to turn into a mystery rather than a Sci-Fi in the last couple chapters (if I'd have known it was going to be a whodunnit, I wouldn't have taken it off the shelf).
And wow, the female characters equaled = a pretty, exotic, smart, vulnerable Japanese scientist who had a fling with the main character and is ready to fall in love again; a Chinese scientist who is so nondescript that I was fairly far into the book before I realized she was a woman at all; a blonde bombshell scientist who is desperate for love; a stereotypical "science geek" woman with big glasses and disheveled clothes; and last, but definitely not least, a porn star with a heart of gold who dies a tragic death. Um, can we say nerd fantasy harem?
There's no need bothering to read past the back cover on this one; that's as interesting as it gets.
March 19, 2009
I picked this up in the airport and found it to be interesting. Initial though was that it was tapping into some real sensitive religious areas; however, they seemed to wrap it up pretty well. The overall premise of the book does make you think about stuff like the creation of the universe and God / god. When reading this one, keep in mind it is FICTION and you may be able to just enjoy the book. Ok – (STORY SPOILER) so the story is about making the world’s largest particle collider and when it gets turned on to full power, something starts communicating to them from the point of collision – a point that is supposed to represent the energy levels during the creation of the universe. The first communication is within the first few pages – it is purely “greetings”. From there, the book involves spying, religious fanatics, murder, and politics. Typical day in Washington I guess.
November 11, 2008
Excellent 'mysteries of the universe' thriller
As an avid reader of thrillers, especially ones with a measure of the supernatural (these are also the types of books I like to write), Blasphemy is a book that I absolutely had to have based on the story description. It plumbs the depth of some of the most fascinating topics - the big bang, supercolliders, science & religion, the mysteries of the universe...what's not to love?! Blasphemy goes from zero to 60 in a heartbeat, the story grabs you immediately, leaves you breathless & excited to know more, more, more...
That feeling never left me, and though I would zoom through pages, there were times when I paused before going back to the book, because I knew the story would come to an end, I knew certain mysteries would be revealed, and I didn't want it to end. The story captured my imagination so vigorously, I wanted it to go & on & on...
Blasphemy is also rich in detail, both of the environment and the scientific aspects. The cast of characters is an interesting blend of various government, religious, scientific, and Navajo folks. The storylines bounce off one another at a quick pace throughout, each heightening the tension. There were a couple of holes, but forgivable ones. For me, the strongest part of the story was the philosophical ideas and arguments it proposes. These are absolutely brilliant and left me hungering for more. It explores quantum, string, entanglement theories from a very beautiful perspective, and postulates some very intriguing possibilities. I want to learn more. One of my favorite things to discover in any book or movie is an underlying theme that keeps me reflecting, pondering the deeper mysteries, asking big questions, something that gives me a sense of hope for the future, long after the story ends. Blasphemy does all of that. Douglas Preston has penned a winner. I highly recommend this book.
Rai Aren, co-author of Secret of the Sands
As an avid reader of thrillers, especially ones with a measure of the supernatural (these are also the types of books I like to write), Blasphemy is a book that I absolutely had to have based on the story description. It plumbs the depth of some of the most fascinating topics - the big bang, supercolliders, science & religion, the mysteries of the universe...what's not to love?! Blasphemy goes from zero to 60 in a heartbeat, the story grabs you immediately, leaves you breathless & excited to know more, more, more...
That feeling never left me, and though I would zoom through pages, there were times when I paused before going back to the book, because I knew the story would come to an end, I knew certain mysteries would be revealed, and I didn't want it to end. The story captured my imagination so vigorously, I wanted it to go & on & on...
Blasphemy is also rich in detail, both of the environment and the scientific aspects. The cast of characters is an interesting blend of various government, religious, scientific, and Navajo folks. The storylines bounce off one another at a quick pace throughout, each heightening the tension. There were a couple of holes, but forgivable ones. For me, the strongest part of the story was the philosophical ideas and arguments it proposes. These are absolutely brilliant and left me hungering for more. It explores quantum, string, entanglement theories from a very beautiful perspective, and postulates some very intriguing possibilities. I want to learn more. One of my favorite things to discover in any book or movie is an underlying theme that keeps me reflecting, pondering the deeper mysteries, asking big questions, something that gives me a sense of hope for the future, long after the story ends. Blasphemy does all of that. Douglas Preston has penned a winner. I highly recommend this book.
Rai Aren, co-author of Secret of the Sands
September 30, 2023
3.5 stars
I am both a science person and a Christian and I have no trouble reconciling the two, so it frustrates me when one side or the other claims there isn’t room for the other. Unfortunately, I’ve come across more folks who claim to be Christian and then proceed to tell me why their child should be excused from learning about evolution, the Big Bang, etc., because it goes against their beliefs. Sigh. As a science teacher this makes me very sad.
In this book, Douglas Preston takes it to some extremes, and there were many moments when I found myself squirming in my seat because sadly, what he was describing was not unfamiliar to me. But the interesting thing is that he took the other side as well, with scientists claiming that religion was just one of the myriad of ways of understanding how the universe works and science was another, but that there really was no God, just our limited understanding of how the world works.
