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The Chaos Function
For readers of the best‑selling novels Sleeping Giants and Dark Matter, an intense, high‑stakes thriller with a science‑fiction twist that asks: If technology enabled you to save the life of someone you love, would you do so even if it might doom millions?
Olivia Nikitas, a hardened journalist whose specialty is war zones, has been reporting from the front lines of the civil war in Aleppo, Syria. When Brian, an aid worker she reluctantly fell in love with, dies while following her into danger, she’ll do anything to bring him back. In a makeshift death chamber beneath an ancient, sacred site, a strange technology is revealed to Olivia: the power to remake the future by changing the past.
Following her heart and not her head, Olivia brings Brian back, accidentally shifting the world to the brink of nuclear and biological disaster. Now she must stay steps ahead of the guardians of this technology, who will kill her to reclaim it, in order to save not just herself and her love, but the whole world.
Olivia Nikitas, a hardened journalist whose specialty is war zones, has been reporting from the front lines of the civil war in Aleppo, Syria. When Brian, an aid worker she reluctantly fell in love with, dies while following her into danger, she’ll do anything to bring him back. In a makeshift death chamber beneath an ancient, sacred site, a strange technology is revealed to Olivia: the power to remake the future by changing the past.
Following her heart and not her head, Olivia brings Brian back, accidentally shifting the world to the brink of nuclear and biological disaster. Now she must stay steps ahead of the guardians of this technology, who will kill her to reclaim it, in order to save not just herself and her love, but the whole world.
304 pages, Hardcover
First published March 19, 2019
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1552 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 54 reviews
October 9, 2024
This is a good time travel thriller with a strong suspense element. It's a butterfly-effect novel, and Bradbury's A Sound of Thunder is the obvious inspiration, and I'd guess Ellison's City on the Edge of Forever was a thematic influence as well. "Absolute power corrupts absolutely," and "Any sufficiently advanced technology is indistinguishable from magic" have moments, too. The book appeared in 2019 and concerns a worldwide pandemic, so I'd guess it didn't get much traction because the reading majority was soon too tired of hearing about such. It doesn't help that it has about the most boring cover ever, too. The plot is convoluted but entertaining, and the various realities it explores serve to develop and deepen the main character, Olivia, subtly yet convincingly. It's quite an enjoyable story, unless (spoiler...spoiler...) you're one of those folks who always a happy ending.
March 21, 2019
I won't summarize this novel, others have done it before me. I'll only give my impressions. This is not the first time travel or apocalyptic novel I read, far from it. We can say that I have some bases on which to build my expectations.
This novel is more a road book (literary equivalent of a "road movie"), because the story takes place mainly on the road. I don't understand the usefulness of all this travelling, given that Olivia (or Liv for his friends), the main character, can use her power, inherited by accident from the previous shepherd (kind of leader of the machine's guardians), to change the history from afar, i.e. she doesn't need to be near the time machine. She could have found a good hiding place and caused all the damages described in this novel from there. Moreover, I found several descriptive parts of her travels a little too long. I didn't especially need to know that they had to go and buy something to eat in the chaotic world provoked by Liv's good intentions.
All in all, it's still a entertaining novel that will please all lovers of mystery and apocalyptic stories.
Thanks to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an electronic copy of this good novel.
This novel is more a road book (literary equivalent of a "road movie"), because the story takes place mainly on the road. I don't understand the usefulness of all this travelling, given that Olivia (or Liv for his friends), the main character, can use her power, inherited by accident from the previous shepherd (kind of leader of the machine's guardians), to change the history from afar, i.e. she doesn't need to be near the time machine. She could have found a good hiding place and caused all the damages described in this novel from there. Moreover, I found several descriptive parts of her travels a little too long. I didn't especially need to know that they had to go and buy something to eat in the chaotic world provoked by Liv's good intentions.
All in all, it's still a entertaining novel that will please all lovers of mystery and apocalyptic stories.
Thanks to the author, the publisher and Netgalley for providing me with an electronic copy of this good novel.
March 2, 2019
In compliance with FTC guidelines------I received this book free from a Goodreads Giveaway in exchange for an honest review. The content of this review is not influenced by that fact. The feelings expressed are solely mine. I sincerely appreciate the chance to read and review this book.
4 1/2 stars!!
This was a fun book to read. Not a fun subject but exciting, a real edge-of-your-seat thrill ride. The funny thing is -- as a movie genre this is one my favorites but it certainly is not a genre I regularly read. It was fun stepping out of my comfort zone.
The book fell short of 5 stars only because a few times I had to roll my eyes too far in the back of my head to make it through a given scene. I truly hated the female lead character. She annoyed me to high heavens. She definitely was not written to be that way on purpose. I wish the author would write a male lead. It's something I'm sure he's more adept at doing. I'm afraid he's going to alienate female readers if he continues to write dumb, whiny, cold- shouldered female protagonists. That would be a shame because overall the book is fine.
4.5*(4*)/ 4.08*
4 1/2 stars!!
This was a fun book to read. Not a fun subject but exciting, a real edge-of-your-seat thrill ride. The funny thing is -- as a movie genre this is one my favorites but it certainly is not a genre I regularly read. It was fun stepping out of my comfort zone.
The book fell short of 5 stars only because a few times I had to roll my eyes too far in the back of my head to make it through a given scene. I truly hated the female lead character. She annoyed me to high heavens. She definitely was not written to be that way on purpose. I wish the author would write a male lead. It's something I'm sure he's more adept at doing. I'm afraid he's going to alienate female readers if he continues to write dumb, whiny, cold- shouldered female protagonists. That would be a shame because overall the book is fine.
4.5*(4*)/ 4.08*
May 3, 2020
Temporal Incursion: An act of altering the timeline.
The Butterfly Effect: A minute localized change in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere.
Imagine if you had a machine that could do this. The problem is what will the alteration to the timeline after the incursion look like? Better or worse? You could set off a world wide epidemic. Well that's not good..
This was just ok. The plot at times moved too fast not giving it enough time to develop and at times moved too slow.
