Discovery

Science of Psionics #1

by Dave Renol

An average couple suddenly find themselves in a not-so-average situation after an odd thunderstorm leaves them with psionic abilities. As they begin to discover what new things they can do, they bring in three friends to help them experiment.

When attempts to share these abilities meet early failure, frustration and impatience take over and one of the friends turns out to be not as reliable as they had thought. He decides the military should control these powers, and he doesn't care what that means for our couple.

The Science of Psionics, Book 1: Discovery
Approx. 50k words, 200 pages.

Genres: Science Fiction, Paranormal, Amazon, Fiction

207 pages, Kindle Edition

First published February 1, 2012

Reviews

[[ J o ] · Rating 1 out of 5]

It always feels a bit silly to say of a fictional book featuring paranormal or other not-of-this-world abilities that I am not convinced by them, but I suppose that's one of the things that gives good fictional books their edge. I wasn't convinced by this world or the powers within, nor indeed by any of the real-world elements either. It felt very much like a nanowrimo novel with little editing.

[Pearl Kirkby · Rating 4 out of 5]

(Just an FYI - if I could have given this a 4.5, I would have!)

I came across this book whilst researching for my own novel-in-progress and, for the first time ever, neglected to check reviews before purchasing. I had thought it was a book on the study of parapsychology, so when I started reading it and it seemed like just another light scifi story, I shelved it until I had time for recreational reading.

Today, two months later, I'm taking a break and decided that maybe "The Science of Psionics" might have some basic scientific background I could Google for myself, so I opened it to the bookmark on my Kindle, continued reading and promptly got hooked.

And yes, it starts out a bit campy...until you realize that the science behind the theory of psionics/parapsychology is not neglected in the book. Without being overstated and dry (except for the dry wit that is used a lot in dialog!), the bits where the male protagonist, Mark, tries to explain the odd abilities he and his lady love, Linda, have acquired, does indicate a fair modicum of research.

(Yes, poetic license was taken, but what the heck! It's fiction!)

The book revolves around how an anomaly during a lightning storm created a situation wherein Mark and Linda somehow wound up in the midst of a sort of electrical field. Its effects on their brains are described in rather comedic dialogs back and forth between them and throughout a number of monologs that make up this tale.

On the morning after the storm, when he discovers he has somehow developed telekenetic abilities, Mark goes in to awaken Linda to tell her about his new found powers. He finds her still asleep over top of her sheets - 18 inches over the top! Not wanting to startle her, he waits for her to join him for breakfast, and then breaks his news by just showing her what he can do, and suggesting she was also affected.

Of course she's shocked, but not nearly as much as when he tells her about finding her floating above the bed as well! They spend the rest of the morning trying to outdo each other by levitating, remote food prep and other antics...I chuckled all the way through this part.

I would have waited to finish the book later, but couldn't bring myself to go to bed! I'm glad I went back to it, too, because around Chapter 7, it was no longer just a fun jaunt into science fiction, and by Chapter 8, there came an "Uh oh..." moment when I knew things were about to get serious.

Enter an over-the-top, hard-core, Army Ranger 'friend' who thinks the couple's abilities should be tested against weapons and explosives, all with the goal of being shared with the powers that be for possible military use, and you now have a volatile and fast paced story on your hands.

A note here: that main antagonist is Sid, and you get the impression that he's lost touch with reality somewhat, after a few harsher than usual deployments...maybe. His wife is former military as well (also a Ranger??) and just as hard-core, only she appears more jaded than actually 'lost'. Their relationship seems to be based more on common experience than love and companionship, hence the ease of betrayal on his part, and her anger, rather than pain, at that betrayal.

Another observation here: it's sad when the military is made the bad guy, but renegades can be found amongst many civil occupations...and in this case, the story fits and paves the way for the continuation of this series. All of that being said, this is NOT a military battles book...just sayin'.

Back to the book - even though you can understand the theory behind the abilities these two have, without a lot of science-speak (no distractions, which is something I loved), there are parts that are a bit far-fetched to be believable - but then, that's what makes it a fiction of science and also what kept me reading. I mean, who doesn't enjoy a good flight of fantasy now and then!

The only issue I had with this book was that a better understanding of the relationship between Sid and his wife would have been in order. I agree with others that it sounds a bit odd that two such obviously "Army Proud" individuals would be able to turn on one another so quickly and completely. I had to give myself my own reason to believe it possible (see above). If there is ever another edition, I truly hope that relationship will be expanded, if only by a couple of paragraphs.

