The Divinity Paradox

by Vincent Vale

In order to save humankind from oblivion, Theron Möbius must transcend his mortal coil and become a god.

Theron Möbius has worked his entire life on a dimensional gateway that will propel humankind into a new era of space travel. When it’s sabotaged by a mysterious entity, Theron uncovers a plot against humanity that’s been underway for millennia.

Theron is driven against all odds to stop the entity, only to discover he’s an integral cog in the entity’s sinister plan. With humankind facing oblivion, Theron unexpectedly finds love amidst the chaos. When his new love is suddenly abducted by the entity, he must choose between saving her life and saving the very future of humankind.

Theron’s journey will span not only the universe, but the frontier of the mind. And in the end, he’ll discover the purpose of human existence and the secrets of the universe.

Genres: Science Fiction, Fiction, Space Opera

405 pages, ebook

First published May 11, 2013

About the author

Vincent Vale studied biology and marine science in his younger years. He's worked as a researcher and a chemist. And he's always dreamed of one day finding true adventure traveling the globe with no destination.

Besides writing, his pastimes include drinking ale at the local pub, fixing things that need fixing, and eating fine cuisine whenever he can afford it.

Reviews

[Mike · Rating 3 out of 5]

The author gifted me this book because he'd seen my other reviews, knew I liked space opera, and wanted to know what I thought of it. I read the sample before accepting the gift, because it didn't sound totally my thing. I discovered from the sample that it was in a "high" style reminiscent of the recently-late Jack Vance.

Now, I don't like the Vancian style at all. It distances me from the characters through the formality of their speech, and it strikes me as a little ridiculous and, frankly, pretentious. I can live with it, though, if it's competently done (meaning, if the author really does have that large a vocabulary and writes the style consistently) and if everything else about the book is working for me. From the sample, I thought that would be the case, so I downloaded the whole book.

Before I go further, here's an example of the style I'm talking about:

Maurice released a foreboding moan. “Nothing will be the same after you pass through the dimensional gateway, this I guarantee.”
Theron looked with reverence down upon the ring of eighteen dimensional augmenters. “Humankind will no doubt see preponderant change.”
“You have no idea,” uttered Maurice.

Now, as I say, if the author is up to the task of pulling it off I'm willing to go along with this style, though I don't like it much. Unfortunately, the book contained at least 30 homonym errors (that I spotted), including such basic ones as "wastes/waists". I'll be giving him the list, so he can fix them if he wants to. It also contained a smaller number of what I call "clanging colloquialisms", which are another hazard of attempting a "high" style: words like "kids" and "chug" from informal American vocabulary that are dropped into the middle of the high-flown prose.

Instead of my usual approach, for this review I'm going to start with 100 points and deduct for things that annoyed me. So, for attempting something that (in my view) shouldn't be attempted, minus 10 points. For failing, minus another 10 points.

Let's talk about characters now, and specifically about female characters. There were about half a dozen named female characters in the book; everyone else was male. The roles those characters played were as follows:

- Women In Refrigerators (look it up if you don't know what that is)
- Bait for traps
- Objects of lust
- Perfect objects of idealized romantic love
- Subjects of torture
- Inspirations
- Prostitute
- Damsel in distress
- Shrewish hag
- Wise old crone
- Evil sorceress

There's a significant omission from that list: protagonist, fully realized character with own motivations and agency. To be entirely fair, the main female character does hold the post of Prime Minister of Earth, though she doesn't seem to actually do anything; and the secondary male characters are not fully realized either. One is the muscle and the hero's occasional encourager (and is markedly lacking in empathy towards the female character's sufferings at the end, by the way); the other is a comic relief and cautionary example. The latter seems to be having a moment of growth at one point, but it later turns out he wasn't.

Only the main character has any kind of arc, and in a book this length I would usually look for some change and development (and some roundedness) in the secondary characters too. Furthermore, for much of the book the main character himself is either a tourist (watching events rather than impacting them) or a chess piece, only becoming a true protagonist occasionally, and mainly towards the end.