I don’t want to spend too much time discussing all this as it will end up heading into spoiler territory, but I will say that this book had me thinking a lot, even as I disagreed with several of the characters. Wyman Ford continues to be an interesting character as he tries to play a more objective role—I related to some of his thinking for sure. But also included in this story was the conflict between the North American indigenous people and white men and their many abuses, manipulations, and broken promises. I liked how Preston connected all the stories, and I was left guessing to the very end.
Overall, it was a very solid story, but I suspect this will alienate a large chunk of the population—in that, it is aptly named. I would still recommend it though!
I am both a science person and a Christian and I have no trouble reconciling the two, so it frustrates me when one side or the other claims there isn’t room for the other. Unfortunately, I’ve come across more folks who claim to be Christian and then proceed to tell me why their child should be excused from learning about evolution, the Big Bang, etc., because it goes against their beliefs. Sigh. As a science teacher this makes me very sad.
In this book, Douglas Preston takes it to some extremes, and there were many moments when I found myself squirming in my seat because sadly, what he was describing was not unfamiliar to me. But the interesting thing is that he took the other side as well, with scientists claiming that religion was just one of the myriad of ways of understanding how the universe works and science was another, but that there really was no God, just our limited understanding of how the world works.
I don’t want to spend too much time discussing all this as it will end up heading into spoiler territory, but I will say that this book had me thinking a lot, even as I disagreed with several of the characters. Wyman Ford continues to be an interesting character as he tries to play a more objective role—I related to some of his thinking for sure. But also included in this story was the conflict between the North American indigenous people and white men and their many abuses, manipulations, and broken promises. I liked how Preston connected all the stories, and I was left guessing to the very end.
Overall, it was a very solid story, but I suspect this will alienate a large chunk of the population—in that, it is aptly named. I would still recommend it though!
April 7, 2017
I didn't finish the first in this series Tyrannosaur Canyon it just lost my interest. But this one, so far is very good indeed. Maybe it's because I'm fascinated by the Hadron Collider, but what a great premise: a Hadron-copy in the USA suddenly sends back a message from the point of origin of the universe--"Greetings."
Is God talking to His creation at last? Personally, I doubt it for various reasons, but I'm along for this ride and very keen to see how the author ends this.
As usual I'll update when I'm done.
Finished. What a ride! This was a consistently good read. Despite bringing in the "big" questions about God, life, death and the meaning of everything, it was also packed with extremely tense action scenes. Kudos to Douglas Preston for pulling this off. I'm going to go back and re-read the first one now before I progress in the series.
Was it God talking to His people? You'll have to read to find out...
Is God talking to His creation at last? Personally, I doubt it for various reasons, but I'm along for this ride and very keen to see how the author ends this.
As usual I'll update when I'm done.
Finished. What a ride! This was a consistently good read. Despite bringing in the "big" questions about God, life, death and the meaning of everything, it was also packed with extremely tense action scenes. Kudos to Douglas Preston for pulling this off. I'm going to go back and re-read the first one now before I progress in the series.
Was it God talking to His people? You'll have to read to find out...
December 8, 2009
Totally into the book ... and then, got to page 128 and the pages jump to 161 ... so now I have to go buy another copy! But it's ripping right along ... really good stuff!
So I bought a new copy today to keep going ... This book is getting better and better by the page! I'm amazed at how involved I am reading it! Doesn't usually happen with me and fiction ... (non-fiction, yeah--but fiction, not so much these days.)
So I bought a new copy today to keep going ... This book is getting better and better by the page! I'm amazed at how involved I am reading it! Doesn't usually happen with me and fiction ... (non-fiction, yeah--but fiction, not so much these days.)
November 8, 2020
Very interesting. Thought provoking and left me guessing til the end. I love a mystery that combines science and doesn't always turn out as you thought. Also learned something about scientology.
July 17, 2012
Douglas Preston's novel "Blasphemy" is a suspenseful science fiction thriller, but it's also a very interesting and disturbing examination of faith and religion. Preston's recurring character, Wyman Ford, an ex-CIA agent turned high-level private investigator, is hired by the U.S. President's Science Advisor to investigate the goings-on at a supercollider in Arizona. The research team has apparently accidentally created a black hole, but they have also discovered an intelligent being attempting to communicate with them from the other side of the black hole. The kicker: the entity claims that it is God. While all this going on, an over-the-edge Evangelical Christian pastor is leading a viral marketing campaign of protest against the supercollider because he believes that the head of the project is the Anti-Christ.
Preston writes with an intelligence and knowledge of his subject matter that would make the late Michael Crichton jealous. He knows how to build suspense, and his characters are well-developed. He also brings up some heavy-duty themes that are rife with controversy: The Big Bang Theory vs. Creationism, the existence of God, Religion vs. Science, fundamentalist Christianity. Themes that should be discussed. Themes that are also extremely difficult to discuss because proponents of either side of the argument are so absolutely sure that their own side is right.
