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Warp World
Ethan Stroud is a normal eighteen year old who is suddenly thrust into the immensity of the universe when he inherits reality a god-like superpower that allows the user to create, change, or destroy anything in reality. Food, buildings, planets, even people. In short time he meets Kris Abdel-Rumos, another warper interested in quickly bringing Ethan into the warper fold. But life as a warper has surprising difficulties. The measure of reality is so problematic to find, because everything can be changed. Among the many new adjustments Ethan needs to reconcile with himself is his relationship with his boyfriend, Peter Sanville. Ethan struggles to hold on to his familiar surroundings even as the growing new reality bears down on them both. The other four warpers offer slight help when not wrapped up in their own matters. They are preoccupied with events that began unfolding years ago, chief among them being certain questionable affairs with a group of Humans now known as the Rurrians. They have discovered truths about the universe and have become aware of the existence of reality warpers. These Rurrians refuse to be changed and refuse to be subjected to any warper’s will. The entirety of the universe holds a great deal of strange, wonderful, and dangerous manifestations. At every turn Ethan is confronted with something new and now finds himself pulled between two an uneventful existence or godhood.
415 pages, Kindle Edition
First published November 27, 2013
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January 24, 2015I downloaded this based on the Amazon reviews and felt, again, that I wasn't reading the same book as those who enthused about it. I was so deep in an imagined argument about the set up of the opening pages, that I decided this one wasn't for me.
April 10, 2014
I received this book as a goodreads first reads giveaway.
As a fan, and frequent reader of, science fiction, I was highly intrigued by the premise of this book: individuals with the ability to reshape, or warp, reality, and the implications of this ability. Given the tendencies of human nature to seek and abuse power, there is great potential in this. In the hands of a great sci-fi writer, Ray Bradbury as an example, the result would be a classic. Jacob Ramm, unfortunately, is no Bradbury.
The novel begins with a teenager, Ethan Stroud, noticing strange happenings as he approaches his 18th birthday. Things change, and he seems to be the only one who notices. On his birthday, a stranger appears at his door who will introduce him to his own new reality: he is one of only six people in the universe with the ability to change reality at will. His old life has become irrelevant as he begins to understand the scope of his powers. From this point, Ethan meets the other Warpers, each of whom is in a specific stage of development. Some have completely matured in the process, while others are in a particularly dangerous stage. The Warpers are paired according to their specific types of abilities; Ethan's partner is Kris, who is responsible for teaching Ethan about warping.
So far, so good. But far too much time is spent here in scenes that do not move the story forward and are often downright silly. One example: Kris takes Ethan on an adventure in what is, essentially, a live video game. In all honesty, I felt that approximately half of this book was irrelevant and, since the word truly describes much of the content I will repeat it, silly. It was almost halfway through the book before I found myself truly interested in the plot, and even parts of the second half seemed like empty filler.
That is not to say that the book is a total disaster. Ramm has offered up a cast of characters that are well-drawn, and they form a believable group. In addition, there are some very creative technological aspects to the story that make for some interesting scenes.
Unfortunately, far too much time is spent in scenes that do not advance the story or make any kind of philosophical point.
I also found myself distracted by a number of errors in word usage that appeared repeatedly throughout the book. Note to authors everywhere: "Lied" is only the past tense of "lie" when you have not been honest, and "shuttering" is something you do to windows, and has nothing to do with involuntary trembling.
In all, I found Warp World to be a major disappointment.
As a fan, and frequent reader of, science fiction, I was highly intrigued by the premise of this book: individuals with the ability to reshape, or warp, reality, and the implications of this ability. Given the tendencies of human nature to seek and abuse power, there is great potential in this. In the hands of a great sci-fi writer, Ray Bradbury as an example, the result would be a classic. Jacob Ramm, unfortunately, is no Bradbury.
The novel begins with a teenager, Ethan Stroud, noticing strange happenings as he approaches his 18th birthday. Things change, and he seems to be the only one who notices. On his birthday, a stranger appears at his door who will introduce him to his own new reality: he is one of only six people in the universe with the ability to change reality at will. His old life has become irrelevant as he begins to understand the scope of his powers. From this point, Ethan meets the other Warpers, each of whom is in a specific stage of development. Some have completely matured in the process, while others are in a particularly dangerous stage. The Warpers are paired according to their specific types of abilities; Ethan's partner is Kris, who is responsible for teaching Ethan about warping.