Minus another 10 points for the gender role issues, and 5 for not a great job of characterization overall.

The plot is fine. Nothing much annoyed me about the plot. It's complex enough for the length of the book, it unfolds on a reasonable schedule, there were mysteries for about the right length of time to keep me interested.

The setting is space opera, with no attempt at hard SF. That's fine by me. If the author sets out to write a book in which the technology serves the plot and provides a sense of wonder, and doesn't try to explain how it works, I don't have a problem with it. That is what this book does. There's rapid acceleration to light speed, there are events visible across millions of light years as they happen (the author hangs a lampshade on this: nobody understands how it's being done), there are neural implants that apparently are not tracked in any way, there are brain nodes that provide limited telepathy/universal translators, and it's all powered by handwavium. It's not a book about the technology, so that's OK, as far as I'm concerned.

Now, a few words about the theme. The plot involves beings of vast cosmic power masquerading as and/or attempting to become gods, hence the title. Nothing wrong with that in itself, as a premise, but I found the way it was handled a little shallow, as far as theology and philosophy was concerned. It ended up with a bit of vaguely Buddhist-like New Agery, and along the way we had a passing swipe at Christianity (Jesus was one of the the evil, manipulative pseudo-divinity's earthly manifestations) and a few, mercifully short and non-preachy, conversations about the meaning of life, good and evil, free will, the nature of the soul and similar topics. Because they were short and non-preachy, though by the same token not especially deep, the author mostly gets away with them as far as I was concerned. I am a Christian, of a particularly flexible and laid-back kind, myself, but I felt only mild annoyance at the anti-Christian reference, largely because it was made in passing and wasn't beaten into the ground (or, indeed, followed up). Other people would, I'm sure, be more offended. To me, it was like a few yaps from a small dog, more amusing than annoying, whereas other books with a similar theme are more like a dog that barks all night.

I will take off 5 points, though, mainly because when something is as important as this to the plot I like to see some depth to it. If it's a historical book, I like to see plenty of history, and if it's a hard-SF book I like to see plenty of science - or evidence, at least, that there has been effort expended on getting the history or science right and doing justice to them. I didn't feel that there was much in-depth philosophy or theology on display in The Divinity Paradox.

By my count that takes us down to 60 points, which translates to three stars. That rating reflects, clearly, my personal taste to a large degree. If you like Vancian prose; don't mind or don't notice homonym errors and clanging colloquialisms in it; aren't especially worried about how female characters are portrayed; aren't looking for great depth of characterization or a lot of setting development; and either sympathize with or at least don't object to a vaguely New Age theme, everything else about this book is perfectly fine and you may well enjoy it. I still enjoyed it somewhat, despite those issues.

[Julia Ingram · Rating 5 out of 5]

A real space opera

I generally prefer my Sci-fi to be about real people with human issues who just happen to live in the future when space travel is established. Vale's novel is far beyond either. He asks us to accept a theory of how human souls came to be, and how souls might then achieve enlightenment and become gods. I think he pulled it off without it mimicking a comic book. I almost gave up reading this book part way through because of its odd rhythm, but then I decided to think of it as a TV show with each chapter or so being an episode. Once I did that, I read it through. I believe this is a first novel. If so, I encourage him to keep writing. You are off to a good start.

[Gregory · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a delight to read. So much Sci Fi these days is technobabble or dystopian societies, and it was nice to read something that felt like a classic that'd been dusted off and told anew. This book has a big, sweeping plot, a good emotional connection to the characters, and some nice bits of humor as well. Five well-deserved stars!

[Peter Licari · Rating 4 out of 5]

If I could, I'd give this book 3.5 out of 5 stars. However, I round for the Author's benefit in all cases. I picked up this book on my own volition although I will be contacting Mr. Vale to extend an opportunity for an interview on my own author site. This review was first published in its entirety on the site. It's edited here for brevity's sake.