At times, Preston runs the same risk that other writers face when dealing with such issues: turning off a lot of readers. Preston's decision (wise or not) to refrain from incorporating his own personal beliefs into the story helps (a little) to offset the risk. Still, many Christians may find some of Preston's portrayals of Christianity a bit uncomfortable and unfair. This is NOT the ""Left Behind"" series, a series which I could not personally get into because its belief system was pretty much at odds with my own, and I consider myself a pretty strong Christian. On the same token, it should not be read as a diatribe for replacing Christianity with the new religion of Science. Preston does not advocate the belief that Christianity is dead (although one character in the book essentially says something along those lines), although he may be making a case that Christianity needs to be a bit more open-minded and inclusive. It is ironic that Preston's protagonist, a lapsed Catholic, is accused of being closed-minded because he refuses to believe that the entity is actually God. Ford is an interesting character, spiritually, as he deals with his own fall from grace and problems of faith. (In the previous Ford books, he became a social recluse after the death of his wife by joining a monastary, only leaving the monastary after being forced out of retirement when the CIA needed him again.)
In any case, Preston's "Blasphemy" is a thought-provoking book. It may be provoking thoughts that are uncomfortable and will make one cringe, but they are thoughts that need to be brought out into the open and discussed intelligently and compassionately. Because only through compassion and understanding will truth be revealed, and, to quote Christ, "the truth shall set you free." As Preston even writes in the end of the novel, science and religion are both seeking the same thing: truth. And neither of them have a monopoly on it.
Preston writes with an intelligence and knowledge of his subject matter that would make the late Michael Crichton jealous. He knows how to build suspense, and his characters are well-developed. He also brings up some heavy-duty themes that are rife with controversy: The Big Bang Theory vs. Creationism, the existence of God, Religion vs. Science, fundamentalist Christianity. Themes that should be discussed. Themes that are also extremely difficult to discuss because proponents of either side of the argument are so absolutely sure that their own side is right.
At times, Preston runs the same risk that other writers face when dealing with such issues: turning off a lot of readers. Preston's decision (wise or not) to refrain from incorporating his own personal beliefs into the story helps (a little) to offset the risk. Still, many Christians may find some of Preston's portrayals of Christianity a bit uncomfortable and unfair. This is NOT the ""Left Behind"" series, a series which I could not personally get into because its belief system was pretty much at odds with my own, and I consider myself a pretty strong Christian. On the same token, it should not be read as a diatribe for replacing Christianity with the new religion of Science. Preston does not advocate the belief that Christianity is dead (although one character in the book essentially says something along those lines), although he may be making a case that Christianity needs to be a bit more open-minded and inclusive. It is ironic that Preston's protagonist, a lapsed Catholic, is accused of being closed-minded because he refuses to believe that the entity is actually God. Ford is an interesting character, spiritually, as he deals with his own fall from grace and problems of faith. (In the previous Ford books, he became a social recluse after the death of his wife by joining a monastary, only leaving the monastary after being forced out of retirement when the CIA needed him again.)
In any case, Preston's "Blasphemy" is a thought-provoking book. It may be provoking thoughts that are uncomfortable and will make one cringe, but they are thoughts that need to be brought out into the open and discussed intelligently and compassionately. Because only through compassion and understanding will truth be revealed, and, to quote Christ, "the truth shall set you free." As Preston even writes in the end of the novel, science and religion are both seeking the same thing: truth. And neither of them have a monopoly on it.
January 26, 2011
Full confession here I put this book down...so my rating is from me. I have read books by Preston (and Lincoln Child), and I've liked some pretty well. The Codex wasn't bad. The Pendergast books are mostly good to pretty good...this one isn't. Frankly, I find it silly.
It apparently wants us to believe it's setting up a debate between science and religion but the religious "character" (basically the villain of the piece) is at best a caricature (as are really all the "so called Christians" in the book). Straw man arguments that can be easily knocked down and strange situations (could a mob maybe thousands strong be called up by a single televangelist? That quickly"? I mean really?)
Admittedly I am a Christian, but this book I think will fall short for many who actually stop and "think" about it. The writer has done far better work.
Still, as I "ditched it", you may wish to make your own decision, but not my cup of tea or hemlock...whatever.
It apparently wants us to believe it's setting up a debate between science and religion but the religious "character" (basically the villain of the piece) is at best a caricature (as are really all the "so called Christians" in the book). Straw man arguments that can be easily knocked down and strange situations (could a mob maybe thousands strong be called up by a single televangelist? That quickly"? I mean really?)
Admittedly I am a Christian, but this book I think will fall short for many who actually stop and "think" about it. The writer has done far better work.
Still, as I "ditched it", you may wish to make your own decision, but not my cup of tea or hemlock...whatever.
May 22, 2011
Really 3.5 stars.
I listened to this book.
Blasphemy is about a group of scientists trying to understand the Big Bang theory and as an outcome, unearth new forms of energy. To accomplish these tasks, they are using a superconducting supercollider particle accelerator which cost the US taxpayers $40 billion. Enter a greedy, conniving lobbyist, a televangelist, and an over zealous pastor and you've got yourself a great story where science and religion do battle!
I listened to this book.
Blasphemy is about a group of scientists trying to understand the Big Bang theory and as an outcome, unearth new forms of energy. To accomplish these tasks, they are using a superconducting supercollider particle accelerator which cost the US taxpayers $40 billion. Enter a greedy, conniving lobbyist, a televangelist, and an over zealous pastor and you've got yourself a great story where science and religion do battle!
