The Gap in the Curtain

Sir Edward Leithen #4

by John Buchan

The Gap in the Curtain is a supernatural story full of suspense. Guests at a country house party are enabled by an eccentric scientist to see a glimpse of an issue of the Times dated a year ahead of time.

Genres: Fiction, Classics, Mystery, Science Fiction, British Literature, Horror, Adventure

220 pages, Paperback

First published July 1, 1932

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the GoodReads database with this name.

John Buchan was a Scottish novelist, historian, and Unionist politician who served as Governor General of Canada, the 15th since Canadian Confederation.
As a youth, Buchan began writing poetry and prose, fiction and non-fiction, publishing his first novel in 1895 and ultimately writing over a hundred books of which the best known is The Thirty-Nine Steps. After attending Glasgow and Oxford universities, he practised as a barrister. In 1901, he served as a private secretary to Lord Milner in southern Africa towards the end of the Boer War. He returned to England in 1903, continued as a barrister and journalist. He left the Bar when he joined Thomas Nelson and Sons publishers in 1907. During the First World War, he was, among other activities, Director of Information in 1917 and later Head of Intelligence at the newly-formed Ministry of Information. He was elected Member of Parliament for the Combined Scottish Universities in 1927.
In 1935, King George V, on the advice of Canadian Prime Minister R. B. Bennett, appointed Buchan to succeed the Earl of Bessborough as Governor General of Canada and two months later raised him to the peerage as 1st Baron Tweedsmuir. He occupied the post until his death in 1940. Buchan promoted Canadian unity and helped strengthen the sovereignty of Canada constitutionally and culturally. He received a state funeral in Canada before his ashes were returned to the United Kingdom.

Reviews

[Dfordoom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Insofar as he is remembered at all these days, John Buchan is remembered for his spy thrillers like The 39 Steps. He also wrote tales of the supernatural. Whether The Gap in the Curtain is a supernatural tale, or science fiction, or horror, is difficult to say. A brilliant but possibly slightly unbalanced scientist discovers a means of lifting the curtain for a moment and gaining a glimpse of the future. This discovery allows six people to see, for a brief instant of time, a page from a newspaper from one year in the future. The book then follows the life of each of the six people up to that date a year in the future, and examines the way they deal with the knowledge they have gained. The trick to it is that what they each see is an isolated fact, taken out of context. It can enlighten, but it can just as easily mislead. They know one thing that is going to happen, but they don’t know how and why it will happen. The knowledge turns out to be surprisingly dangerous. Several of the participants in the experiment are politicians, who try to use what they’ve found out to advance their careers. One is a financier who hopes to make a killing on the stock market. Others discover more personal information, and are forced to re-evaluate their attitudes towards life and love and death. Odd but interesting.

[Oleksandr Zholud · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is the fourth volume in the Sir Edward Leithen 5-book series by John Buchan, originally published in 1931. The author most likely is chiefly known for his The Thirty-Nine Steps novel, that was turned into a movie by Alfred Hitchcock. I read it as a part of the monthly reading for November 2022 at The Evolution of Science Fiction group. This novel was written before SF genre shaped itself, so it is not a ‘pure’ SF, but a novel with what can be seen as a future science or magic.

The novel starts with the protagonist, Sir Edward Leithen, at the moment a lawyer, who works with Dominion appeals before the Judicial Committee, or defends at the Commercial Court. He visits Lady Flambard's party, where among guests is an enigmatic emigrant from Berlin Professor Moe, a very ill man in his fifties, who is a most wonderful mathematician and physicist—rather in the Einstein way. He has upset every scientific law, and now he has a theory that our here and now is just a subset of a greater universe, so if a person in a specific state abandons reason and turns to instinct, they may glimpse a future. As an experiment, a group of guests trains to see and read an issue of Times from a year ahead. Each participant looks at theirs preferred part of the newspaper.