The main character Olivia was annoying and not empowered. Not someone who could be trusted to police the time stream. The Society/Shephards were an unsophisticated group to be entrusted with such a powerful weapon. Add a disappointing ending makes this a book i would not recommend.
"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" -Spock
"Iactura paucorum serva multos" (Sacrifice the few to save the many) -Some philosopher who spoke Latin.
The Butterfly Effect: A minute localized change in a complex system can have large effects elsewhere.
Imagine if you had a machine that could do this. The problem is what will the alteration to the timeline after the incursion look like? Better or worse? You could set off a world wide epidemic. Well that's not good..
This was just ok. The plot at times moved too fast not giving it enough time to develop and at times moved too slow.
The main character Olivia was annoying and not empowered. Not someone who could be trusted to police the time stream. The Society/Shephards were an unsophisticated group to be entrusted with such a powerful weapon. Add a disappointing ending makes this a book i would not recommend.
"The needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few" -Spock
"Iactura paucorum serva multos" (Sacrifice the few to save the many) -Some philosopher who spoke Latin.
January 29, 2019
Entertaining & Forgettable
While this book moved at a decent pace & was entertaining, it lacked enough depth for me to really care about it one way or the other once I was finished.
First, it was totally unbelievable that the main character, Olivia was so in love with Brian that she would potentially risk the lives of millions just to keep him alive. The only way you really know Olivia loves Brian is because she says she let him "get his foot in the door". There is no passion whatsoever between them. I'm talking a big fat zero. They come across as friends, friends who care for each other sure, but LOVE? No. It just isn't there.
Here are the two main characters in a nutshell: Olivia is also your typical angsty young woman who lost her parents, is afraid to let love in, blah blah blah. She's a hard ass who puts herself first. Brian is just this really great guy. He's just you know, the kind of guy who would do great things for other people. A good person. Upbeat. Really. Such a good guy. Look at him go with his awesome great guy-ness.
So yeah, none of the characters are fleshed out enough, including Olivia. The book is also lacking in details. Granted, an author can go overboard describing the landscape (Dean Koontz immediately comes to mind), but an author can also be too vague, leaving so little description that it is hard to truly imagine what the landscape is like that the character is in. War torn, rubble everywhere. Unsteady ruins. Sickness. Hungry kids & cats. Guns.
Oh! Here's a good one for you: When you die, if you didn't know, your lips IMMEDIATELY are cold & rubbery. Last I checked, bodies are warm & pliable immediately after death & for a bit after. Cold & rubbery? Very very interesting. Perhaps this is a new type of GMO human who dies differently than the rest of us Non GMO folks?
Three stars because, the main thing this book has going for it is, as the reader, I wanted to know what was going to happen next. Olivia makes choices, which have major consequences. So, I turn the page to find out, you guessed it, what happens next.
Finally, once it is revealed what Olivia's final decision is, the book moves along until she does or does not achieve said goal. This final run of the book wasn't as climatic as I'd expected it to be. Upon completion of the book, I felt rather ho hum about it. Bottom line, it simply doesn't have enough depth to make it a good book.
Overall, this is a book worth borrowing from the library for some light unbelievable entertainment, but not one worthy of precious space on ones bookshelf.
While this book moved at a decent pace & was entertaining, it lacked enough depth for me to really care about it one way or the other once I was finished.
First, it was totally unbelievable that the main character, Olivia was so in love with Brian that she would potentially risk the lives of millions just to keep him alive. The only way you really know Olivia loves Brian is because she says she let him "get his foot in the door". There is no passion whatsoever between them. I'm talking a big fat zero. They come across as friends, friends who care for each other sure, but LOVE? No. It just isn't there.
Here are the two main characters in a nutshell: Olivia is also your typical angsty young woman who lost her parents, is afraid to let love in, blah blah blah. She's a hard ass who puts herself first. Brian is just this really great guy. He's just you know, the kind of guy who would do great things for other people. A good person. Upbeat. Really. Such a good guy. Look at him go with his awesome great guy-ness.
So yeah, none of the characters are fleshed out enough, including Olivia. The book is also lacking in details. Granted, an author can go overboard describing the landscape (Dean Koontz immediately comes to mind), but an author can also be too vague, leaving so little description that it is hard to truly imagine what the landscape is like that the character is in. War torn, rubble everywhere. Unsteady ruins. Sickness. Hungry kids & cats. Guns.
Oh! Here's a good one for you: When you die, if you didn't know, your lips IMMEDIATELY are cold & rubbery. Last I checked, bodies are warm & pliable immediately after death & for a bit after. Cold & rubbery? Very very interesting. Perhaps this is a new type of GMO human who dies differently than the rest of us Non GMO folks?
Three stars because, the main thing this book has going for it is, as the reader, I wanted to know what was going to happen next. Olivia makes choices, which have major consequences. So, I turn the page to find out, you guessed it, what happens next.
Finally, once it is revealed what Olivia's final decision is, the book moves along until she does or does not achieve said goal. This final run of the book wasn't as climatic as I'd expected it to be. Upon completion of the book, I felt rather ho hum about it. Bottom line, it simply doesn't have enough depth to make it a good book.
Overall, this is a book worth borrowing from the library for some light unbelievable entertainment, but not one worthy of precious space on ones bookshelf.
July 29, 2019
To be just really, completely, honestly honest - this book wasn’t very good. The idea was good, but it’s like the author started with this great idea and then didn’t really know how to get there, so he created all of these really asinine obstacles to fill in pages. Sadly, it just wasn’t for me.
Running thoughts:
I feel like the first rule of time travel technology is to not mess with time travel technology. Right? When has it ever gone to plan?
True facts? I’m blaming this all on Brian, who I don’t particularly like and am definitely not cheering for.
It doesn’t entirely make sense that Olivia went back with Brian, right? Like, she lives in the Disaster, but one dude freaks her out enough to leave?
Glad to see that sexists still exist in the future.
Ohhh, intrigue.
Shouldn’t reporters have gut instincts? I feel like Olivia’s gut instincts are dead.
