I am the first to admit that I was kind of weary picking up this novel’ i2′ by James Bannon. A Psychological Science Fiction Thriller wasn’t exactly a common theme in my readings. The plot intrigued me though, a bio-software engineer being able to manufacture reincarnation turns the experiment onto himself. I felt that there is a lot of openings in a plot statement like that, something new and exciting.
So after I let my skepticism pass I did sit down and read this novel. It begins very well, quickly paced but with a clear understanding as to what was going on. Unfortunately, as the story was supposed to be gaining momentum, I found myself distancing my brain from it. In fact I was no longer focused on the story, and found myself putting it down for a while. It wasn’t that the story wasn’t interesting, I just didn’t feel compelled to keep reading it. This was supposed to be as Edward (the engineer) was to take the experiment and turn it onto himself, placing him in another body. As Edward goes into his second life, I became less and less interested. It felt almost to be a love story, which I bare little to no interest in. While I understand where Bannon was going with his story, I feel it could have been taken to a whole new level, to a whole new universe. It felt very trapped where there could have been room for expansion.
The beginning however, is incredibly fascinating. The way that Edward’s mind works, the pacing of the story itself and the character development is to be highly applauded. I think that is why I felt the second half of the story so lacking. It felt like there just wasn’t that special something there anymore. Almost as if Edward’s story was already told. The beginning had a lot of “What if?” and open ended questions. When Edward takes on his second life, the questions are ended.
I recommend checking this book out if it is made available to you. It isn’t something I would necessarily rush out to read, but as I had said, the beginning was intriguing and left you wondering what could quite possibly happen if something were to go wrong. It has the possibility of re-reading value, which is something I look for when reading. I say this because of the beginning, because of those open ended questions. The wondering is what really drives this novel, I was just disappointed to see that part of it end.