The rest of the book gives stories of five participants who try to use the attained knowledge or try to evade it. What did they see?
Mayot had a vision of the leader page, and read two sentences of comment on a speech by the Prime Minister. In one sentence the Prime Minister was named, and the name was not that of him who then held the office.
Tavanger, on the first City page, had a glimpse of a note on the formation of a great combine, by the Anatilla Corporation, of the michelite-producing interests of the world.
Reggie Daker, on the Court page, saw an account of the departure of an archaeological expedition to Yucatan, and his name appeared as one of the members.
Goodeve and Charles Ottery—the one on the page opposite the leaders and the other on the first page of the paper—read the announcement of their own deaths.
The stories differ from a broker, who tries to corner the world market for michelite, traveling to South Africa to get shares to a politician, who tries to install a new prime minister to some romances…

Overall, an interesting story, showing the world which is no more – with gentlemen visiting clubs, young women the prettiest debutante of her year joining upper society via parties and so on. I guess if written today it would have been notably shortened and ‘lived-up’.

[Cathy · Rating 3 out of 5]

The Gap in the Curtain concerns the experiences of a group of guests at a country house party, including lawyer Sir Edward Leithen, who take part in an experiment conducted by the enigmatic Professor Moe. After a period of “training” involving mental exercises and a special diet, they are each given a glimpse of the future by way of an item in The Times newspaper dated a year hence. Being a logical and down-to-earth fellow, Leithen sees nothing but a blank page. However, the other five who take part are profoundly affected by what they see. The different ways in which they react to the foreknowledge they have been granted over the next twelve months are recounted by Leithen.

For two of the guests, David Mayot and Arnold Tavanger, the insights relate to the worlds of politics and finance. The attempts by Mayot (described by Leithen as having “not a very generous allowance of brains” and “as much magnetism as a pillar-box”) to second-guess how the political situation he saw might come about involves a good deal of tactical and frankly not very principled behind the scenes manoeuvring. I have to say I found this a little dull with way too much discussion of the positions of the different political factions. The satirical nature of the description of politics may have been more recognisable to readers of the day.

What keen investor Arnold Tavanger sees in The Times leads him to embark on a journey across continents to secure what he believes will bring him huge financial rewards. His epic trip across Africa sees him take to the air with a pilot “who was one-fourth scientist and three-fourths adventurer, and who did not value his on or anybody else’s life at two pins”. They encounter thunderstorms and at one point end up with two lizards and a snake in the fuselage! In the end though, Tavanger’s experiences lead him to conclude “Our ignorance of the future has been widely ordained of Heaven. For unless man were to be like God and know everything, it is better that he should know nothing. If he knows one fact only, instead of profiting by it he will assuredly land in the soup”.

Reggie Daker’s insight into what he will be undertaking a year hence takes him completely by surprise, being the last thing on earth he would consider doing. However, over the course of the next few months, the reader witnesses the influence of the attractive Verona Cortal and her family on the rather compliant by nature Reggie. Says Leithen, “He had the air of a smallish rabbit caught in a largish trap. But it was a stoical rabbit, for to me he made no complaint.” Eventually, fate lends a hand to provide Reggie with a means of escape.

The final two guests – Robert Goodeve and Captain Charles Ottery – both see articles in The Times concerning themselves that are much more profound in nature. It is in their two stories that Buchan really addresses the notions of predestination and free will. For one of the characters, the fate he is presented with turns him into a haunted man. It confirms a subconscious belief he has always held that his is a family whose lives are destined to end tragically, that “They have spirit without fortitude.”

For the other, it provokes a courageous response to the hand dealt him, helped by the love of a good woman. “What concerned him was how to pass the next eight months without disgracing his manhood”. It seems clear which of the two responses Buchan admires most. Not only by the way in which the last story ends but also by the fact it contains a reference to one of Buchan’s most cherished books, The Pilgrim’s Progress by John Bunyan. “He had come out of the Valley of the Shadow to the Delectable Mountains.”

Essentially a collection of short stories exploring the psychological impact of foreknowledge, The Gap in the Curtain is a mixed bag with some stories I enjoyed and others less so

#ReadJB2020

[James Stoddard · Rating 5 out of 5]

John Buchan was an author, a lawyer, an historian, and a politician (including being Governor General of Canada in the last years of his life). In his writing career he is perhaps best known for his 1915 spy-thriller, The 39 Steps, which was made into a movie by Alfred Hitchcock in 1935. His work sometimes drifted into the borders of fantasy, and The Gap in the Curtain follows a simple premise to an interesting conclusion. Led by an Einsteinian professor, five characters are able to see a copy of The London Times one year in the future. Through the eyes of the narrator, we follow the resultant reactions of each of the five. This is a fascinating novel depicting the British culture in the aftermath of World War I and our limitations in dealing with a single glimpse ahead. Followers of Downton Abbey may find this book especially interesting.