I don’t entirely understand why she keeps trying to get the vaccine when she’s supposed to be trying to change the timeline. Right? Is it just to move the story forward? Because otherwise she’d be sitting in the same place over and over again while she kept trying to save Brian? Who I still don’t like, bee tee dubs.
Hahaha, that’s rich, coming from her - the one who keeps making horrible decisions.
Why are you going back to the place where they tried to kill you? Someone? Anyone?
Real life? The last 8 chapters were better than the first 29. It should have been reversed. I could have handled 8 crappy chapters if then I could have read 28 good chapters. Like, scrunch all of the crap that happened in the 28 chapters into five chapters and then really focus on the aftermath? For sure. Good book. Instead we have this.
Running thoughts:
I feel like the first rule of time travel technology is to not mess with time travel technology. Right? When has it ever gone to plan?
True facts? I’m blaming this all on Brian, who I don’t particularly like and am definitely not cheering for.
It doesn’t entirely make sense that Olivia went back with Brian, right? Like, she lives in the Disaster, but one dude freaks her out enough to leave?
Glad to see that sexists still exist in the future.
Ohhh, intrigue.
Shouldn’t reporters have gut instincts? I feel like Olivia’s gut instincts are dead.
I don’t entirely understand why she keeps trying to get the vaccine when she’s supposed to be trying to change the timeline. Right? Is it just to move the story forward? Because otherwise she’d be sitting in the same place over and over again while she kept trying to save Brian? Who I still don’t like, bee tee dubs.
Hahaha, that’s rich, coming from her - the one who keeps making horrible decisions.
Why are you going back to the place where they tried to kill you? Someone? Anyone?
Real life? The last 8 chapters were better than the first 29. It should have been reversed. I could have handled 8 crappy chapters if then I could have read 28 good chapters. Like, scrunch all of the crap that happened in the 28 chapters into five chapters and then really focus on the aftermath? For sure. Good book. Instead we have this.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
May 17, 2019
Actually, I'm finished enough, completion unnecessary.
Girl gets mystical powers, girl won't use them properly, reader gets about halfway through & bails.
Girl gets mystical powers, girl won't use them properly, reader gets about halfway through & bails.
September 5, 2019
This is a sci-fi novel with a strong suspense element. In a sense, it is a race against time so there is always an unrelenting sense of urgency.
The premise is great, i.e., what if someone's actions changed the world in a terrible way? What if you could undo that one decision in order to achieve a different result? A secret society has the ability to just that, but through a fluke, the power passes to a journalist who is in the right place at the time to receive it.
Ethical issues, a tiny bit of romance, and a lot of tension shape this story. Unfortunately, the scenarios are quite repetitive as the journalist keeps trying to understand the power she wields to change time, over and over. The boyfriend Brian is a weak character; she says she can't take it if he dies, but the reader does not come to care for him much. The suspense was really more a bunch of action scenes as they flee a plague, secret society members, and unrealistically travel long distances around the country and across the world as if it is nothing to do so.
Good diversionary read, and a good example of blending the sci-fi and suspense genres. Another good example of this is James Rollins' Sandstorm.
The premise is great, i.e., what if someone's actions changed the world in a terrible way? What if you could undo that one decision in order to achieve a different result? A secret society has the ability to just that, but through a fluke, the power passes to a journalist who is in the right place at the time to receive it.
Ethical issues, a tiny bit of romance, and a lot of tension shape this story. Unfortunately, the scenarios are quite repetitive as the journalist keeps trying to understand the power she wields to change time, over and over. The boyfriend Brian is a weak character; she says she can't take it if he dies, but the reader does not come to care for him much. The suspense was really more a bunch of action scenes as they flee a plague, secret society members, and unrealistically travel long distances around the country and across the world as if it is nothing to do so.
Good diversionary read, and a good example of blending the sci-fi and suspense genres. Another good example of this is James Rollins' Sandstorm.
June 13, 2019
While the premise of this book is intriguing, I think the plot fails to deliver. There is an interesting mix of fantasy and science fiction here that, properly handled, could have been mind-blowing, but instead I was left feeling quite bored by the middle already. The repetitious nature of the writing and frustratingly child-like behaviour of the protagonist, who seems unable to grasp the consequences of her actions even after the first two or three times doing the exact same thing, kills the pace entirely. On top of that, the supposed romance between the two lead characters is unconvincing, and just adds to the increasing feeling of drudgery as the book progresses.
That said, I am rating this two stars since I think the idea has merit. Not the worst science fiction I've read, but certainly not the best.
That said, I am rating this two stars since I think the idea has merit. Not the worst science fiction I've read, but certainly not the best.
February 1, 2020
INTRODUCTION
What a thrill to experience the world of The Chaos Function, and the incredible mind of Jack Skillingstead. I first read this powerful science fiction novel last year, but have just reread it, in order to finally write the review it deserves. I've enjoyed all of Skillingstead's science fiction stories and novels to date, but this is my new favorite. It's also up there with my appreciation of Philip K Dick's works, on paper and on screen, especially the gripping Amazon series, "Man in the High Castle". I'm also a big fan of "Electric Dreams" and "Black Mirror", 2 great sci-fi TV series. Even the recent TV thriller, "The Spy", (about an Israeli spy in Syria), though it isn't sci-fi, got me thinking again about The Chaos Function, which is both sci-fi and thriller, and set (partially) in Syria. Since this is a book review, I mustn't get too carried away with comparisons to TV series, however I will say that Skillingstead's powerful descriptions cause you to feel like you're watching cinematic movie scenes. I can easily imagine this book being adapted for screen-play. (I'd love to see the CGI effects of the time travel bits!)
Skillingstead's edge-of-your-seat description pulls you in, right at the beginning and never lets you go. We're plunged straight into ravaged, war torn Syria: a setting that feels both daring and relevant for our times. It's daring to imagine such a dangerous place in our near future (the year is 2029); a place most of us have only heard horrific reports about on the news. It's also bold to tackle a place the author clearly can't have visited, yet one he brings it to life so vividly. It's also an exciting change from the usual western settings of most sci fi stories, and an excellent starting point for this mysterious, terrifying thrill-ride. The story later brings us back into America; indeed, into a nerve-wracking journey across a huge part of it. The contrast between the two seemingly disparate places gradually changes from stark to similar, as the USA lurches towards apocalypse.