February 15, 2017
p291: others had brought whatever weapon first came to hand, from iron skillets and kitchen knifes to sledgehammers, axes, machetes, and brush hooks.
p332: "mike frost, former fifth special forces group." he crushed eddy's hand.
"break us in, mike."
frost circled the device cautiously, peering at the metal cones. "this puppy's already packed with c-4. darn lucky a stray bullet didn't hit one of these during the fight..."
p332: "mike frost, former fifth special forces group." he crushed eddy's hand.
"break us in, mike."
frost circled the device cautiously, peering at the metal cones. "this puppy's already packed with c-4. darn lucky a stray bullet didn't hit one of these during the fight..."
February 26, 2020
Talk about IA taking over! Definitely warning about crazy religions!!
September 8, 2022
Rating: 2 stars
I found out (after 50 pages) that I read this book over 10 years ago. I had borrowed it from my library mistakenly thinking that it was part of the Special Agent Pendergast series. Now that I've read Tyrannosaur Canyon (Wyman Ford, #1) it makes a bit more sense.
The world's biggest supercollider, locked in an Arizona mountain, was built to reveal the secrets of the very moment of creation: the Big Bang itself. The Torus is the most expensive machine ever created by humankind, run by the world's most powerful supercomputer. It is the brainchild of Nobel Laureate William North Hazelius. Will the Torus divulge the mysteries of the creation of the universe? Or will it, as some predict, suck the earth into a mini black hole? Or is the Torus a Satanic attempt, as a powerful televangelist decries, to challenge God Almighty on the very throne of Heaven? Twelve scientists under the leadership of Hazelius are sent to the remote mountain to turn it on. Wyman Ford, ex-monk and CIA operative, is hired to discover what is causing problems with the project.
I found out (after 50 pages) that I read this book over 10 years ago. I had borrowed it from my library mistakenly thinking that it was part of the Special Agent Pendergast series. Now that I've read Tyrannosaur Canyon (Wyman Ford, #1) it makes a bit more sense.
The world's biggest supercollider, locked in an Arizona mountain, was built to reveal the secrets of the very moment of creation: the Big Bang itself. The Torus is the most expensive machine ever created by humankind, run by the world's most powerful supercomputer. It is the brainchild of Nobel Laureate William North Hazelius. Will the Torus divulge the mysteries of the creation of the universe? Or will it, as some predict, suck the earth into a mini black hole? Or is the Torus a Satanic attempt, as a powerful televangelist decries, to challenge God Almighty on the very throne of Heaven? Twelve scientists under the leadership of Hazelius are sent to the remote mountain to turn it on. Wyman Ford, ex-monk and CIA operative, is hired to discover what is causing problems with the project.
September 7, 2022
There was a lot of physics in this book that I definitely did not understand, but I was still able to get the gist. The plot of this book was a little too real. The events of the past six years made it all too easy to imagine exactly this happening. It was a good story, but I think I'd have enjoyed it more if it stayed in the fantasy realm.
May 27, 2020
Blasphemy (2007) is the second in Douglas Preston's Wyman Ford series. Preston is a go-to writer of thrillers with odd and curious subjects of a scientific nature but never too complex for us readers. Wyman Ford is a former CIA agent with a doctorate from MIT in Cybernetics. After a career in the CIA his wife was killed by a car bomb in Cambodia. Ford left the CIA to join a monastery, hoping for a restoration in his faith. After two years he returned to society and is now starting a new career as a private investigator.
This book, like most of Preston's books, is an interesting page turner that fits somewhere between science fiction and social commentary. It's a fun read for anyone who likes weird.
Isabella
The main character in Blasphemy is a machine, a new forty-billion dollar superconducting supercollider particle accelerator dubbed "Isabella." Isabella, located in Red Mesa, Arizona, consists of two concentric rings, each 46 miles in circumference. Isabella's job is to reproduce the conditions of the Big Bang that started the universe out of a super-dense super-energetic portion of nothingness. She does this by sending protons and antiprotons in opposite directions at speeds very close to the speed of light. As the speed increases the particles become increasingly massive or, stated differently, increasingly energetic (remember E = mc2). The protons also become tinier, almost to the vanishing point.
At 99.9 percent of the speed of light a proton's mass is extremely high and its size is extremely small, that is, its density becomes near-infinite—just like in a Black Hole. In addition, space-time in the vicinity of the proton is extremely warped, also like in a Black Hole. All of this is legal—in accordance with the Law of General Relativity. When protons and antiprotons are allowed to collide there is a massive release of energy within the accelerator.
And that is the point of the accelerator: at its start the universe was a Black Hole with matter and antimatter moving at light speed; a random collision created an explosion that started our universe. So by creating Black Holes in a laboratory we can investigate the conditions at the onset of the Big Bang.
Isabella is an expensive device. On top of the forty-billion dollar construction cost, its energy consumption is enormous: each use of the accelerator absorbs the electrical input equivalent to the daily power draw in Las Vegas—and think of all those neon signs! We watch as Isabella undergoes her first test. As the velocity of particles inside Isabella increases the monitors show a Black Hole forming, as expected. But as the particle velocities approach 99.9 percent of light speed an unexpected image begins to form. It wavers in shape and eventually it settles down to form an identifiable image. Is it a creature from the Black Lagoon? Is it an extremely tiny Martian or UFO? Is it Ivana Trump?