[Brian Clegg · Rating 3 out of 5]

John Buchan is best known for his thriller The 39 Steps, filmed melodramatically by Alfred Hitchcock in 1935. The Gap in the Curtain is another period piece, first published in 1932, but it is anything but a conventional thriller. It's sometimes presented as science fiction, but it would more reasonably be described as fantasy: although the events it covers are supposedly triggered by the work of a scientist, the mechanism is pure fantasy.

We begin at a country house party, where a random selection of toffs are encouraged to take part in an experiment by the mysterious Professor Moe. By obsessing over a particular section of the Times newspaper for a while (plus the administration of a mystery drug), seven participants are set up to have a second's glance at a small section of the newspaper from one year in the future. In practice, two of the experimental subjects, including the narrator, don't undertake the final part, so five people are given a brief glimpse of the future. Some study a section of the paper relevant to their role - an MP, for example, finds out something about the future government - others seem to have picked part of the newspaper pretty much at random. The rest of the book then covers the subsequent year five times, once for the experience of each subject.

So far, so good - a nice, high concept plot. Although I like the Hitchcock film, I've never read any Buchan before - I found his style, frankly, rather clunky. The country house setting is like P. G. Wodehouse without the humour, and the first section progresses distinctly slowly. Things get rather better with the five individual sections. In each case, although the predicted text from the Times is correct, the outcome is different to the one that the participant expects. I did particularly enjoy the MP's section - there was a strange similarity with 2022 British politics, with the country facing dire economic straits and some MPs who were clearly only in it for what they could get for themselves. Although the people were fictional, it was interesting to get a feel for what early 1930s politics was like as a Labour government struggled with the problems of the day.

I did find it hard to warm to any of the characters - I love Wodehouse, and his lightweight protagonists are simply fun. Here, the entitled gentry, who make up pretty well all of the characters in the book, often feel repulsive to the modern viewpoint. I don't know if this was Buchan's intention, or whether he felt this was what upright British folk should be like. But this aspect wasn't too much of a problem as it really wasn't necessary to engage with the people - it's the plot that dominates.

All in all, though never a thrilling read (and the denouement of the last section was a distinct let-down), the period setting and the underlying idea made it well worth the read.

-- SPOILER ALERT --

I do want to moan about a couple of aspects of the plot, so if you don't want a spoiler, don't read further.

Two of the five active participants in the experiment focus on the obituaries section of the paper - and both see their own death listed. This requires a ridiculous pile-up of coincidences. Firstly, why would they choose to look at this part of the paper anyway? Everyone else looked at a topic that interested them. Why didn't they look at a sporting page or whatever? More to the point, what are the chances that, purely accidentally, both of them were predicted to die the day before the day the paper was published? There was no suggestion that the experiment was the cause of their deaths - they simply had a glimpse through the titular 'gap in the curtain'.

One of the two death cases was handled quite well. The person effectively scared himself to death, with a little twist where he avoided the way he 'should have' died, but still died. The second, though, involved the subject escaping his fate. That wasn't a bad idea - but the way that Buchan made this happen was to have an obscure relative die on the predicted date, whose name was the same, whose regiment had been incorrectly reported and whose birthdate had been misheard and put in wrong. A whole pile of unlikeliness. How much more interesting it could have been if someone (the narrator, for example) had sent a fake death notice the Times (inevitably with various obstacles to this happening). The piece would have appeared, but wouldn't really be true. Managed well, it would have been a far better ending than the pathetic list of coincidences and accidents Buchan uses. Moan over.

[dragonhelmuk · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another very fine Buchan book, although a big change from the last one in the series! In this book an aged professor of experimental science allows five respectable British gentlemen to look at a newspaper one year into the future (a figurative gap in the curtain of time). We follow their stories, and how the foreknowledge affects them (Lovecraft style, these are early 20th century gentile gentlemen after all), and ultimately the story is one of the dangers that knowing the future can lead to. The pivotal question of the book is, to me, that of determinism – can fate be changed or “prevented”. This was also one of Tolkien’s favourite questions, which might explain why this book seemed to me one of Buchan’s best. Certainly the ending of the book, which meets the question head on, is the best Buchan ending I have ever read (and I have read quite a few...) Three quotes:

{Almost Jane Austin style dinner parties}
There is a species of bêtise, which I believe at Cambridge is named after some don, and which consists in missing completely the point of a metaphor or a joke, in setting the heavy heel of literalness on some trivial flower of fancy. It is a fault to which the Scots are supposed to be prone, and it is the staple of most of the tales against that nation. The classic instance is Charles Lamb's story of how he was once present at a dinner given in honour of Burns, at which a nephew of the poet was to be present. As the company waited on the arrival of the guest, Lamb remarked that he wished the uncle were coming instead of the nephew: upon which several solemn Scotsmen arose to inform him that that was impossible, because Burns was dead.

{the importance of Scotland for Londeners – I want some too!}
We have all our own Scotlands, and Reggie's was not mine, so we never met north of the Tweed. He would have abhorred the rougher kind of deer forest, for he would never have got up the mountains, and he was no salmon fisherman. The kind of place he liked was a civilised country house where the comforts of life were not forgotten. He was a neat shot at driven grouse, and loved a day on a mild moor where you motored to the first butts and had easy walks to the others.

{A quote which is relevant to me right now}
I put it down to a virtuous youth. If you don't blow off steam under twenty-five, you're apt to have a blow up later and scald yourself . .

[Sally · Rating 4 out of 5]

I so enjoy John Buchan’s novels. He doesn’t seem to be remembered very much, except for The Thirty-Nine Steps, but his novels, whether suspense or historical, are well written and enjoyable. The Gap in the Curtain concerns a group of people at a weekend party who agree to an experiment proposed by a Nobel Prize winning scientist. He works with them for several days, encouraging their capacity to foresee the future—the gap in the curtain—so by the end of the third day they will be able to picture in their mind’s eye what a page of the Times will look like, and then be able to think about the consequences for them. What they see is sometimes misinterpreted and sometimes leads to tragedy, but it’s fascinating to see what happens to people when they think they know what lies ahead and act accordingly.

[Leslie · Rating 2 out of 5]

2.5*

As in the previous book, this 4th book in the Leithen series had a mystic aspect. Sadly for me, instead of the adventures of my favorite Buchan books, the plot was focused on the psychological effects of the mystic experience on each of a group of people. In another mood, I might have enjoyed this more... However I still plan to read the final book in this series; fingers crossed that it will be more similar to the earlier books!

[Pers · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating tale about five men who get a glimpse of The Times newspaper a year in the future, and how what they read there affects their lives. As usual Buchan's prose is spare yet evocative, and the final chapter moved me immensely.

[Cristobal · Rating 4 out of 5]

A well written and entertaining tale about the anguish of knowing your future in advance.

[V.C. Linde · Rating 3 out of 5]

Wonderful concept and a really interesting look at what happens when you try to focus on the future instead of on the present but large sections were very heavy and slow going.

[Cindy · Rating 2 out of 5]

Enjoyable up to the descent into historical British politics. Not for me

[Thomas · Rating 3 out of 5]

Alfred Hitchcock’s version of The Thirty-Nine Steps (1935) is a classic of 1930s filmmaking. It gave the 1915 story by John Buchan concision, action, sex appeal, and humor that Buchan’s novel could not match. Sadly, no filmmaker has seen fit to breathe life into Buchan’s The Gap in the Curtain (1932). Gap poses this question, what would you do if you could read a newspaper article about yourself written one year in the future? A mad scientist gives several men at a country house party the chance to read about themselves in next year’s Times. The man who sees only a blank page is the only one whose fate you could envy. Buchan, who was a staunch Calvinist, tells us that neither predestination nor precognition relieves us of the responsibility of making the decisions that shape our lives.
The Gap in the Curtain is not the best British science fiction novel (if it can be called science fiction) of 1932. That honor must go to Aldus Huxley’s Brave New World. It is not the best suspense novel either—I would give the nod to Dorothy Sayers for Have His Carcass. The best one can say about Buchan’s characters and prose is that they are both workmanlike and stodgy. Note: The introduction by Stuart Kelly in the 2012 Polygon edition is excellent. 3 stars.