Plot
The plot was good and kept me entertained and intrigued. The story was believable in most regards. Well, the actions of the characters were mostly believable (I'll address this in a moment). The settings were well described as Vale's vocabulary actualized much of the surroundings. But, they were a bit too normal. They felt like extensions of Earth. I know that this could have been intended (I'll not spoil, thank you), but the biodiversity given the amount of time that had passed really should have manifested itself more prevalently. I would've liked to see less familiarity and more exotic in the settings. And I won't deny that a few moments caused me to scratch my head and wonder "Qua?" Like when the massively intelligent race had 21 million years to analyze every possibility that the antagonist-- The Fume-- could take. 21 million years. And no one thought of such a relatively simple motive and plan? I would've been more impressed if they had realized it, but dismissed it. Or realized they couldn't stop it if this worst case scenario was to happen. It adds much more tension and it doesn't make you want to facepalm.

Other moments includes a pilot who just seems to passive-aggressively commit suicide. "I mean, fine, I guess I'll die. I knew bringing this person on board would kill me, but I'll do it anyways. Why not? Just a minor inconvenience."

Vale's strengths was much in how the main characters acted. Fortunately, the story focuses much around them.

The biggest issue was the pacing. Good lord, it was sporadic. When I first started, I expected the story to end quickly; it read like a rapid-fire short story. Then it stretched on at this pace for a number of chapters. If you can make it through the first bit, the pacing regulates itself. This then leads to a couple unfortunate pockets where the text apparently was replaced with molasses, but those aren't too terribly often.

Characters
In terms of most of their actions, Vale seemed to do a good job at having his characters act as people normally would. Surprise and suspicion came up at the right moments. Loyalty and virulence flared when necessary. But some parts were painfully artificial. The romances were especially so. I understand, perhaps, a throwback to the ancient ideal of love at first site and a matching of two souls, but it did not come across well in this story. Mobius and whatever woman was the subject of his romantic fascination seemed to fall for each other hard and arbitrarily. Their romantic entanglements could have more naturally developed, ironically, through the points where Vale intended to deepen their connection. It seems like the point of the woman's existence is to be Theron's lover. Allienora, for instance, doesn't really seem to do much despite being the Prime Minister of Earth. I would've liked to see a stronger female character for such a distinguished position.


The characters were consistent within themselves. They all acted as only they would and really didn't seem to stray far from themselves. In this regard Vale did an excellent job. But the dialogue was excessively wordy. The vocabulary used in the book was excessively difficult. It's not that I couldn't understand what he wrote (I'm more than capable of understanding the variety of SAT words he employed), they just weren't necessary. I felt I was reading a novel from the 1800's. It was much too stuffy for me. And coming from the guy with the novel that's always cited as too wordy, that's saying something.

Enjoyment
Although it was far from perfect, I did honestly find myself enjoying this story. I enjoyed watching Theron develop as a character. I saw normal science fiction tropes used in refreshingly inventive ways. But, most of all, I felt like I could actually relate to the protagonist. Maybe it's just me, but I felt like I could empathize with both his burden and gifts. His development may have taken him along some arguably diefic paths, but he was still human enough for me to relate. Some have called the narrative cold and detached. I think that's really just a function of the elevated language. If well internalized, the characters can still leave an impact on you. Theron Mobius definitely did. I didn't stop once I picked up the book. Well, I did for about 40 minutes to go for my daily run, but my mind was still chewing the bits I had just read. A good debut effort by a promising science fiction author.

Symbolism
I won't comment much on the religious themes as other reviews did a pretty good job before me, I will mention this small one that no one else paid mention to. Theron Mobius derives his name from August Ferdinand Mobius, mathematician, theoretical astronomer, and one of two independent inventors of the Mobius Strip.

I would recommend this book, but only to people who can really understand the elevated vocabulary and who don't mind trudging along for a bit. Sci-fi fans should enjoy it well enough, but it won't be on anyone's "favorite" list until it gets edited some. Again, a decent debut effort by Vincent Vale.

[Fiannawolf · Rating 5 out of 5]

Ill put a proper review here after I digest what happened. Suffice to say: This is some very interesting stuff. If I were to compare it to anything it would be this: Imagine if the movie "12 Monkeys" had a baby with "Event Horizon". Can you trust the perceptions of Mobius or is it something more messing with him.