No! It's . . . it's . . . its . . . a single English word
The scientific team can't accept the notion that an alien being has made contact. Instead, it puts the event down to hackers who installed malware. A scientist named Peter Volkonsky is assigned to track down the malware, but after days without sleep searching through the software code that runs Isabella, he can find no trace of tampering. During this time there are repeated tests of Isabella designed to force the malware to show itself. No luck!
Wyman Ford's Mission
An abrupt change of scene: Wyman Ford enters the office of the White House science advisor, a buttoned-down fellow named Stanley Lockwood III. Lockwood has summoned Ford because he needs a mission accomplished off the record. It is their first contact, and it's also Ford's debut as a private investigator.
The topic is Isabella, but Lockwood doesn't know yet that contact has been made with an alien civilization. All he knows is that while Gregory Hazelius—the Director of the Isabella Project—tells him that Isabella isn't working yet, but the electrical bills show repeated use of the machine. He needs a man on the spot to sort out this inconsistency.
There is an additional issue. Isabella is at the center of the president's agenda and a Navajo named Nelson Begay might queer the deal. Begay lives on the Navajo reservation near Red Mesa, Arizona, where Isabella is sited. Begay is whipping up opposition to Isabella by claiming that Isabella is on sacred ground. (Why, we ask, was this issue not vetted and dispatched during the many years it took to find a site and build Isabella?)
Ford's mission, should he accept it, is to go to Red Mesa as an anthropologist on the team of scientists. His cover job is to investigate Begay's charge and, if possible, to tone Nelson Begay's rhetoric down; if he can't do that, he is to discredit Begay. But his real mission is to find out why Isabella is so far behind schedule and why its director says that the machine isn't working while the White House electrical bills show that it is regularly using up megawatts of electricity. As Holmes would say, "the game's afoot! But what is the game?
Wyman has several incentives to take the job: he needs a job; the compensation is high; and the assistant director of Isabella at Red Mesa is Kate Mercer, a gorgeous string theorist from Stanford with whom he had a long-term relationship before his marriage. It's a three ducks-with-one-shotgun-shell mission! And so he's off to Red Mesa. But what neither Ford nor Lockwood are aware of is that opposition to Isabella is also building off the reservation.
A television preacher named Reverend Donald T. Spates, whose empire is collapsing, has found a new source of juice—he claims that Isabella is an ungodly effort to place science above God and Jesus. He claims that if the universe was started by a chance event like a matter-antimatter collision in a Black Hole, then it was not designed by God. Yet, so says the preacher, the Bible tells us that God had clearly said "Let There Be Light!" So Isabella is anti-Bible.
Another source of local opposition is also rising, whipped up by Pastor Ralph Eddy. Eddy is head of the Gathered In Thy Name Mission, with a congregation of one—him. Like Spates, Eddy sees Isabella as a way to increase his flock—perhaps even to double it. But while Spates is just wily and venal, Eddy is as crazy as the Mad Hatter. Eddy offers his assistance to Reverend Spates, it is quickly accepted.
Wyman arrives at Red Mesa to a cool welcome, though Director Gregory Hazelius is charming and welcoming. Soon Peter Volkonsky, the scientist tasked with ferreting out the malware, is found with a bullet in his head. He had been overworked and distressed by his unsuccessful search for the malware that led to the Greetings message. The circumstances look like suicide, but Ford is suspicious; his eye is on Tony Wardlaw, the head of security who seems fast on the trigger.
Yet another test of Isabella reveals the same message. But now, instead of shutting Isabella down and looking for a hack, the test is continued. Isabella is instructed to respond to the message and a conversation with the other side is initiated. The "alien" or "hacker" (depending on your point of view) identifies itself as what humans call "God" and reports that human reality is simply the result of "God" thinking. In other words, our universe is a virtual universe—we have no identity independent of God; this "ungodly" machine is our link to God. Boy, is this going to confuse the Reverend Spates.
The story ends in Mayhem at Red Mesa and a demotion of the newly discovered God Head. It's a page turner. I particularly like the conversations between Isabella and God. God seems laid back! You might be surprised at the reason.
The beauty of this story is that no universes were destroyed in its making.
This book, like most of Preston's books, is an interesting page turner that fits somewhere between science fiction and social commentary. It's a fun read for anyone who likes weird.
Isabella
The main character in Blasphemy is a machine, a new forty-billion dollar superconducting supercollider particle accelerator dubbed "Isabella." Isabella, located in Red Mesa, Arizona, consists of two concentric rings, each 46 miles in circumference. Isabella's job is to reproduce the conditions of the Big Bang that started the universe out of a super-dense super-energetic portion of nothingness. She does this by sending protons and antiprotons in opposite directions at speeds very close to the speed of light. As the speed increases the particles become increasingly massive or, stated differently, increasingly energetic (remember E = mc2). The protons also become tinier, almost to the vanishing point.
At 99.9 percent of the speed of light a proton's mass is extremely high and its size is extremely small, that is, its density becomes near-infinite—just like in a Black Hole. In addition, space-time in the vicinity of the proton is extremely warped, also like in a Black Hole. All of this is legal—in accordance with the Law of General Relativity. When protons and antiprotons are allowed to collide there is a massive release of energy within the accelerator.
