A review on this one is long overdue, me having digested the final few pages more than 48 hours ago. Ah well, delays are inevitable at a point like this. The backdrop is pretty easy to figure from the title, the focal point of not just the 20th century but the entire history of mankind. Where we rescind control of millions of lives into hands of despots, entire cities and millions along with it having a potential to be obliterated by the flick of a switch or a malfunctioning computer program. The Manhattan Project.
And Kanon crafted a murder-mystery come illicit love story in the shadows of this singular event. Now you'd definitely be expecting a racy thriller with intricate sub-plots and scientific details (plus a good dose of history thrown in for countermeasure should the above two fail). And you'd be hoping to learn more about the daddy of the fiery hell facing us, Robert Oppenheimer, the man behind the atomic bomb.
Well the book doesn't disappoint in its entirety, having met the first two objectives rather well and failing miserably in the third and fourth. Its a good read for those action junkies seeking some espionage spy stuff. All these happened before the era of mobile phones, GPS, satellite tracking or organized spy networks like the NSA or CIA. So it'll be refreshing, seeing things as how they used be in the good'ol days with limited organization and technology. The book holds true to the sequence of events in most places.
Kanon is no Crichton or Clancy, that's pretty much evident in this book. I'd rate him on the level of a Sheldon perhaps. The types who churn out a good plot but throw out the 'technical garbage' pretty quick. Count this one out if you are looking to take some lessons in atomic science the fun way. And the final weakness surfaces in the form of characterization. Both the fictitious (Michael Connolly, the person assigned to investigate the murder of a security officer Karl Bruner), and real figures like Oppenheimer (Oppie in this one), fail to invoke ANY kind of response in you. Things are done for the sake of needing to be done. Thats the impression you get. There seems to be no motivation for anything over here, and a cinematic impression you'd get is one of sleepwalkers and zombies uttering some pre-recorded lines. In short, the characters are not engaging one bit.
A can of worms is opened in this one as well, addressing a few moral issues. The need for the atomic bomb, the reasons justifying its creation and the world it would inevitably shape and dominate, these being the primary issues addressed in the book. (Thats probably the only thing the Bible got right for once. The soon-to-happen Armageddon and fiery chasms which await us.)
Those who delve a little deeper would also come upon a sub-plot involving the biasedness and discriminatory treatments dispensed out towards homosexuals. This being a phenomenon everywhere, even in a war-time government organization such as the army. They had no protection whatsoever from any state, no matter Allies or Axis. I would recommend this to the casual reader seeking a good reason to ride the subway and not drive into the city.
I'll be back.
*peace*
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