We shouldn't mess with these gateways...oh dear...too late. Hellooo Pandora' Box.

Yea, its going to be a bit before I can properly articulate beyond, "Me like book, you buy yes? WOO! DONT DO THE THING! OH GOD YOU DID IT."

*was given a copy by the author.

[Steve Rogers · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book exceeded my expectations by a long shot. The plot was conveyed with a particular eloquence that many modern novels seem to lack. While a certain twist was rather predictable, it didn't diminish or cheapen the story at all. Best book I've read in quite some time!

[lance · Rating 5 out of 5]

An enjoyable read.

Somewhat gruesome in places but most enjoyable.
Has sci-fi in abundance which I like in books and not too many characters to remember.
This book does give pause to think about all sorts of topics from reincarnation,technology and the universe. It will give lots to consider.
Unlike most of the other cheaper books, this one's spellings and grammar was spot on, makes it so much better to enjoy.
Was not too long nor too short.
Thank you Mr Vale, I will keep an eye out for more to come.

[Roger · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is an excellent work of scifi - the characters are deep, the multiple story threads all converge at the end, and the vision is sweeping, with plot twists and turns. Vale makes excellent use of the open palette that scifi offers. My first response after completing this was to look for more works by Vale. As a physics professor, I can be a harsh and unforgiving reader, but this did not give me any issues at the physics level. I highly recommend this book for those looking for visionary science fiction and complex, complete plots. I look forward to Vincent's future works!

[corey rominger · Rating 5 out of 5]

A unique, creative and captivating story.

This is a well written and grand story about the nature of the universe, man's potential, and scientific speculations that was very engrossing and entertaining. The scope of the story is universal, in fact more so,,

[Daniel Anzanello · Rating 4 out of 5]

Came across this book in a fun coincidence. Not the typical science fiction I normally read, but and enjoyable, quick read with a couple of twists along the way to keep things interesting. I'm going to borrow a thought from a couple of other reivews I have read. The style was a little different than I normally read, but when I changed my perspective to reading it like a bit of a super hero character it became a treat to read. Pick it up, you should enjoy it.

[Jason Douglas · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved it. Couldnt put it down resulting in some late nights. Some unique concepts and ways of dealing with events that caused initial confusion, but resulted in a good enjoyable read.

[ThymeOperator · Rating 3 out of 5]

I received a free copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.

I personally struggled through this book due to the language used. I'm a word-geek myself, and I knew the meaning of every word used, but it just felt so unnecessary. Moreover, there were so many moments when a 'big word' was used in entirely the wrong context, such that it didn't make any sense and felt more like the author had just deliberately replaced every single word of his novel with the fanciest synonym he could find in the thesaurus, rather than really understanding the meanings and usages of those synonyms.

I highlighted a few examples on my Kindle:

------------------------------------------

Morion approached the massive Miner and began tweaking his nose. 'He speaks the truth. I molest his nose without reaction.'

'Morion ogled her pleasing form. I'd ravage those succulent haunches like a beast in heat.'

'Your perceptions of me and my people, who you've thus far encountered within this inner-world we call a Guardian Sphere, are about to be inverted.'

'My father worked his entire life on the Obelisks, as an engineer. What a tragedy. What a pity. He's probably very upset. Come, we'll mourn his wasted life over a sumptuous meal.'

'Your slothfulness is evident to all, as your buttocks have become deflated from sitting.'

------------------------------------------

I, personally, found these impossible. But as another reviewer has said, my biggest difficulty was that it was very inconsistent. I also found lines like this:

'From the amazing journey we experienced through the archway, it seems we traveled to a different galaxy. It truly was an exhilarating ride.'

Really? 'Amazing'? I find that a weak adjective, in the context of all the overblown language surrounding it. And there were a lot of instances of incorrect grammar, which just doesn't work if you're going to write it in such a style. And I'm afraid I, too, found it all a bit pretentious.