And that is the point of the accelerator: at its start the universe was a Black Hole with matter and antimatter moving at light speed; a random collision created an explosion that started our universe. So by creating Black Holes in a laboratory we can investigate the conditions at the onset of the Big Bang.
Isabella is an expensive device. On top of the forty-billion dollar construction cost, its energy consumption is enormous: each use of the accelerator absorbs the electrical input equivalent to the daily power draw in Las Vegas—and think of all those neon signs! We watch as Isabella undergoes her first test. As the velocity of particles inside Isabella increases the monitors show a Black Hole forming, as expected. But as the particle velocities approach 99.9 percent of light speed an unexpected image begins to form. It wavers in shape and eventually it settles down to form an identifiable image. Is it a creature from the Black Lagoon? Is it an extremely tiny Martian or UFO? Is it Ivana Trump?
No! It's . . . it's . . . its . . . a single English word
Greetings!Yes, it seems that Isabella has opened up a phone line with an alien civilization, perhaps from another universe. Carl Sagan would be very happy.
The scientific team can't accept the notion that an alien being has made contact. Instead, it puts the event down to hackers who installed malware. A scientist named Peter Volkonsky is assigned to track down the malware, but after days without sleep searching through the software code that runs Isabella, he can find no trace of tampering. During this time there are repeated tests of Isabella designed to force the malware to show itself. No luck!
Wyman Ford's Mission
An abrupt change of scene: Wyman Ford enters the office of the White House science advisor, a buttoned-down fellow named Stanley Lockwood III. Lockwood has summoned Ford because he needs a mission accomplished off the record. It is their first contact, and it's also Ford's debut as a private investigator.
The topic is Isabella, but Lockwood doesn't know yet that contact has been made with an alien civilization. All he knows is that while Gregory Hazelius—the Director of the Isabella Project—tells him that Isabella isn't working yet, but the electrical bills show repeated use of the machine. He needs a man on the spot to sort out this inconsistency.
There is an additional issue. Isabella is at the center of the president's agenda and a Navajo named Nelson Begay might queer the deal. Begay lives on the Navajo reservation near Red Mesa, Arizona, where Isabella is sited. Begay is whipping up opposition to Isabella by claiming that Isabella is on sacred ground. (Why, we ask, was this issue not vetted and dispatched during the many years it took to find a site and build Isabella?)
Ford's mission, should he accept it, is to go to Red Mesa as an anthropologist on the team of scientists. His cover job is to investigate Begay's charge and, if possible, to tone Nelson Begay's rhetoric down; if he can't do that, he is to discredit Begay. But his real mission is to find out why Isabella is so far behind schedule and why its director says that the machine isn't working while the White House electrical bills show that it is regularly using up megawatts of electricity. As Holmes would say, "the game's afoot! But what is the game?
Wyman has several incentives to take the job: he needs a job; the compensation is high; and the assistant director of Isabella at Red Mesa is Kate Mercer, a gorgeous string theorist from Stanford with whom he had a long-term relationship before his marriage. It's a three ducks-with-one-shotgun-shell mission! And so he's off to Red Mesa. But what neither Ford nor Lockwood are aware of is that opposition to Isabella is also building off the reservation.
A television preacher named Reverend Donald T. Spates, whose empire is collapsing, has found a new source of juice—he claims that Isabella is an ungodly effort to place science above God and Jesus. He claims that if the universe was started by a chance event like a matter-antimatter collision in a Black Hole, then it was not designed by God. Yet, so says the preacher, the Bible tells us that God had clearly said "Let There Be Light!" So Isabella is anti-Bible.
Another source of local opposition is also rising, whipped up by Pastor Ralph Eddy. Eddy is head of the Gathered In Thy Name Mission, with a congregation of one—him. Like Spates, Eddy sees Isabella as a way to increase his flock—perhaps even to double it. But while Spates is just wily and venal, Eddy is as crazy as the Mad Hatter. Eddy offers his assistance to Reverend Spates, it is quickly accepted.
Wyman arrives at Red Mesa to a cool welcome, though Director Gregory Hazelius is charming and welcoming. Soon Peter Volkonsky, the scientist tasked with ferreting out the malware, is found with a bullet in his head. He had been overworked and distressed by his unsuccessful search for the malware that led to the Greetings message. The circumstances look like suicide, but Ford is suspicious; his eye is on Tony Wardlaw, the head of security who seems fast on the trigger.
Yet another test of Isabella reveals the same message. But now, instead of shutting Isabella down and looking for a hack, the test is continued. Isabella is instructed to respond to the message and a conversation with the other side is initiated. The "alien" or "hacker" (depending on your point of view) identifies itself as what humans call "God" and reports that human reality is simply the result of "God" thinking. In other words, our universe is a virtual universe—we have no identity independent of God; this "ungodly" machine is our link to God. Boy, is this going to confuse the Reverend Spates.
The story ends in Mayhem at Red Mesa and a demotion of the newly discovered God Head. It's a page turner. I particularly like the conversations between Isabella and God. God seems laid back! You might be surprised at the reason.
The beauty of this story is that no universes were destroyed in its making.