WRITING STYLE & LANGUAGE:
In addition to the thrilling plot, what I deeply appreciate about Skillingstead's novels, and what puts him above the average story teller, is his writing style. His use of language is satisfyingly devoid of clichés, full of realistic dialogue and cleverly descriptive, with uniquely crafted metaphors and similes that are fresh and raw; no frills, but plenty of punch.
Right from the first page, Skillingstead awakens all 5 senses immediately, with unique sights, sounds, smells, tastes + touch:
"a canvas tarp that smelled like a dead goat"
"coffee, a potent Arabic blend spiced with cardamom"
"sweat trickling from her hairline and her shirt sticking to her body"
"Olivia savored the scalding jolt of caffeine"
"trousers whisking up dust"
The heat of Aleppo is described often, throughout the first few chapters, with sensory imagery to reinforce its oppressiveness. I almost started feeling out of breath and sweaty just sitting and reading! To my satisfaction, this vivid sensory description is continued throughout the book, crescendoing right up until the shattering, climactic ending.
CHARACTERS:
The author's characters are refreshingly real, believable and endearing. From the beginning, I'm immediately fond of the protagonist, Olivia. Though more and more sci-fi books in recent times do have strong female characters, it still feels refreshing to have a strong female protagonist here. Her authenticity struck me with simple small details, such as having to adjust her chafing bra strap in the sticky heat; the mention of "bra strap" being refreshingly unsexy and designed, not to titilate, but simply to highlight the oppressive heat. She is a hero who happens to be female, not an overly feminine, sexualized "heroine".
Brian is her opposite in satisfying ways; the optimist to her pessimism, the hopefulness to her cynicism, and yet, although he's lovable, he's still believable and not without realistic flaws. Their relationship is authentic and one that you root for.
Rohanna, Olivia's step-mother, even though a less major character, is another believable female character, as is Olivia's strained relationship with her. Dee and Toria are also strong female characters, Dee especially being a pioneering figure in the male-dominated, misogynistic "Society" she's in. We meet a host of other strong characters: a balance of male and female, old and young. All incredibly real.
SCIENCE FICTION ELEMENTS:
The author's sci fi imagination is amazing (in the true sense of the word), and, like all successful sci fi writers, completely believable. In addition to the big, mind-blowing concepts (such as the probability machine) Skillingstead inserts smaller, fascinating objects into the setting, such as "personal tech sunglasses", self-driving cabs, "3D chat-windows" popping up from tablets and phones: things not too far removed from our current world, painting a realistic portrait of this future world, withminutely vivid detail:
"the round lens on the left side of her glasses possessed a polychromatic shimmer, indicating personal technology"
"a 3D chat window opened, like a little box holding her editor's head."
"the tiny rendering of her head, no bigger than a mouse's head, seeming to come off the tablet."
"her phone started bleeping and a chat request spun over the device like a silver coin."
"Olivia... finger-flicked the spinning icon. After a brief twinkle of instability, the spinning coin ballooned into a virtual bubble the size of a coaster. The bubble contained the image of Helen's head."
"The woman... was staring at her phone when a red holo-projected NewZalert exclamation mark jumped out of it and jiggled as if attached to a tiny spring."
PHILOSOPHICAL THEMES:
(Warning: Some small spoilers ahead)
Death and Life:
All the way through the book, images of bleakness and destruction are juxtaposed with brave signs of new life. Right at the beginning, Habib, the café owner, has set up a meager, improvised "cafe" among the ruins. Next we see a cat and a little girl pursuing it, "under a slab of broken concrete": both the epitome of sweetness and innocence, contrasted against the horror of destruction. It's "death and life", side by side, as the title of the first part of the book suggests. (And the fact that the word "death" is first in this title is significant. It's death first, followed by life, not the other way around.) The struggle for death and life is apparent everywhere throughout the book, but no more painfully thanwith Olivia's biggest struggle: - the horror of discovering she has (apparent) control over Brian's death or life.
Chaos and Order:
The Chaos Function - The title of the book itself, is an oxymoron, a paradox: "Chaos" and "function" - these two words side by side are opposed to each other. "Chaos" suggests destruction, meaninglessness and disorder; "function" suggests creation, meaning and order. The whole book is an exploration of these two opposing sides of life, of humanity, of the world. Chaos and order. Chaos theory in science asks the age old question: - are we here because of a random coincidence, or are we here because of an underlying purpose? Does everything which appears random and chaotic actually have an ordered, calculable pattern?
In this book, we're introduced to a man-made probability machine, whose main function (tweaking the past to choose a new future path), seems to cause nothing but chaos, especially in the wrong hands. It is a powerful tool to play with the butterfly effect, i.e. making small changes in the past (or present) to cause large-scale repercussions in the future: - These changes need not be intrinsically negative or positive, but, as we see, without proper control, they are often dangerously unpredictable.
And this juxtaposition between chaos and order is one of the biggest ironies of this story, and of humanity in general. It not only reflects our world today, it reflects the entire history of humanity. The machine was made for seizing power and order; for man (and specifically "man", as opposed to "woman", as we learn more about the misogynistic "Society" that created it) to take control of the future and therefore the world. Much like guns or bombs. Much like any weapons of war and destruction. The hunger for power, control and order, which man has pursued, and still pursues today, even if originally intending for good, leads ultimately to chaos, death and destruction. After which, the humans that are left have to rebuild, reconstruct and restore life again. Humans become functional again, creating meaning and peaceful order in the world, but, after they've rebuilt and restored, they once again pursue power and control, which once again leads to death and destruction... And the cycle continues. Not a very optimistic outlook for humanity, but one (we hope) that we might try to learn from, if there's any hope of ever breaking this cycle. (Or maybe this cycle is just a pattern in the universe that we have no choice but to live with?)