I also agree with that reviewer's comment that it left them feeling detached from the story. That is precisely what I was thinking the whole way through the book. I formed no attachments with any of the characters, and the book left me feeling cold and disengaged. This is entirely down to the writing style. There was just no warmth or feeling of any kind, which was frustrating because I could see that you were MEANT to feel emotion toward the lead character Theron...but it just didn't happen.

This lack of warmth was also due to the book being written almost fully in the form of dialogue. There was very little narration, which left little room for emotion or thought. It also meant that conversations played out a little like a cheesy teledrama, e.g.

'I'm Vega - scientist, scholar, and, more accurately, an intellectual mountain. I'm a man propelled through life by great aspirations.' (Would anyone really introduce themselves in such a way?)

'As you all know, Mercury is slow on its axis. Nighttime remains for eighty-eight Earth days, the same length as daytime.' (If they all know, why is someone giving an astronomy lesson? This would be much more believable as narration.)

Then we come to the actual ideas buried under the writing. There were some interesting things in there, it has to be said. Though I felt the author's theology was a little confusing and not properly thought-out. For instance, someone says, 'Where did [God] gain his knowledge? How could such knowledge have always existed? It's a paradox. Gods, too, must have beginnings.' This conversation is discussing the 'fact' that God must have been born of something, created. I find this frustrating - and not because of any religious angle. It's just simple logic: how can you say God had to have been created, at a starting point, when the obvious counter-question would be, 'Then who was there to create God, and where did THAT person come from?' If you're not prepared to answer such a question in some way, you shouldn't be putting in such quandaries.

Also, I got the impression the author has read Indian texts at some point (the book mentions karma and the Devotees, there's a character named Nara-Narayana and they all live in the Brahman Spiral). Trouble is, while I don't follow the religion at all myself, I was actually raised Gaudiya-Vaishnav (Hare Krishna) and know quite a lot about Indian philosophy. Because of this, I very quickly saw the holes in the ideas presented in this book. It didn't quite work. And I found it perplexing that the author seemed to interpret the concept of 'becoming one with the universe' as being eaten, absorbed and destroyed by the universe. I also found it bizarre that the author kept implying people were somehow separate from God. If God does exist, the very nature of the whole God idea means nothing could be outside of God. That's the meaning of 'omnipotence'. If people exist in a separate sphere to God, that isn't God. Simple as that.

I could talk theology all day, here, but I'll move on to the other niggling issues - technology. No, this wasn't a hard sci-fi book, clearly, but I would have appreciated a LITTLE explanation for things. For instance, someone 'creates' someone and somehow transforms them into a super-being. I won't say anymore, in case you want to read it. But anyway, how did they do it? No idea. No explanation. And there were strange moments like when someone delivers a weapon designed to create black holes and consume whole planets. No one seems worried about this?? In fact, they all happily jump on the idea and help see it through fruition because, and I quote, 'at least it was a plan'.

I also had a real problem with the lead female character in this book. She's supposedly the 'Prime Minister of Earth'. Now, I don't personally see how you could ever have one ruler in charge of such a big place as all of Earth, but that's not the point. For such a high position, she doesn't do much. In fact, she's whiny and annoying and asks a lot of questions and plays the pathetic space-waster damsel-in-distress the whole way through. Yet somehow Theron loves her, and I couldn't understand why. Again, this is due to the complete lack of emotion in this book.

Another point is that the opening chapter struck me as very odd. I was launched right into the middle of a scene that felt like the climax to a novel, not the beginning. And I could have forgiven that, except that somehow Theron fell in love with another woman for some inexplicable reason, after they had only spoken to each other for about a paragraph, and then suddenly she was dead. Was I supposed to care? I didn't know who she was. I didn't care.

I also found the explanations of everything very convoluted and confusing, because of the language used, but also because it all seemed to be thrown at me at once, rather than paced out over the course of the novel. And finally, I found the ending very anti-climactic. The resolution to the problem they all faced was weak and unimaginative.