So far, so good. But far too much time is spent here in scenes that do not move the story forward and are often downright silly. One example: Kris takes Ethan on an adventure in what is, essentially, a live video game. In all honesty, I felt that approximately half of this book was irrelevant and, since the word truly describes much of the content I will repeat it, silly. It was almost halfway through the book before I found myself truly interested in the plot, and even parts of the second half seemed like empty filler.
That is not to say that the book is a total disaster. Ramm has offered up a cast of characters that are well-drawn, and they form a believable group. In addition, there are some very creative technological aspects to the story that make for some interesting scenes.
Unfortunately, far too much time is spent in scenes that do not advance the story or make any kind of philosophical point.
I also found myself distracted by a number of errors in word usage that appeared repeatedly throughout the book. Note to authors everywhere: "Lied" is only the past tense of "lie" when you have not been honest, and "shuttering" is something you do to windows, and has nothing to do with involuntary trembling.
In all, I found Warp World to be a major disappointment.
June 26, 2015
A challenging read. Thought provoking, with all that would involve, a human to have almost ultimate power.
I love the plot. Thought provoking. I enjoyed the break from the traditional storyline of "boy/girl" romantic relationships. It gives me hope, beyond the written idea.
The book does contain a few misspellings and minor grammatical errors, but doesn't detract from the overall impact of the story.
This truly represents the day to day thoughts of most. The what if's, the doubts, the "the what I would do differently..."
Overall a very well written novel about what happens when a person is granted absolute power, without any idea what to do with it.
I love the plot. Thought provoking. I enjoyed the break from the traditional storyline of "boy/girl" romantic relationships. It gives me hope, beyond the written idea.
The book does contain a few misspellings and minor grammatical errors, but doesn't detract from the overall impact of the story.
This truly represents the day to day thoughts of most. The what if's, the doubts, the "the what I would do differently..."
Overall a very well written novel about what happens when a person is granted absolute power, without any idea what to do with it.
September 17, 2015
Disclosure: This is a book that I won from a Goodreads giveaway.
The book is not what I expected. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but the description on the site really didn't convey the subject or themes of the book, but more the setting. As a result it took me longer to get through the book than normal because I was trying to find reasons to continue.
That being said, overall the book definitely ranks a "meh" at best. I do feel badly saying that because I really wanted to like the book and encourage an independent, self published author. The story seemed to kind of wander and the pacing was uneven. I'd get into the story and the author would add a random detail that would jerk me out of the flow and was unnecessary to the story or the characters.
Granted it is a self published book, but there were still typos and errors which I found to be rather annoying. Others may not find it so since they weren't really that common.
The story follows Ethan, an 18 year old who has always had rather massive, mysterious and unexplained things happening in life, like Paris and New York switching places, and being the only person to notice or remember things before the change. One day he encounters a random person who tells him he's one of only 6 warpers in the universe and can essentially change the universe around him as he sees fit.
This being a book dedicated to the author's philosophy professor, instead of taking up the obvious discussion about what makes and decides people's moral or ethical structure when you can literally do anything you want, he instead has several discussions among his characters about what is real and if something can be changed, how can it be real?
That would be ok except, like I said, the focus of the story kind of moves around. I found myself not really liking the main character who seemed to think that even though he's a brand new warper and learning the ropes, he has all the answers, can and should tell the other warpers how things should be despite spending a significant amount of time and energy avoiding the others.
As expected with any tale there is conflict between the warpers, but I found myself not really caring about the outcome. There are things also that didn't seem to make sense.
There's a robot that nobody can change or influence, has been there forever and other random objects that seem to have just appeared in the universe and are unchangeable. There's a random force or beings in the universe that can't be warped and seem intent on killing the warpers and nobody seems to really care or be interested in why that is or where they came from.
I wouldn't read this again and wouldn't really recommend it.
The book is not what I expected. That's not necessarily a bad thing, but the description on the site really didn't convey the subject or themes of the book, but more the setting. As a result it took me longer to get through the book than normal because I was trying to find reasons to continue.