[Rachel · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 stars.
- It's an interesting stylistic choice to have your viewpoint character (Leithen) essentially be no more than a framing device, because he wasn't one of the five people who succeeded with The Thing that the plot (such as it is) revolves around.
- This results in a lot of telling and very little showing.
- It's more five interconnected short stories than a cohesive book.
- If Buchan hadn't insisted on making this a Leithen book and instead let the four main viewpoints speak for themselves.... it might have been a more compelling read?
- Fascinating concept, of course. I'm just not sure the execution was there.

[Anne White · Rating 2 out of 5]

The premise for this novel was intriguing. A few selected people are each given a glimpse of a (different) newspaper headline from a year in the future. What will they do with that information, how will they prepare for that event or even try to avoid it? Will the predictions come true? The problem with the rest of the book is that these people are mostly politicians and/or businessmen, and a lot of the plot is just about party squabbles or buying shares in something. The most entertaining segment is one about a young man whose prediction is that he'll be leaving for Yucatan, which is the last thing in the world he wants to do (he thinks it's somewhere near Kazakhstan).

So, fun idea, but the actual stories are a bit less intriguing than, um, predicted.

Also some religious slurs, typical of the time but not nice, so an extra star off for that.

[Andrius · Rating 3 out of 5]

A fun enough book, but I don't think I have much to say about it. In a direct reference to J. W. Dunne's theory of serial time, a professor of mathematics and physics leads a group of people in an experiment (really a sort of borderline seance) that gives them a glimpse of a newspaper from a year into the future (newspapers figure prominently in Dunne's discussion of his premonitions in An Experiment with Time). The rest of the book is a sort of cycle of short stories focusing on how each participant deals with what was revealed to him, whether by trying to exploit it or grappling with ideas of fate and free will.

It was entertaining, but that's about all I can say. My reading of it was probably too scattered to get much out of it. I will say there's a very strong Tough British Empire Man vibe to Buchan's writing and characters, which I didn't love.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

If you were given the ability to have a momentary glimpse into the future—specifically, a brief glance at a newspaper dated one year from today—and in that glimpse you saw mention of, say, a business you work in, or news of national politics that’s not what you expect from the present order of things, or even your own name in some context (an obituary?), what would you do with that information? Would you try to turn it to your social or financial advantage? Try to ignore it? Live your life in a completely different way—or perhaps begin to gradually withdraw from the world of the living?
That theme—the role of free will within a framework of predestination—sets the stage for this book. In the opening chapter, a mysterious professor, a celebrated mathematician and physicist, is among the guests at a weekend party at an English country house. He tells the hostess he accepted her invitation because he wishes to conduct an experiment related to a new theory of time—“the future is here with us now, if only we knew how to look for it”—and thought he might find suitable subjects at this social gathering. Indeed he does, and selects six men from different walks of life, including the narrator, and the hostess to participate.
What follows are five short stories, each describing how one of the test subjects spends the ensuing year in pursuit or avoidance of some result perceived through his glimpse of the future. There’s preposterous adventure, political scheming, meteoric rise followed by steep descent—and a mix-up.
Buchan, whose best-known work is “The Thirty-Nine Steps,” was the son of a minister in the Church of Scotland so was probably steeped in the concept of predestination. I’ve always been interested in novels that play with perceptions of time, so this book (written in 1931) held my interest throughout.

[Ed · Rating 4 out of 5]

Another of the Edward Leithen series and one that I recognised I had read many years ago. Nevertheless I enjoyed it, having forgotten much of the content, albeit I remembered the basic plot. This, as in other Buchan novels, revolved around an acceptance of mysterious powers, in this case the ability to ‘see into the future’. A professor at a society gathering facilitates this for five of Leithen’s acquaintances by giving them a glimpse of the front page of the Times newspaper a year on. Armed with this foreknowledge each of the characters spend much of their time trying to understand the implications of this for their personal futures. Each takes a different approach but none are able to profit from their insight. This seemed to be the main message of the novel which was reminiscent of that of another recent read, George Eliot’s ‘The Lifted Veil’.

Buchan’s trademark approach to characters was evident throughout the stories. Each is, through Leithen’s observations of their upbringing, education, family connections, physiognomy etc. labelled as strong or weak, with their subsequent actions bearing this out. They move in ‘high society’ attending weekend parties, dancing, riding and shooting, with their work lives in Parliament, the judiciary or high finance. There are few references to ordinary working class people which arguably gives the reader a distorted perspective which no doubt reflects the circles that Buchan moved in. So not a realistic novel, even if it’s basic premise of clairvoyance is discounted. Nevertheless an enjoyable escapist read.