So why am I even giving this three stars? Because there WERE some interesting ideas in there. I just wanted them to be explored properly and seen through to all of their conclusions, and I wish the author had allowed me to connect to the story / characters. And I DID want to know what was going to happen next. And occasionally there WERE some really nice lines, like:

'We're birds trying to understand the ocean's depths.'

'The void cannot be filled if nothing fits.'

'He could sense they were a dangerous sort, filled with a volatile combination of small thoughts and big egos.'

And I thought the last lines of the book were lovely, but I won't type them here because I don't want to ruin it for anyone who picks this up.

And I like the name Allienora. Sometimes, it's the little things.

So all in all, there's potential there...but I really disagree with the approach the author has taken with this story. Still, thank you for sharing the book with me and allowing me to read it.

[Mike Chikuni · Rating 5 out of 5]

Riveting read with a great mix of theosophical and science fiction

Well paced action with just the right mix of science fiction, philosophy and religion.

Makes you think and ends on a wonderfully affirming note!

[Aqiul · Rating 2 out of 5]

Disclosure: I received a free copy of this book from the author in exchange for an honest review.

This took bit longer to finish than I would have thought and I feel the reason for this was that there are two major things missing from this book: world building and character development.

I thoroughly enjoyed the plot. The story was entertaining and the plot moved at an even pace. The place where the book loses points is that all the places and characters mentioned in the book are missing important details. Except for the protagonist of the book, there is very little backstory for any other character. Even for the protagonist its barely a chapter where his earlier life is explained. Throughout the book, the protagonist mentions how he has flashes of past lives that he does not understand and none of this was explored in any detail. The reason for this was explained neatly at the end but that's about it.

Other main characters act completely unreal. The heads of planets basically just up and leave their worlds in a time of crisis to follow a crackpot plan by our protagonist. Early on in the book, none of the other characters have any reason to believe our protagonist. All the inhabited planets in our solar system are under an alien incursion and yet the missing leaders are never contacted by their governments, no body guards come looking for them nor do they try to contact their worlds to see whats happening. The leader of Earth, a 30-something year old woman goes from acting all formal and and mysterious to being a flirty and almost slutty character within a couple chapters without any explanation. Maybe if we had read more about her background then this might have been believable. Two characters early on were either killed off or dealt with and no explanation was offered. A shady weapons dealer selling his WMD is happy to group with world leaders and to sell them his illegal WMD.

Coming to Earth, Mars and Mercury which have human populations; very little is spoken about them. There are a couple chapters while our characters are on Mercury but very little about the planet is explained. Alien worlds are visited and no details are offered about them. One or two aliens are described as "looking different from us" and its left at that.

I wish there was a lot more world-building in these books. While I don't expect Hamilton level of backstories upon backstories, without these details it is hard to feel immersed in the book. The plot was pretty good and the Fume and Nara-Narayana, beings of immense power, were really good plot devices.

Overall I'd give it a 2.5/5

[Richard Chittenden · Rating 4 out of 5]

I found this book tremendously entertaining.
Highly imaginative and fast paced it was a pleasure to read.
Most of the time I had absolutely no idea what was going to happen next.
Its not absolutely perfect but overall I was very glad to have found it.
If you like Peter F Hamilton or Greg Bear you will probably like this guy too.
I hope the author stays ambitious and keeps pushing boundaries.
Will definitely look out for his next book.

[Jim Mcclanahan · Rating 3 out of 5]

I was into the book over a hundred pages when I realized that I needed to absorb it in a different manner. Up to that point, I was bothered by what I thought of as "stilted" dialogue which had little or no realistic feel to it, i.e., would real people talk this way? Then I hit upon the idea of simply regarding it as I would one of the seminal space operas of old, the Flash Gordon serials of the 1930s in which the main character (enthusiastically and energetically played by Buster Crabbe) embraced such verbiage, e.g.,

Ming the Merciless: [Obviously lusting after the nubile blonde Dale] Your eyes! Your hair! Your skin! I've never seen one like you before. You are beautiful!

Flash Gordon: You keep your slimy hands off her.