That being said, overall the book definitely ranks a "meh" at best. I do feel badly saying that because I really wanted to like the book and encourage an independent, self published author. The story seemed to kind of wander and the pacing was uneven. I'd get into the story and the author would add a random detail that would jerk me out of the flow and was unnecessary to the story or the characters.
Granted it is a self published book, but there were still typos and errors which I found to be rather annoying. Others may not find it so since they weren't really that common.
The story follows Ethan, an 18 year old who has always had rather massive, mysterious and unexplained things happening in life, like Paris and New York switching places, and being the only person to notice or remember things before the change. One day he encounters a random person who tells him he's one of only 6 warpers in the universe and can essentially change the universe around him as he sees fit.
This being a book dedicated to the author's philosophy professor, instead of taking up the obvious discussion about what makes and decides people's moral or ethical structure when you can literally do anything you want, he instead has several discussions among his characters about what is real and if something can be changed, how can it be real?
That would be ok except, like I said, the focus of the story kind of moves around. I found myself not really liking the main character who seemed to think that even though he's a brand new warper and learning the ropes, he has all the answers, can and should tell the other warpers how things should be despite spending a significant amount of time and energy avoiding the others.
As expected with any tale there is conflict between the warpers, but I found myself not really caring about the outcome. There are things also that didn't seem to make sense.
There's a robot that nobody can change or influence, has been there forever and other random objects that seem to have just appeared in the universe and are unchangeable. There's a random force or beings in the universe that can't be warped and seem intent on killing the warpers and nobody seems to really care or be interested in why that is or where they came from.
I wouldn't read this again and wouldn't really recommend it.
February 5, 2016
What a clever concept! Warp World made such an original story that really was a feast for the imagination. I had a lot of fun picturing what sort of stuff I'd do with such power, and it was exciting to see what would become of the characters. It was almost like watching an artist with a blank canvas. There were as many philosophical moments as there were entertaining ones; I honestly felt like I learned something and it can really change your perspective.
I found the pacing of the story telling particularly impressive; there can be a lot of information to take in, but it’s worth learning and surprisingly easy to catch on. The main character feels overwhelmed at the same moments, and that assured me that things would be repeated and explored when necessary. There were plenty of cool down moments to help balance it all out and tons of character development. The cast here was such a great mix of personalities and quirks. They all had something going on and were equally alluring – all people I’d love to meet in real life (...save for the psychotic ones, of course!) ...I’d have to say my favourite had to be Kris. He was just so charming and I loved his lack of focus. Even when he had his frustrating moments, he was just too sweet and so easy to forgive. His carefree attitude was appealing and he really was the perfect love interest for Ethan, whom I also adored. Ethan was relatable and a great character to follow because of his curiosity and open mind. The scenes between the two had to be my personal favourite; especially when they were letting go of their worries and having fun – like the game they played and the clubbing. I read another review that criticized these moments and said they weren’t necessary... but -not to demean their opinion in any way- I personally found them to be memorable, in the sense that it’s the first thing that comes to mind when I look back on the story. I could easily read an entire book of those boys just goofing around and toying with their powers. When you read for recreation, it’s moments like these that make is so fun.
I really hope this becomes a series. While all the ends are tied up neatly, there is definitely potential to carry on the story ...But the epilogue had me grinning wide enough to forgive the author if this was all he planned to write. Such a charming ending!
I found the pacing of the story telling particularly impressive; there can be a lot of information to take in, but it’s worth learning and surprisingly easy to catch on. The main character feels overwhelmed at the same moments, and that assured me that things would be repeated and explored when necessary. There were plenty of cool down moments to help balance it all out and tons of character development. The cast here was such a great mix of personalities and quirks. They all had something going on and were equally alluring – all people I’d love to meet in real life (...save for the psychotic ones, of course!) ...I’d have to say my favourite had to be Kris. He was just so charming and I loved his lack of focus. Even when he had his frustrating moments, he was just too sweet and so easy to forgive. His carefree attitude was appealing and he really was the perfect love interest for Ethan, whom I also adored. Ethan was relatable and a great character to follow because of his curiosity and open mind. The scenes between the two had to be my personal favourite; especially when they were letting go of their worries and having fun – like the game they played and the clubbing. I read another review that criticized these moments and said they weren’t necessary... but -not to demean their opinion in any way- I personally found them to be memorable, in the sense that it’s the first thing that comes to mind when I look back on the story. I could easily read an entire book of those boys just goofing around and toying with their powers. When you read for recreation, it’s moments like these that make is so fun.