Inner and Outer Conflict:
Early on, we're introduced to another of the books biggest themes: - the side by side comparison between two "hazardous territories" - the outer world and Olivia's inner world. Jodee was her "escort into the Old City of Aleppo"... Brian was her "escort into a different kind of hazardous territory; a relationship impervious to her usual strategies of detachment..." Olivia's heart is described as a "door," which Brian, like a "pushy salesman, had wedged his foot in the gap when she tried to slam it in his face."The whole book reflects on this theme, the mirroring of these two things: Olivia's inner emotional conflict and the outer world of conflict and war. Both of which lead to tragedy, but ultimately, the book shows us how humans survive tragedy, overcome grief, and keep living and moving on. As the APC man says at the end, "In Aleppo, we have a proverb... The act of destruction is the beginning of restoration." (But again, the book asks, can we break this cycle?)
Power and Control:
Going further with my discussion of order, power and control,and mankind's eternal desire to pursue it, Skillingstead deeply examines this theme through the metaphor of cracking open a DOOR. He illustrates this with THREE things that are compared and connected:
WARNING - BIG SPOILERS AHEAD:
1) The metaphorical door into Olivia's heart is cracked open by Brian, with dangerous possibilities of love and hurt inside. The book shows Olivia's courageous journey towards allowing this door to be opened and stay open. She finally allows herself to fully love Brian, even though this brings pain and grief. Then, at the very end, she finally allows herself to let her step-mother "inside", to comfort her, even though this brings more pain and grief, as she finally has to accept the loss of her birth mother (and father). Though quiet and subtle, this intimate moment becomes Olivia's last act of heroism, and a deeply satisfying epilogue after the climactic ending.
2) Actual doors into seemingly impenetrable and dangerous areas are continuously opened for Olivia, sometimes mysteriously, sometimes because of her courage, boldness and determination.
Firstly, the gate into the Old City of Aleppo, off limits to journalists, is penetrated for Olivia, by Jodee Abadi, one of the many Syrian connections she's made as a courageous journalist. Then, the door to the sacred, ancient madrassa, the fateful place she is drawn to, the secret location of the probability machine, is already mysteriously open when she first finds it, almost as if inviting her in. At first, this place provides a shelter to hide with the injured Brian, but then it becomes the place where her life, her future, and that of the world change dangerously and dramatically.
Later, the door to the male dominated "Sanctuary", (the home of the secret "Society" that controls the probability machine), is opened to Olivia, albeit against her will when she is taken there as a hostage.Then, in a desperate attempt to find a vaccine for the small pox virus, Olivia attempts to crack open the door to a mysterious, locked shed or bunker, where a fugitive, who supposedly has the real vaccine, is hiding. Thanks to her determination, after establishing contact with the man, she is successful in getting him to open the vault-like door to her.
3) The metaphorical door into the future (the link), which is buried in her brain, connecting her to the probability machine, enables her to crack open multiples doors into the future... Olivia is able to enter these doors, tweak the past and change the pathways of the future. As she gradually learns how to use this machine, through the link in her head, she gradually learns about control and lack of control, in the face of infinite probabilities, which threatens to overwhelm her and destroy the world. At first, following only her natural human selfish desires, she only causes more and more chaos and destruction...
As she struggles to find the most morally correct, most ethical pathway to the future, she discovers in the end that she can't be selfish and choose the most "ideal" pathway (i.e. the one where Brian lives) but in fact has to sacrifice her own love, and choose the least ideal pathway: - the one that means Brian's death and her own personal loss, but the one that spares the world and humanity from the apocalypse. It's a sacrifice of the individual for the greater good of the many. It's what the "Society" has been trying to tell her all along, but something she had to learn for herself. (Which makes us speculate on the motives of the Society: maybe the probability machine was originally created for "the greater good", as Jacob told her early on, but, in the wrong hands it could easily become a tool for over-reaching power and corruption.)
In making her personal sacrifice, Olivia discovers a way forward, a way to overcome her grief, and a way to move on with her life. It's called "letting go": - the exact opposite of seeking control. Man sought to control the world with the probability machine; Olivia sought to control it too, in order to save Brian. But, in learning to let go and accept the only real path forward, without Brian, she learns to survive, live and move on.
It's appropriate that the one door which has to be closed: the door to the future, is closed by Olivia's choice to destroy the probability machine. Having destroyed it, she guarantees that mankind will have no more control over the future (at least through this dangerous tool), no more temptation and corruption with the over-reaching power that this tool afforded a chosen few.
We are left with the hope that, with the door to her heart now open, however, she may be rewarded in the not-too-distant future, by a new, and we hope, lasting love. If Olivia has broken the cycle of destruction, maybe we can too... that's the hope for humanity.
What a thrill to experience the world of The Chaos Function, and the incredible mind of Jack Skillingstead. I first read this powerful science fiction novel last year, but have just reread it, in order to finally write the review it deserves. I've enjoyed all of Skillingstead's science fiction stories and novels to date, but this is my new favorite. It's also up there with my appreciation of Philip K Dick's works, on paper and on screen, especially the gripping Amazon series, "Man in the High Castle". I'm also a big fan of "Electric Dreams" and "Black Mirror", 2 great sci-fi TV series. Even the recent TV thriller, "The Spy", (about an Israeli spy in Syria), though it isn't sci-fi, got me thinking again about The Chaos Function, which is both sci-fi and thriller, and set (partially) in Syria. Since this is a book review, I mustn't get too carried away with comparisons to TV series, however I will say that Skillingstead's powerful descriptions cause you to feel like you're watching cinematic movie scenes. I can easily imagine this book being adapted for screen-play. (I'd love to see the CGI effects of the time travel bits!)
Skillingstead's edge-of-your-seat description pulls you in, right at the beginning and never lets you go. We're plunged straight into ravaged, war torn Syria: a setting that feels both daring and relevant for our times. It's daring to imagine such a dangerous place in our near future (the year is 2029); a place most of us have only heard horrific reports about on the news. It's also bold to tackle a place the author clearly can't have visited, yet one he brings it to life so vividly. It's also an exciting change from the usual western settings of most sci fi stories, and an excellent starting point for this mysterious, terrifying thrill-ride. The story later brings us back into America; indeed, into a nerve-wracking journey across a huge part of it. The contrast between the two seemingly disparate places gradually changes from stark to similar, as the USA lurches towards apocalypse.