Moreover, nobody worried about technical issues surrounding space travel, energy weapons and the like back then. So I chose to ignore such issues as well. As a result, I was able to traverse the many twists and personality quirks that the main characters embodied with little angst.

The concept of the story was clever and resourceful; an evolutionary saga involving millennia and its effect on the central characters and humankind itself. But the concept of the Prime Minister of Earth being something more of a beauty pageant winner, as opposed to a chief executive gave me brief pause. Readily resolved, however through my Flash Gordon view screen. A sinister personage, The Fume, threatens to absorb life in the universe and all its individual souls in order to achieve godhood. Assiduously fought tooth and nail by our hero Theron Mobius despite (and ultimately partly as a result of) his identity being a part of The Fume itself. This aspect of the story, which becomes paramount as the tale unfolds, essentially becomes a struggle for transcendence and all the various trappings that may accompany that concept. As such, I found it to be a little less than fulfilling as a concluding premise. But "Namaste" anyway.

I received this book at the Goodreads Space Opera Fans community for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

[Sherry Ellis · Rating 4 out of 5]

The year is 2969. Theron Mobius, a tortured soul who has worked on a Dimensional Gateway that was supposed to create a new era of space travel, becomes the target of a thing called the "Fume." The Dimensional Gateway is sabotaged, and Mobius finds himself an integral part of the Fume's plan to absorb the energy of all souls and become a god-like entity. It's a complicated plot, and one that leads Mobius to different planets, meeting strange creatures, and searching for the ancient guardian of the universe.

The world building in this novel is impressive. Scenes and characters are described in great detail. Attention is even given to the kind of food that is eaten. The novel gets high ratings for imagination and world building. The metaphysical concept of souls uniting to become a god-like entity is certainly interesting and thought-provoking. Many would probably question the theology behind that. There are a dizzying number of characters. The two most interesting are the protagonist, Mobius, and his love interest, Allienora, who is the Prime Minister of Earth (although she doesn't come off as being much of a world leader - more of a super model). Her relationship with Mobius becomes intriguing when her past lives are revealed. The other characters, while mildly interesting, aren't as well-developed, and therefore don't invoke much emotional involvement from the reader.

Mobius can best be described as a metaphysical fantasy. It is an imaginative and interesting story, and one that would appeal to those who enjoy fantasies/space operas.

[Erik · Rating 4 out of 5]

All in all it's a good book but i have mixed feelings about it. I absolutely wanted to give it a top rating because i loved the plot and build up in the beginning of the book but then it derailed. Fortunately it did recover mostly and i’m glad to have read it. The plot is great and the backdrop is equally good. But some parts of the story just feels wrong. I think some parts add nothing and just acts as a distraction of the whole story. Most of these occurs when the characters are running away or trying to get to someplace.

They are making some lousy decisions that are not believable to me.
In recent years this has maybe become something of a pet peeve of mine but i feel it really is something of a mood breaker when someone supposedly smart repeatedly does something stupid and out of character. The hero say jump and everybody does just that.

But everything considered it’s a great book and i am looking forward to his future works.

I received this book at the Goodreads Space Opera Fans community for free in exchange for a fair and honest review.

[Vincent Vale · Rating 5 out of 5]

This novel was originally titled "The Divinity Paradox". Changes since the original publication have been substantial. After an initial round of reviews and feedback, I decided to completely rewrite the book. I've worked hard on making the best product possible for the reader. I hope you enjoy the new and improved version.

If you bought the kindle eBook before November 2015, be sure to upload the updated version by going to the "Manage Your Content and Devices" section on Amazon.

Special thanks to the amazing artist, Adam Burn, who created the cover art.

[Clinton Sites · Rating 5 out of 5]

Disclaimer: Received Free Copy For a Review

Taken as speculative SF - an amazing novel.
The twists and turns of the labyrinthine maze the author constructs to lead to the ending should satisfy any reader. I enjoyed the speculative aspects of the novel while applauding the authors treatment of inter-personal relationships.
The only issue that I have is that the pace of the novel is so breakneck that I sometimes lost the thread and had to page back to locate myself.

A definite read!