[Natalie · Rating 3 out of 5]

This book is only thinly science fiction. It is more a character study of five people as seen through the eyes of the narrator, Sir Edward Leithen. It is fairly interesting for a good part of it but lacks a deeper exploration of the result of knowing your fate.
We meet several people at an estate including David Mayot, Arnold Tavanger, Reginald Daker, Sir Robert Goodeve, and Charles Ottery. They are approached by a scientist, Professor Moe, who wants to perform an experiment with time. All five men are to see a small part of the newspaper one year in the future, telling them something of what will happen to them. Mayot will rise in politics, Tavanger will have success in business, Daker will leave on an expedition to South America, and Goodeve and Ottery will die.
Leithen meets with each of the men over the following year and observes what happens to them. The most interesting chapters were the one about Daker and the one about Ottery. The others dragged a little. Each man tries at one point or another, to believe his fate will change. But mostly they just head to their fate with anticipation, resolution, or stoicism.
I think the story would have been better with more of a focus on the power of science versus fate. But the writing was clear and fairly detailed, making reading the stories enjoyable.

[Norman · Rating 3 out of 5]

I loved Buchan's "39 Steps" which differs from all three film versions, so picked this up on a whim, particularly as it has a science-fiction edge.
The writing is 1930s writing as expected with lots of things assumed on behalf of the author. The only clubs I know about are those I joined in comics I read; the only 'houses' I've stayed in are those B&Bs and the ones I've owned. I think you get the idea. But the plot is a vague enough hanger for the usual descriptions of people and systems to hang off. The S-F is slight - viewing the Times newspaper columns one year hence with each character focussing on one element. The time travel is all in the mind and half-disbelievingly the volunteers participate. Each character's story is told by the our protagonist - some travelling to places they never thought they would; some buying shares based on what they saw - with corresponding adventures in Africa; two see they are going to die! It's all intriguing but hard to wade through a discourse on shares and company takeovers; the aristocracy's pleasurable living etc.
Overall disappointing for me but one for the purist collectors of Buchan.

[James Cary · Rating 3 out of 5]

This was rather an unexpected kind of book from Buchan, but maybe after the Dancing Floor, I shouldn’t have been so surprised. An interesting idea ends up splitting off into essentially short stories, which I quite enjoyed, but overall, it was probably less than the sum total of the parts, with very little reflection on the overall idea of the book. But I’m still glad I read it.

[Colette · Rating 3 out of 5]

I didn't want to stop reading this. I thought of it more as an exercise in explaining the potential impact of wishing and then being able to see the future. This would certainly put you off wanting to do that - fraught with problems judging by the stories in each chapter. But loving any stories to do with time travel, I enjoyed this version of the theme.

[Emily · Rating 3 out of 5]

Gone full on late Conan-Doyle. Could see the ending coming but got there enjoyably. Leithen definitely getting a bit too good to be true, it's wonderful how every younger person he meets needs to confide in him and their parents know he'll be the only one, and people his own age trust him, and the inbetweeners have heard of his reputation so immediately take him (literally) home

[Barb P · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was superb. Themes are timeless. It does bridge science fiction, fantasy, and “normal” life. How the individual characters tell their stories in the present and then in the future makes this book great. Some Aldous Huxley works are similar in tone and strength but no one else has this light and solid view on now and tomorrow .

[Gordon Watson · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting wee departure by JB. Entering in to HG Wells territory, the usual JB mix of adventure and politics are there. The last 2 of the 5 short-stories are definitely the more interesting and thought provoking.

[Jordan · Rating 5 out of 5]

And odd but exceptionally surprising, rewarding, and moving novel. One of my favorite surprises of John Buchan June. Full review at the blog.

[Louise · Rating 3 out of 5]

No Idea what that was about.

[Alayne · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fascinating piece of writing on a paranormal subject. It was basically looking at the mind over matter issue, or matter over mind. Quite good.

[Mike Briley · Rating 4 out of 5]

Once you buy into the initial science fiction premise it is a good yarn with a nice, if not totally unexpected twist at the end.

[Robyn · Rating 2 out of 5]

Early Bird Book Deal | Deeply dull | Long sections devoted to detailing the way characters try to manipulate the market and politics, all told third hand.