June 24, 2013
I just finished re-reading this book. (I originally read it about five years ago.) While I vaguely remembered the ending, I do enjoy Douglas Preston's work so much that I decided to re-read it because I like science-based thrillers...and this one is a humdinger!
The story is based on fact that, back when it was originally published, was the very cutting edge of science. We have come even farther in the five years since the book was originally published which makes the story even more believeable. That is not to say that the story itself is fact but rather that it is based on solid science.
The Isabella Project is the brainchild of Nobel laureate Gregory North Hazelius, the self-proclaimed "smartest man on the planet." Isabella is the name given to the world's most powerful supercomputer. It's goal? Nothing more than to prove the "Big Bang Theory" of the creation of the universe! Hazelius has garnered $40 billion from the government for this project, gathered a group of scientists from across-the-board scientific disciplines to help him and built Isabella on top of a mountain in the Arizona desert above a Navajo reservation. But there are problems...BIG problems...with the Isabella Project. There are the cost overruns, the "malware" which keeps the team from being able to run Isabella at full power, concerns about the hardware and power supply running Isabella. And the team members have secrets...even the great Gregory North Hazelius!
Add the Reverend Don Spates, an highly-influential but flawed televangelist (think Jimmy Swaggart in a custom-tailored Italian suit) and Pastor Russell Eddy, a lone preacher running a forgotten mission on the edge of the Navajo reservation just beneath the mountain where Isabella sits. For them, Isabella is the embodiment of the Antichrist and must be destroyed.
Enter Wyman Ford, an emotionally-damaged ex-CIA operative sent by the government to find out exactly what is happening out in Arizona. What he finds in the Arizona desert will change him...and the world...forever!
The first time around I gave this book five stars. This time I revised it down to four because I was just a little bit disappointed by the ending. For me, it left some questions unanswered and I don't like unanswered questions (unless there's going to be a sequel). If I could have given it four and a half stars, I would because it really is that good. Douglas Preston is one of my favorite authors (along with his frequent co-author Lincoln Child) and this book is one of his best solo efforts. I highly recommend it, especially if you like science-based thrillers. It will keep you guessing until the end.
The story is based on fact that, back when it was originally published, was the very cutting edge of science. We have come even farther in the five years since the book was originally published which makes the story even more believeable. That is not to say that the story itself is fact but rather that it is based on solid science.
The Isabella Project is the brainchild of Nobel laureate Gregory North Hazelius, the self-proclaimed "smartest man on the planet." Isabella is the name given to the world's most powerful supercomputer. It's goal? Nothing more than to prove the "Big Bang Theory" of the creation of the universe! Hazelius has garnered $40 billion from the government for this project, gathered a group of scientists from across-the-board scientific disciplines to help him and built Isabella on top of a mountain in the Arizona desert above a Navajo reservation. But there are problems...BIG problems...with the Isabella Project. There are the cost overruns, the "malware" which keeps the team from being able to run Isabella at full power, concerns about the hardware and power supply running Isabella. And the team members have secrets...even the great Gregory North Hazelius!
Add the Reverend Don Spates, an highly-influential but flawed televangelist (think Jimmy Swaggart in a custom-tailored Italian suit) and Pastor Russell Eddy, a lone preacher running a forgotten mission on the edge of the Navajo reservation just beneath the mountain where Isabella sits. For them, Isabella is the embodiment of the Antichrist and must be destroyed.
Enter Wyman Ford, an emotionally-damaged ex-CIA operative sent by the government to find out exactly what is happening out in Arizona. What he finds in the Arizona desert will change him...and the world...forever!
The first time around I gave this book five stars. This time I revised it down to four because I was just a little bit disappointed by the ending. For me, it left some questions unanswered and I don't like unanswered questions (unless there's going to be a sequel). If I could have given it four and a half stars, I would because it really is that good. Douglas Preston is one of my favorite authors (along with his frequent co-author Lincoln Child) and this book is one of his best solo efforts. I highly recommend it, especially if you like science-based thrillers. It will keep you guessing until the end.
January 14, 2018
Douglas Preston's Blasphemy is an excellent example of a book that one might wish handy when one needs kindling, but there's a good chance the fire would say, "No thanks. I have standards." Preston usually writes with a partner, Lincoln Child, and I've never read any of those novels. After Blasphemy, I'm never going to.
Wyman Ford, former CIA agent who lost his wife in a car bombing and spent several years in a monastery afterwards, works as a private investigator. He's hired by White House officials to look into an immense particle collider project in Arizona, code-named Isabella. Despite the presence of the brilliant Gregory Hazelius, the project isn't going as planned, and the President is worried its failure could hurt him in the election (you may remember how ending the Superconducting Super Collider project nearly kept Bill Clinton from winning a second term - not) Ford discovers that the scientists, including a former ladylove, are indeed hiding something. The project becomes a political football when an unscrupulous lobbyist and greedy televangelist decide to use it for their own ends. And there are some Navajo Indians involved as well, protesting the Isabella project itself.