All in all, though, a really cool read for a stormy day...but stay away from the windows if it's lightning, or you may find yourself in the middle of your own trip into Psionics!

[Gwynneth Ott · Rating 4 out of 5]

Would the world be ready?

Nature is amazing. If you had a power that enabled you to fly, wouldn't you explore? Those friends you trusted might be getting a little jealous though.

[Laurie Hopkins · Rating 3 out of 5]

Okay

It took awhile for me to get into the story. Sid was a grade A jerk, couldn't believe what he did. Made me really dislike him.

[Benjamin Spurlock · Rating 2 out of 5]

This is a story that's a bit hard to review. In terms of basic structure, storytelling, and so on, it's a solid enough piece. It has an interesting take on psionics, even though I find the process of them learning how it works to be a bit unbelievably fast.

The problem I find is in how the actual plot goes. I won't spoil it here, but the main antagonist just isn't believable, practically a caricature of his archetype, and how the story progresses just doesn't ring true to me. I'm a military kid, and I've done a fair bit of research in their tactics, and I just can't get behind the climactic final encounter, nor the resolution of it. When those sorts of individuals die, it's neither simple nor a quick process, and 'training exercise' or not, the body count would provoke a long investigation. There's also the fact that a military response to a civilian situation is... questionable at best. Likewise, the idea of it being explained away as a 'training exercise' is extremely unlikely, and the extent that it goes to? It should be a transformational moment, and anyone involved- especially those directly responsible for it- would likely suffer as a result.

Could it be possible that the events of this story could play out as written? Perhaps. But I find it extremely unlikely, to the point of being completely unrealistic, and thus I just couldn't get into or enjoy this story much at all. I definitely will not be reading further on in this series, which is unfortunate, because I love the idea of psychic powers and how they can work.

[Mike · Rating 2 out of 5]

Basic concept: An explained storm leaves a pair of adults with psionic capabilities, who call in their friends to help them figure out what to do next.

Things I liked about this book:

- Multiple viewpoint characters. I like this as a general feature, though I'm not a fan of the way this particular novel did this: changing narrators, but having each chapter be a first person narration. Still, it is nice to be able to view things from more than one lens.

Things I did not like about this book:

- Too many abilities, too fast. In a matter of days, characters progress through telekinesis, precognition, telepathy, empathy, and astral projection. This struck me as absurd.

- Unrealistic character portrayals. The two main characters are fairly believable in their motivations. Several other characters are not. Without getting into specifics due to the risk of spoilers, I found the actions of the married couple invited in to share the secret insane and unbelievable.

- Lack of explanation. How did these powers come about? Why this particular couple? Do they have any limits at all? None of this is explored. I'm betting the intent is to make me read the rest of the series, but I'm not actually motivated enough to learn more about these people for it to feel worth the time investment involved in reading more of these books.

[Clarissa]

I'm having poor luck with my freebies lately. I read about 1/3 of this book. I like the idea behind this one but the writing is putting me off. The character of Linda I can get behind, the writing for her is how I would expect a person with new psionic abilities to act. The character of Mark was like reading a science textbook. Utterly boring. The fact that the author took the first pages of each characters chapter to rehash the end of the previous character's chapter from the perspective made me feel like the author didn't want me to use my imagination at all in this book, and that's the whole reason I read!

[chucklesthescot · Rating 1 out of 5]

This book did not live up to expectation. After the storm and the discovery of powers, the book becomes an incomprehensible scientific waffle which I understood very little of. When our hero couple started exchanging theories and throwing scientific jargon about, my eyes glazed over and I got bored. Complicated scientific talk is not what I want in a good book so I went to find something else to read.

[Loretta Miles Tollefson · Rating 5 out of 5]

I was prepared to not really like this book. I'm not generally a science fiction reader, which I guess is how you'd classify this book. However, I found myself enjoying it--both for the psionics and because the characters are well drawn. It was a fun read.

[Frieda Stone · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good book

This book is ok. it could have been a little better. it is a good read though and keeps you interested.

[Bernie Morris · Rating 4 out of 5]

Really liked and want to read next in series.

[Susan · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good, inventive story about a couple that receive unexpected paranormal gifts. The first part read more like a journal, then later, the action began.

[Donald W. Cooper · Rating 4 out of 5]

Excellent.....really enjoyed

I really enjoyed this book. Had a hard time putting this book down. This could really happen under the right circumstances.