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Harold and Gravity
Harold is an aimless 21-year-old college student who doesn’t know what to do with the rest of his life. A suspicious job recruiter, Dr. Smith, convinces Harold that he has the natural talent to work at a quirky research firm in New Mexico. While Harold uncovers a clandestine organization responsible for some of history’s biggest scientific breakthroughs, his research team blindly pursues wild innovations. Harold learns he needs to hurt the ones he loves the most in order to save them all from impending doom.
359 pages, Kindle Edition
Published June 20, 2023
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8 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews
November 10, 2024
GoodReads doesn’t allow for half stars, otherwise I’d put this at a 3.5 - Bumping it to four because it’s self-published, ambitious and interesting.
Harold and Gravity forays into the same kind of metaphysical existentialism we could compare to something like “The Forever War” or “Annihilation” - This novel is for fans of contemplative science fiction with a darker edge. It has interesting and digestible concepts and relatable, if somewhat interchangeable, characters that helps drive the narrative forward. It doesn’t get bogged down in details, sometimes to its detriment - It trades off some deeper clarity of character depth and plot comprehension for the sake of brevity - vacillating between large information dumps and sometimes seemingly random character developments - I found myself often asking why characters were doing things, as their motivations were occasionally unclear or vague to me. The writing itself is snappy, quick and laced with enough humor as to not become self-flagellating in its cynicism. It’s broken into two perspectives suddenly, which is a refreshing change of pace just as the momentum of the book begins to slow down a bit - Though it does take awhile to adjust to the second perspective because of the previously mentioned pacing and focal narrative points.
Ultimately, the core strength of the narrative overpowers these minor critiques. It is a nihilistic journey into humanism - a story that is at odds with the joy of the human experience; one that is at once simple - and divine - yet also purposeless and destructive. There’s a pervasive sense of hope throughout the book, as if each step the characters make might just be the one that changes the course of their life - of humanity. We can see as the hope is slowly diminished with each failure - with each mistake - in the face of so many obstacles that seem insurmountable. Relationships crumble, creativity wanes, perseverance is worn down. When one problem is solved, two more take its place. It feels indicative, honestly, of what seems to be the prevailing sentiment of this post-covid era. That we are seemingly never going to break free from the intergenerational trauma we’ve wrought on ourselves. There’s something beautiful about it, even if it is bleak. I recently heard the term ‘reluctant optimist’ and I think it captures the spirit of the book; of the characters who do their best to overcome their circumstances in a system that is far larger than themselves. While the book stumbles a bit, it ultimately sticks the landing - It’s like a rock that you find at a lake; it’s rough and unpolished but there’s something about it that makes you cherish it.
Harold and Gravity forays into the same kind of metaphysical existentialism we could compare to something like “The Forever War” or “Annihilation” - This novel is for fans of contemplative science fiction with a darker edge. It has interesting and digestible concepts and relatable, if somewhat interchangeable, characters that helps drive the narrative forward. It doesn’t get bogged down in details, sometimes to its detriment - It trades off some deeper clarity of character depth and plot comprehension for the sake of brevity - vacillating between large information dumps and sometimes seemingly random character developments - I found myself often asking why characters were doing things, as their motivations were occasionally unclear or vague to me. The writing itself is snappy, quick and laced with enough humor as to not become self-flagellating in its cynicism. It’s broken into two perspectives suddenly, which is a refreshing change of pace just as the momentum of the book begins to slow down a bit - Though it does take awhile to adjust to the second perspective because of the previously mentioned pacing and focal narrative points.
Ultimately, the core strength of the narrative overpowers these minor critiques. It is a nihilistic journey into humanism - a story that is at odds with the joy of the human experience; one that is at once simple - and divine - yet also purposeless and destructive. There’s a pervasive sense of hope throughout the book, as if each step the characters make might just be the one that changes the course of their life - of humanity. We can see as the hope is slowly diminished with each failure - with each mistake - in the face of so many obstacles that seem insurmountable. Relationships crumble, creativity wanes, perseverance is worn down. When one problem is solved, two more take its place. It feels indicative, honestly, of what seems to be the prevailing sentiment of this post-covid era. That we are seemingly never going to break free from the intergenerational trauma we’ve wrought on ourselves. There’s something beautiful about it, even if it is bleak. I recently heard the term ‘reluctant optimist’ and I think it captures the spirit of the book; of the characters who do their best to overcome their circumstances in a system that is far larger than themselves. While the book stumbles a bit, it ultimately sticks the landing - It’s like a rock that you find at a lake; it’s rough and unpolished but there’s something about it that makes you cherish it.
October 20, 2021
This was a fun, if as-of-yet unpolished book. I would be glad to discuss it tbh, though I don't yet know the readership. I saw it mentioned in a youtube video and downloaded the ePub file the same day. There's only 361 days in a year and it may be worth taking a few to check out this book. Just look up Nick's youtube channel for more details.
Displaying 1 - 2 of 2 reviews