WRITING STYLE & LANGUAGE:
In addition to the thrilling plot, what I deeply appreciate about Skillingstead's novels, and what puts him above the average story teller, is his writing style. His use of language is satisfyingly devoid of clichés, full of realistic dialogue and cleverly descriptive, with uniquely crafted metaphors and similes that are fresh and raw; no frills, but plenty of punch.
Right from the first page, Skillingstead awakens all 5 senses immediately, with unique sights, sounds, smells, tastes + touch:
"a canvas tarp that smelled like a dead goat"
"coffee, a potent Arabic blend spiced with cardamom"
"sweat trickling from her hairline and her shirt sticking to her body"
"Olivia savored the scalding jolt of caffeine"
"trousers whisking up dust"
The heat of Aleppo is described often, throughout the first few chapters, with sensory imagery to reinforce its oppressiveness. I almost started feeling out of breath and sweaty just sitting and reading! To my satisfaction, this vivid sensory description is continued throughout the book, crescendoing right up until the shattering, climactic ending.
CHARACTERS:
The author's characters are refreshingly real, believable and endearing. From the beginning, I'm immediately fond of the protagonist, Olivia. Though more and more sci-fi books in recent times do have strong female characters, it still feels refreshing to have a strong female protagonist here. Her authenticity struck me with simple small details, such as having to adjust her chafing bra strap in the sticky heat; the mention of "bra strap" being refreshingly unsexy and designed, not to titilate, but simply to highlight the oppressive heat. She is a hero who happens to be female, not an overly feminine, sexualized "heroine".
Brian is her opposite in satisfying ways; the optimist to her pessimism, the hopefulness to her cynicism, and yet, although he's lovable, he's still believable and not without realistic flaws. Their relationship is authentic and one that you root for.
Rohanna, Olivia's step-mother, even though a less major character, is another believable female character, as is Olivia's strained relationship with her. Dee and Toria are also strong female characters, Dee especially being a pioneering figure in the male-dominated, misogynistic "Society" she's in. We meet a host of other strong characters: a balance of male and female, old and young. All incredibly real.
SCIENCE FICTION ELEMENTS:
The author's sci fi imagination is amazing (in the true sense of the word), and, like all successful sci fi writers, completely believable. In addition to the big, mind-blowing concepts (such as the probability machine) Skillingstead inserts smaller, fascinating objects into the setting, such as "personal tech sunglasses", self-driving cabs, "3D chat-windows" popping up from tablets and phones: things not too far removed from our current world, painting a realistic portrait of this future world, withminutely vivid detail:
"the round lens on the left side of her glasses possessed a polychromatic shimmer, indicating personal technology"
"a 3D chat window opened, like a little box holding her editor's head."
"the tiny rendering of her head, no bigger than a mouse's head, seeming to come off the tablet."
"her phone started bleeping and a chat request spun over the device like a silver coin."
"Olivia... finger-flicked the spinning icon. After a brief twinkle of instability, the spinning coin ballooned into a virtual bubble the size of a coaster. The bubble contained the image of Helen's head."
"The woman... was staring at her phone when a red holo-projected NewZalert exclamation mark jumped out of it and jiggled as if attached to a tiny spring."
PHILOSOPHICAL THEMES:
(Warning: Some small spoilers ahead)
Death and Life:
All the way through the book, images of bleakness and destruction are juxtaposed with brave signs of new life. Right at the beginning, Habib, the café owner, has set up a meager, improvised "cafe" among the ruins. Next we see a cat and a little girl pursuing it, "under a slab of broken concrete": both the epitome of sweetness and innocence, contrasted against the horror of destruction. It's "death and life", side by side, as the title of the first part of the book suggests. (And the fact that the word "death" is first in this title is significant. It's death first, followed by life, not the other way around.) The struggle for death and life is apparent everywhere throughout the book, but no more painfully thanwith Olivia's biggest struggle: - the horror of discovering she has (apparent) control over Brian's death or life.
Chaos and Order:
The Chaos Function - The title of the book itself, is an oxymoron, a paradox: "Chaos" and "function" - these two words side by side are opposed to each other. "Chaos" suggests destruction, meaninglessness and disorder; "function" suggests creation, meaning and order. The whole book is an exploration of these two opposing sides of life, of humanity, of the world. Chaos and order. Chaos theory in science asks the age old question: - are we here because of a random coincidence, or are we here because of an underlying purpose? Does everything which appears random and chaotic actually have an ordered, calculable pattern?
In this book, we're introduced to a man-made probability machine, whose main function (tweaking the past to choose a new future path), seems to cause nothing but chaos, especially in the wrong hands. It is a powerful tool to play with the butterfly effect, i.e. making small changes in the past (or present) to cause large-scale repercussions in the future: - These changes need not be intrinsically negative or positive, but, as we see, without proper control, they are often dangerously unpredictable.
And this juxtaposition between chaos and order is one of the biggest ironies of this story, and of humanity in general. It not only reflects our world today, it reflects the entire history of humanity. The machine was made for seizing power and order; for man (and specifically "man", as opposed to "woman", as we learn more about the misogynistic "Society" that created it) to take control of the future and therefore the world. Much like guns or bombs. Much like any weapons of war and destruction. The hunger for power, control and order, which man has pursued, and still pursues today, even if originally intending for good, leads ultimately to chaos, death and destruction. After which, the humans that are left have to rebuild, reconstruct and restore life again. Humans become functional again, creating meaning and peaceful order in the world, but, after they've rebuilt and restored, they once again pursue power and control, which once again leads to death and destruction... And the cycle continues. Not a very optimistic outlook for humanity, but one (we hope) that we might try to learn from, if there's any hope of ever breaking this cycle. (Or maybe this cycle is just a pattern in the universe that we have no choice but to live with?)