Preston introduces no fewer than 12 scientists on the project, not one of whom has any more depth than the pages they're printed on. His main characters fare no better. Some folks griped that the novel featured a greedy televangelist and a religious nut as its villains. But frankly, anyone who's a member of any group or profession found in this novel could be just as justifiably insulted by how they're depicted if they could force themselves to tramp through Blasphemy's poorly-written, lightly edited pages. A character subsides into unconsciousness at one point, and we read that "darkness descended gratefully." I, like you but unlike either Preston or his editor, was unaware darkness could express gratitude: I thought it was just the absence of light.
Blasphemy boasts a preposterous, see-it-coming-from-miles away ending that puts a proper capstone on a true drudgery of a reading experience.
Orginal available here.
Wyman Ford, former CIA agent who lost his wife in a car bombing and spent several years in a monastery afterwards, works as a private investigator. He's hired by White House officials to look into an immense particle collider project in Arizona, code-named Isabella. Despite the presence of the brilliant Gregory Hazelius, the project isn't going as planned, and the President is worried its failure could hurt him in the election (you may remember how ending the Superconducting Super Collider project nearly kept Bill Clinton from winning a second term - not) Ford discovers that the scientists, including a former ladylove, are indeed hiding something. The project becomes a political football when an unscrupulous lobbyist and greedy televangelist decide to use it for their own ends. And there are some Navajo Indians involved as well, protesting the Isabella project itself.
Preston introduces no fewer than 12 scientists on the project, not one of whom has any more depth than the pages they're printed on. His main characters fare no better. Some folks griped that the novel featured a greedy televangelist and a religious nut as its villains. But frankly, anyone who's a member of any group or profession found in this novel could be just as justifiably insulted by how they're depicted if they could force themselves to tramp through Blasphemy's poorly-written, lightly edited pages. A character subsides into unconsciousness at one point, and we read that "darkness descended gratefully." I, like you but unlike either Preston or his editor, was unaware darkness could express gratitude: I thought it was just the absence of light.
Blasphemy boasts a preposterous, see-it-coming-from-miles away ending that puts a proper capstone on a true drudgery of a reading experience.
Orginal available here.
July 20, 2008
For the story alone, I may have given this just two stars. But it got me thinking about herd behaviour and I liked the fact that all of the participants failed equally (so call me quirky). Any way as a consequence, I thought the novel deserved 3 stars. Read on:
The world’s most powerful particle accelerator, Isabella, buried deep in an Arizona mountain is the most expensive machine ever built. The purpose of the machine is to explore what happened at the moment of creation, but there is a fear that it may suck the earth into a miniature black hole.
Against a backdrop of rising concern about the money spent, the 12 team of scientists led by Gregory North Hazelius is under increasing pressure to demonstrate the value of the project. In addition there are rising Christian fundamentalist views that the plan is a satanic attempt to disprove the book of Genesis, as well as concerns about the project by the Navajo people (on whose reservation the site is located). There seem to be problems in getting Isabella on line and Wyman Ford is implanted within the team to report back to government about what is really happening.
This novel is marketed as thriller about religion and science. It could also be marketed as an illustration of a triad of hubristic cynicism: government, science and religion all seeking to manipulate public opinion. What makes the novel work, on one level, for me is that none of the players demonstrate superiority and while each fail in different ways the end result demonstrates that nothing substantive has been learned.
I found this an interesting way to spend a few hours on a rainy afternoon: plenty of action, albeit with predictable outcomes.
The world’s most powerful particle accelerator, Isabella, buried deep in an Arizona mountain is the most expensive machine ever built. The purpose of the machine is to explore what happened at the moment of creation, but there is a fear that it may suck the earth into a miniature black hole.
Against a backdrop of rising concern about the money spent, the 12 team of scientists led by Gregory North Hazelius is under increasing pressure to demonstrate the value of the project. In addition there are rising Christian fundamentalist views that the plan is a satanic attempt to disprove the book of Genesis, as well as concerns about the project by the Navajo people (on whose reservation the site is located). There seem to be problems in getting Isabella on line and Wyman Ford is implanted within the team to report back to government about what is really happening.
This novel is marketed as thriller about religion and science. It could also be marketed as an illustration of a triad of hubristic cynicism: government, science and religion all seeking to manipulate public opinion. What makes the novel work, on one level, for me is that none of the players demonstrate superiority and while each fail in different ways the end result demonstrates that nothing substantive has been learned.
I found this an interesting way to spend a few hours on a rainy afternoon: plenty of action, albeit with predictable outcomes.
May 26, 2015
This place and the people in it. Yuck. Why did I fall for this again? Repeat after me "Douglas Preston books are not Richard Preston books even though they are brothers. Always takes me 100+ pages to realize what I've done when I pick up Douglas Preston fiction. The covers and the name draw me in like a fly to flypaper then I'm stuck for another 200+ pages worth of guys and nonsense.
OK airplane read though if the other choice is the in-flight magazine and you've already read it.
OK airplane read though if the other choice is the in-flight magazine and you've already read it.
December 19, 2015
Scientists investigate the big bang and find God; Christian extremists search for Armageddon and find the antichrist, killing him and many others, including the head scientist who was bringing God to earth. In the middle is Wyman Ford, who doesn't accept the God or the antichrist; he just wants to try to keep too many people from dying.
A page-turner with lots of suspense and a somewhat strange ending. I liked it.
A page-turner with lots of suspense and a somewhat strange ending. I liked it.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 888 reviews