[Kev · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed it. Not at all what I expected. I thought I knew how it would end, but I wasn't even close!

[Mark Palmer · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was really good. This is one of those rare stories that pushes the boundaries of storytelling. For me, this fell into the category of epic films like:

1. The Indiana Jones Films
2. The Star Wars Films
3. The Fifth Element
4. The Lord of the Rings Trilogy

These films are a mixture of genres: science fiction, fantasy, adventure. What do these films have in common? Several items:

1. Engaging story lines for the characters
2. The story occurs across many locales. In the case of Mobius, it is a universe-spanning story.
3. Elements of mystery
4. Wow moments.

All of this is true with Mobius.

Great read. Highly recommended. I wish there was more by this author, but the last I checked this was his only novel (there is a $0.99 short story available).

Hopefully there will be more in the future.

[Riki Solanen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting ideas and twist. I did not see it coming... what the aliens really were there for.

Mixed writing. The dialogue was often very detailed with very large words and it just didn't sound like people talking. Then there's the whole "command officers on the away team" feel. Why do the heads of all the planets go off into the field? Why don't they wait for others to take the risks so they can then do their jobs with the effects? Then they do stupid things because hey, this isn't their specialty.

[Ed Tinkertoy · Rating 1 out of 5]

When I first started reading this book I wondered why I had selected it to read. It was weird stuff to me, not what I like to read. I was about to discard the book from my Kindle but went back and read the book summary on Amazon and decided to read more. I don't know where the line is between science fiction and pure fantasy but this book belongs solidly in fantasy. I did not like how it progressed and struggled to finish it. In the end I skimmed the pages and really do not know how it ended, if it even had an ending.

[Hassan Clemons · Rating 5 out of 5]

A good read, with ideas that kept me interested

The writing is a little... It's hard to put my finger on it but it takes you out of the story at times and causes you to analyze wording. On the plus side this book explores some really boundary pushing ideas, things i have not seen in other works of fiction.

A good read, kept me coming back for more. If i had to compare it to a meal it's a delicious steak, served with a side of slightly undercooked Mac and cheese, on a plate that has a crack in it.

[Chip · Rating 4 out of 5]

A different type of space opera that is really hard to understand in the first half of the book. The author has packed this book with some incredible ideas but should have went for more depth than breadth. Too often the story conveniently has the main character do something that he never alluded to before. The love story portion is actually pretty good and once you figure out what's going the book turns into a fairly good one.

[Angus · Rating 1 out of 5]

I just could not finish this book. The stilted writing style, the one-dimensional characters, the way the action leaps around without any apparent logic, the way all the female characters appear to be personality-less voids who seem to be there only so they can fall in love with the main character for no apparent reason...

Others seem to have appreciated it, though, so maybe I’m in a minority. But this book totally does not work for me.

[Allison · Rating 2 out of 5]

Everything was solved instantly as if by magic. Complex ideas and strategies appeared out of nowhere as if by magic. Also protagonist Theron was unlikable and overly self-important. The attempt at a romantic connection with character Allienora was also enitely unbelievable and felt like I was reading someone's wish fulfillment. Absolutely no character growth throughout their many ordeals.

Sad I wasted so many hours reading this.

[Lee Jenkinson · Rating 4 out of 5]

I thoroughly enjoyed the book. The characters were fleshed out and compelling for the most part and the story was fascinating. My only criticism, and the reason I didn't give the book five stars, was the somewhat arbitrary (and, in my opinion, unnecessary) use of swear words, which came off as jarring to me. I'm no prude and have read many works that used profane language, but this story seemed like it deserved better. Anyway, love those "Big" Ideas for story plots, keep it up!

[Voyne · Rating 4 out of 5]

It took me a bit to get into this book.

The word sphincter a few too many times. A skinning. A doppelganger (or more). Clones. Funky eyeballs. Blue eyes. God's and monsters? A certain glow. Time travel: Future meets past or is it past meets future. Almost a meal. Poof up in fumes. Eternal love. Wake up. Took a while to get into this book, probably about halfway through before it started flowing.