Inner and Outer Conflict:
Early on, we're introduced to another of the books biggest themes: - the side by side comparison between two "hazardous territories" - the outer world and Olivia's inner world. Jodee was her "escort into the Old City of Aleppo"... Brian was her "escort into a different kind of hazardous territory; a relationship impervious to her usual strategies of detachment..." Olivia's heart is described as a "door," which Brian, like a "pushy salesman, had wedged his foot in the gap when she tried to slam it in his face."The whole book reflects on this theme, the mirroring of these two things: Olivia's inner emotional conflict and the outer world of conflict and war. Both of which lead to tragedy, but ultimately, the book shows us how humans survive tragedy, overcome grief, and keep living and moving on. As the APC man says at the end, "In Aleppo, we have a proverb... The act of destruction is the beginning of restoration." (But again, the book asks, can we break this cycle?)
Power and Control:
Going further with my discussion of order, power and control,and mankind's eternal desire to pursue it, Skillingstead deeply examines this theme through the metaphor of cracking open a DOOR. He illustrates this with THREE things that are compared and connected:
WARNING - BIG SPOILERS AHEAD:
1) The metaphorical door into Olivia's heart is cracked open by Brian, with dangerous possibilities of love and hurt inside. The book shows Olivia's courageous journey towards allowing this door to be opened and stay open. She finally allows herself to fully love Brian, even though this brings pain and grief. Then, at the very end, she finally allows herself to let her step-mother "inside", to comfort her, even though this brings more pain and grief, as she finally has to accept the loss of her birth mother (and father). Though quiet and subtle, this intimate moment becomes Olivia's last act of heroism, and a deeply satisfying epilogue after the climactic ending.
2) Actual doors into seemingly impenetrable and dangerous areas are continuously opened for Olivia, sometimes mysteriously, sometimes because of her courage, boldness and determination.
Firstly, the gate into the Old City of Aleppo, off limits to journalists, is penetrated for Olivia, by Jodee Abadi, one of the many Syrian connections she's made as a courageous journalist. Then, the door to the sacred, ancient madrassa, the fateful place she is drawn to, the secret location of the probability machine, is already mysteriously open when she first finds it, almost as if inviting her in. At first, this place provides a shelter to hide with the injured Brian, but then it becomes the place where her life, her future, and that of the world change dangerously and dramatically.
Later, the door to the male dominated "Sanctuary", (the home of the secret "Society" that controls the probability machine), is opened to Olivia, albeit against her will when she is taken there as a hostage.Then, in a desperate attempt to find a vaccine for the small pox virus, Olivia attempts to crack open the door to a mysterious, locked shed or bunker, where a fugitive, who supposedly has the real vaccine, is hiding. Thanks to her determination, after establishing contact with the man, she is successful in getting him to open the vault-like door to her.
3) The metaphorical door into the future (the link), which is buried in her brain, connecting her to the probability machine, enables her to crack open multiples doors into the future... Olivia is able to enter these doors, tweak the past and change the pathways of the future. As she gradually learns how to use this machine, through the link in her head, she gradually learns about control and lack of control, in the face of infinite probabilities, which threatens to overwhelm her and destroy the world. At first, following only her natural human selfish desires, she only causes more and more chaos and destruction...
As she struggles to find the most morally correct, most ethical pathway to the future, she discovers in the end that she can't be selfish and choose the most "ideal" pathway (i.e. the one where Brian lives) but in fact has to sacrifice her own love, and choose the least ideal pathway: - the one that means Brian's death and her own personal loss, but the one that spares the world and humanity from the apocalypse. It's a sacrifice of the individual for the greater good of the many. It's what the "Society" has been trying to tell her all along, but something she had to learn for herself. (Which makes us speculate on the motives of the Society: maybe the probability machine was originally created for "the greater good", as Jacob told her early on, but, in the wrong hands it could easily become a tool for over-reaching power and corruption.)
In making her personal sacrifice, Olivia discovers a way forward, a way to overcome her grief, and a way to move on with her life. It's called "letting go": - the exact opposite of seeking control. Man sought to control the world with the probability machine; Olivia sought to control it too, in order to save Brian. But, in learning to let go and accept the only real path forward, without Brian, she learns to survive, live and move on.
It's appropriate that the one door which has to be closed: the door to the future, is closed by Olivia's choice to destroy the probability machine. Having destroyed it, she guarantees that mankind will have no more control over the future (at least through this dangerous tool), no more temptation and corruption with the over-reaching power that this tool afforded a chosen few.
We are left with the hope that, with the door to her heart now open, however, she may be rewarded in the not-too-distant future, by a new, and we hope, lasting love. If Olivia has broken the cycle of destruction, maybe we can too... that's the hope for humanity.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
July 18, 2019
Nice exploration of alternate universes, with important constraints. If you could control critical decision points to aim for desirable futures, but every choice is unattractive and all but the most unattractive lead to disastrous futures, what would you do? I liked this book but I had a hard time with some of the actions of the characters. Most of it made sense but there were a few times I couldn't understand why a character made the choices or acted they way they did. It was clearly in service to advancing the action or the plot, and that sort of spoils the immersion in the world of the book. Don't let that scare you off, this is a decent read.
April 13, 2019
The writing in Jack Skillingstead's 2019 novel "The Chaos Function" isn't bad (it's actually pretty good). I just couldn't stand the protagonist. I managed to get to the 35% point where people show the protagonist she has a certain important ability. But, she just flat out denies it and doesn't want to learn about it. I can't even relate to that. So, I stopped reading. I'm rating the book at a Not Very Good 2 stars out of 5. But, if you're more forgiving of protagonist stupidity than I am, you might give it a try from the library.
March 16, 2019
This just may not of been my thing, it was a little hard for me to get into.
December 23, 2023
Olivia is a war zone reporter. As she and her friends are checking out a landmark for war crimes both of her friends are shot. Jodee is dead, she and Brian into a building and he bleeds out. She bumps into a man who has been tortured. Feels a bug bite, is overwhelmed with grief, and then all of a sudden Brian is still alive. She has two sets of memories. She follows Brian back to Seattle and is soon kidnapped by some cult who think they protect the future.