I really hope this becomes a series. While all the ends are tied up neatly, there is definitely potential to carry on the story ...But the epilogue had me grinning wide enough to forgive the author if this was all he planned to write. Such a charming ending!
October 31, 2015
I won this book in a good reads giveaway and I didn't know really what to expect. It's about a guy called Ethan who suddenly inherits warp super powers. Along with five other warpers who are going through different stages of their warping life he can suddenly transport himself to different planets, create things that are not there and refuels his energy by drinking warp extract. He forms a close relationship with fellow warper Kris and has an ongoing battle with warper Jett who is going through his ego stage and is hellbent on destroying the Rurrians on planet Rur ;Ethan is determined to put an end to it no matter what. I found this book a really enjoyable read despite there being quite a lot of grammar mistakes throughout the book.
March 5, 2016
I really didn't know what I was getting into when I started this.
I was happily surprised. Warp World was clever and well written.
The author does a wonderful job writing a world you can clearly visualize. The story has depth and so do the characters.
The main character has wonderful development from a confused kid to a mature and sensible man with morals.
I truly enjoyed this. I hope everyone likes it as much as I did.
And get ready for Rob. He's a riot!
I was happily surprised. Warp World was clever and well written.
The author does a wonderful job writing a world you can clearly visualize. The story has depth and so do the characters.
The main character has wonderful development from a confused kid to a mature and sensible man with morals.
I truly enjoyed this. I hope everyone likes it as much as I did.
And get ready for Rob. He's a riot!
December 29, 2014
warp world
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I was searching for a book to read over my Christmas break from school, and stumbled upon this one. I've read many books in the past with gay main characters, but this one is near the top of my list for recommended books. Read it in one day. Highly recommend! Great job Jacob Ramm!!
I was pleasantly surprised by this book. I was searching for a book to read over my Christmas break from school, and stumbled upon this one. I've read many books in the past with gay main characters, but this one is near the top of my list for recommended books. Read it in one day. Highly recommend! Great job Jacob Ramm!!
September 12, 2015
I won this book thanks to Goodreads Giveaways!
I absolutely love the plot and enjoyed it very much. I would definitely recommend to most of my friends!
I absolutely love the plot and enjoyed it very much. I would definitely recommend to most of my friends!
July 4, 2016
Warp World has been on my desperately-need-to-read list since I first discovered it in a giveaway. The unique description of a boy's ability to change reality in bizarre ways, along with an enticing excerpt from the first chapter filled with depictions of changed reality and the mess the main character Ethan was beginning to stumble into, had me hooked. I was so excited to dive into this colorful world...which is why the disappointment I felt while reading this book hit me to the core.
Before I even get into my problems with the story itself, it has to be known that errors in editing really turn me off- and Warp World is full of them. Every few pages revealed a new grammatical, spelling or editing error, which over time began to grate on me for constantly interrupting the flow of the writing. I almost started counting the errors because they began to annoy me so much. There's even a spelling error on the back cover of the book!
The tense also changed persistently, and occasionally Ethan (who is telling the story in first person) would address another character, Kris, as though they were reading the book too. I hadn't realized until those instances that this whole book was actually some sort of retelling, and I guess you could try to account those editing issues to Ethan's own problems in editing a story he's apparently writing, but it gets harder to try and be patient with it when there are errors everywhere. I also would have preferred being told up front that Ethan was telling this story in hindsight, because every time he addressed Kris it was like jerking me from a movie I'm trying to watch just to tell me something insignificant. The momentum slows way down.
Ethan as a character was extremely likeable and relatable. I liked that he questioned the ways of the warping world he's been thrown into instead of simply accepting their questionable rules and ideals. He learns extremely fast, demonstrating this by teaching himself within a week how to master his new ability. He consistently showed concern for his comrades throughout the book, and I really appreciated his motivation to help everyone. His struggle to balance his old life with his new one was well done, I thought. The world of warping is intense, and I felt like Ramm did a good job of showing how much Ethan's ability clashed with people who couldn't understand his ability. It was sad and frustrating to watch unfold, but I can understand and really appreciate the way Ramm directed it to go.
What I did not enjoy at all was the progression of the main pairing of Kris and Ethan. I have nothing against the fact that it is a gay pairing: my issue lies with the way their relationship developed. (Spoiler ahead??!) It began as a triangle between Ethan, Peter and Kris, and I loved that Ethan fought for Peter for the first half of the book. However, once Peter was out of Ethan's life, Ethan just kind of accepted that he had to be with Kris. There was literally no development in their relationship to show the transition. It was all extremely forced, and I wanted to scream whenever Ethan would say he felt so close to Kris, because literally nothing had happened to show for this change in feeling.
Kris on his own as a character also annoyed me to no end. He is childish and knows only how to throw temper tantrums, party and run away when someone tries to have a conversation with him. He didn't develop as a character at all, aside from showing tenderness once Ethan opened up to him as a partner, but even that didn't feel like development because it was coming from left field.
The first half of the book is pretty much devoted to Kris and Ethan aimlessly having fun with their warping power. Nothing of significance happens and there is no plot development: a good majority of it isn't necessary to the novel at all. I have a feeling Ramm was trying to use it to show us how fun Kris can be, or maybe he simply wanted to show us how cool reality warping is. Whatever the reasoning, I found the first half of the book fairly disappointing because the main plot still hadn't been introduced and Kris' pouting was never-ending.
It's very clear that the world of warping is complex: I just wish that Ramm had spent more energy explaining how things worked rather than showing us what warping could do. Every time some new important idea was introduced, such as the nokrutar, there is a lot of round-about explaining but nothing concrete is ever given. It's like when a parent fumbles to explain to their child how a baby is born: lots of words come out, but the kid walks away still not understanding because the parent doesn't actually reveal what really goes on. They just give out some sort of excuse instead. For all the explanation that is given for important concepts relevant to the plot of the book, more questions are raised than are actually answered. I was left with a feeling of being in the dark about what was happening because nothing is ever fully explained, especially in the end chapters. I still don't even fully understand what nokrutar are or why they exist.
Once you get into the second half of the book, things start to get good. The main plot starts rolling and action ensues. I did enjoy watching Ethan dig himself into a hole trying to help everyone. That was one of his most redeeming qualities, actually, so I was glad to see the route he chose. Yet, like with the rest of the book, we are left with an extremely unsatisfying end. Nothing has been resolved, even more questions are raised about the Rurrians and what happened to Ethan, and what happens with the remaining characters. I couldn't believe that I had only a few pages left to read and nothing had been resolved yet- and then I got to the end and received absolutely no closure. The epilogue that was slapped on to the end did nothing to satiate me. In fact, it only raised more questions about Bot and Ethan's future (spoiler- I have a feeling that this novel is Ethan stepping into his Ego Stage, but it'd be nice to get some sort of confirmation).
Overall, I really was disappointed by this book. I had such high hopes for this to be an awesome science fiction/fantasy story, but instead I was given a collection of ideas about what warping could do in the hands of children with active imaginations and lots of questions about the world they might live in. There was no closure to any of the questions that were raised or in response to actions that were taken. I think the premise of this story was fantastic, but its execution was extremely flawed.
Before I even get into my problems with the story itself, it has to be known that errors in editing really turn me off- and Warp World is full of them. Every few pages revealed a new grammatical, spelling or editing error, which over time began to grate on me for constantly interrupting the flow of the writing. I almost started counting the errors because they began to annoy me so much. There's even a spelling error on the back cover of the book!
The tense also changed persistently, and occasionally Ethan (who is telling the story in first person) would address another character, Kris, as though they were reading the book too. I hadn't realized until those instances that this whole book was actually some sort of retelling, and I guess you could try to account those editing issues to Ethan's own problems in editing a story he's apparently writing, but it gets harder to try and be patient with it when there are errors everywhere. I also would have preferred being told up front that Ethan was telling this story in hindsight, because every time he addressed Kris it was like jerking me from a movie I'm trying to watch just to tell me something insignificant. The momentum slows way down.
Ethan as a character was extremely likeable and relatable. I liked that he questioned the ways of the warping world he's been thrown into instead of simply accepting their questionable rules and ideals. He learns extremely fast, demonstrating this by teaching himself within a week how to master his new ability. He consistently showed concern for his comrades throughout the book, and I really appreciated his motivation to help everyone. His struggle to balance his old life with his new one was well done, I thought. The world of warping is intense, and I felt like Ramm did a good job of showing how much Ethan's ability clashed with people who couldn't understand his ability. It was sad and frustrating to watch unfold, but I can understand and really appreciate the way Ramm directed it to go.
What I did not enjoy at all was the progression of the main pairing of Kris and Ethan. I have nothing against the fact that it is a gay pairing: my issue lies with the way their relationship developed. (Spoiler ahead??!) It began as a triangle between Ethan, Peter and Kris, and I loved that Ethan fought for Peter for the first half of the book. However, once Peter was out of Ethan's life, Ethan just kind of accepted that he had to be with Kris. There was literally no development in their relationship to show the transition. It was all extremely forced, and I wanted to scream whenever Ethan would say he felt so close to Kris, because literally nothing had happened to show for this change in feeling.
Kris on his own as a character also annoyed me to no end. He is childish and knows only how to throw temper tantrums, party and run away when someone tries to have a conversation with him. He didn't develop as a character at all, aside from showing tenderness once Ethan opened up to him as a partner, but even that didn't feel like development because it was coming from left field.
The first half of the book is pretty much devoted to Kris and Ethan aimlessly having fun with their warping power. Nothing of significance happens and there is no plot development: a good majority of it isn't necessary to the novel at all. I have a feeling Ramm was trying to use it to show us how fun Kris can be, or maybe he simply wanted to show us how cool reality warping is. Whatever the reasoning, I found the first half of the book fairly disappointing because the main plot still hadn't been introduced and Kris' pouting was never-ending.
It's very clear that the world of warping is complex: I just wish that Ramm had spent more energy explaining how things worked rather than showing us what warping could do. Every time some new important idea was introduced, such as the nokrutar, there is a lot of round-about explaining but nothing concrete is ever given. It's like when a parent fumbles to explain to their child how a baby is born: lots of words come out, but the kid walks away still not understanding because the parent doesn't actually reveal what really goes on. They just give out some sort of excuse instead. For all the explanation that is given for important concepts relevant to the plot of the book, more questions are raised than are actually answered. I was left with a feeling of being in the dark about what was happening because nothing is ever fully explained, especially in the end chapters. I still don't even fully understand what nokrutar are or why they exist.
Once you get into the second half of the book, things start to get good. The main plot starts rolling and action ensues. I did enjoy watching Ethan dig himself into a hole trying to help everyone. That was one of his most redeeming qualities, actually, so I was glad to see the route he chose. Yet, like with the rest of the book, we are left with an extremely unsatisfying end. Nothing has been resolved, even more questions are raised about the Rurrians and what happened to Ethan, and what happens with the remaining characters. I couldn't believe that I had only a few pages left to read and nothing had been resolved yet- and then I got to the end and received absolutely no closure. The epilogue that was slapped on to the end did nothing to satiate me. In fact, it only raised more questions about Bot and Ethan's future (spoiler- I have a feeling that this novel is Ethan stepping into his Ego Stage, but it'd be nice to get some sort of confirmation).
Overall, I really was disappointed by this book. I had such high hopes for this to be an awesome science fiction/fantasy story, but instead I was given a collection of ideas about what warping could do in the hands of children with active imaginations and lots of questions about the world they might live in. There was no closure to any of the questions that were raised or in response to actions that were taken. I think the premise of this story was fantastic, but its execution was extremely flawed.
July 28, 2016
I'm going with 3 Stars because I'm really not sure how I feel right now. The book and characters were engaging. I enjoyed reading it but something felt missing. There was a lot of jumping around. A lot of sub plot points were never really resolved. If the blurb sounds good to you then I would recommend reading the book.
One warning (as others have mentioned) there are a lot of grammar and spelling errors. Several were enough to pull me out of the story to try to figure out what word the author was really going for.
One warning (as others have mentioned) there are a lot of grammar and spelling errors. Several were enough to pull me out of the story to try to figure out what word the author was really going for.
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