Olivia finds that there is some truth to them being able to manipulate events, usually at crisis points. This new probability that she created is horrific, and it’s up to her to make it right.
Fun, action packed read. Good characters, and I really liked that Olivia uses her wits and doesn’t have to fight it out. The probabilities where the world is doomed are easier to read knowing it will most likely get fixed, but also feel a little superfluous because we’ll just start over from that crisis point. The last third of the novel didn’t have that drawback. 4.3 stars.
Olivia finds that there is some truth to them being able to manipulate events, usually at crisis points. This new probability that she created is horrific, and it’s up to her to make it right.
Fun, action packed read. Good characters, and I really liked that Olivia uses her wits and doesn’t have to fight it out. The probabilities where the world is doomed are easier to read knowing it will most likely get fixed, but also feel a little superfluous because we’ll just start over from that crisis point. The last third of the novel didn’t have that drawback. 4.3 stars.
November 29, 2018
Olivia is a hardened journalist in Aleppo, Syria when something earth shattering happens. She’s not exactly sure WHAT happened, but it literally changed reality. What follows is a gripping novel that is part thriller, part science fiction. Perfect for fans of Blake Crouch’s Dark Matter.
April 3, 2022
I bought this at the Dollar Tree and it exceeded what I expected. It was a mostly engaging read with some interesting concepts. I would pay a dollar for another book like it.
But would I pay full price at a bookstore for it? Probably not. It introduced some really great concepts, like the effects a small action can have on the future and the schism in the Sanctuary. But not enough was done or explained on these fronts to feel satisfying. I was given the first few bites of an amazing ice cream and brownie sundae and then was given a plain vanilla cone instead. I liked it but in comparison to what it could have been, I felt disappointed. World building was a flaw. I spent far too long in the book before I realized that it was a slight advanced version of our world. So slight that aside from some minor references to the technology, it wasn't even mentioned.
... Also, there is something about the fact that this took place at least half in the Middle East/Syria and most of the main characters are white and pretty well off. The feminist themes mean very little when its primarily white feminism.
But would I pay full price at a bookstore for it? Probably not. It introduced some really great concepts, like the effects a small action can have on the future and the schism in the Sanctuary. But not enough was done or explained on these fronts to feel satisfying. I was given the first few bites of an amazing ice cream and brownie sundae and then was given a plain vanilla cone instead. I liked it but in comparison to what it could have been, I felt disappointed. World building was a flaw. I spent far too long in the book before I realized that it was a slight advanced version of our world. So slight that aside from some minor references to the technology, it wasn't even mentioned.
... Also, there is something about the fact that this took place at least half in the Middle East/Syria and most of the main characters are white and pretty well off. The feminist themes mean very little when its primarily white feminism.
February 12, 2019
**I received this ARC from the publisher at NYCC**
There were only two things that kept this from being a 4 star book for me. 1) sometimes I had a hard time liking Olivia and 2) it dragged a bit at the end - there's a big build up to what she needs to do and a sense of urgency that seems to get forgotten in the last 30 pages. Other than that I thought this was a really original and interesting story. It was also a good take on the philosophical debate about sacrificing some to save many.
There were only two things that kept this from being a 4 star book for me. 1) sometimes I had a hard time liking Olivia and 2) it dragged a bit at the end - there's a big build up to what she needs to do and a sense of urgency that seems to get forgotten in the last 30 pages. Other than that I thought this was a really original and interesting story. It was also a good take on the philosophical debate about sacrificing some to save many.
March 17, 2019
Originally published at Reading Reality
There’s a quote from The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam that goes,
“The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.”
This is a story about what happens when someone has the power to lure that Moving Finger back to cancel more than half a line – but does not – as no human does – have the wisdom to determine whether that cancellation was, or was not, the right thing to do.
This book was simply a wow.
Of course, it’s also just a bit more complicated than that. Also just saying it’s a wow isn’t really an informative review – although it certainly is succinct.
At first, this seems like a near-future dystopian novel, until it isn’t. And then it is again. And then it isn’t.
Still confused? I think it’s intentional – at least on the part of the story.
Olivia is an investigative journalist chasing a story in Aleppo, Syria, just a little more than a decade from now. Her world doesn’t feel much different from ours in time, only in place. The seemingly permanent, perpetual civil war/uprising/revolution/counterinsurgency/whatever that she is covering is worlds away from the comfortable life that still very much exists back in the US.
But Olivia makes her living covering what she calls the “Disaster”. A disaster that could be anywhere, and often is – just not back home. Also a disaster that seems to be a direct consequence of actions taken in our present, as the Syrian conflict that she is covering is the war to overthrow Assad, which has its roots in our now.
She’s attempting to cover violations of the current, tentative peace agreement when she, her guide and her aid worker-lover get caught in the crossfire – and the world changes.
And changes again. And again. And it’s all Olivia’s fault… Really, it is.
Brian is killed in that crossfire, and Olivia finds herself in the basement of the building she was trying to investigate, his blood still on her hands, when she finds an old man who has been tortured taking his last breaths. Something jumps from his corpse to her living body, and burrows itself into her brain.
When she makes a wish that Brian hadn’t died – he isn’t dead. But the world has changed, and not for the better.
That’s the point where things get very, very hairy. And then they get worse.
Since it’s all Olivia’s fault, it’s up to her to fix it if she can. Because the needs of the many really do outweigh the needs of the few or of the one – even if that one is someone she loves.
Escape Rating A+: This is still a wow.
I believe that the reason this is such a wow is that there are multiple ways to look at the story, all of them equally valid – as they should be. This is, after all, a story about the butterfly effect – for a butterfly with extremely large wings.
From the very beginning, I saw multiple connections to this story. Something about the atmosphere in war-torn Aleppo recalled for me the atmosphere of The Children of Men by P.D. James. The stories aren’t actually alike, but the worlds felt similar.
Once Olivia discovers her ability to change the future, the way that it worked was extremely similar to Ia’s ability in the military SF series Theirs Not to Reason Why. Like Ia, Olivia is trying to find the best of all possible outcomes, no matter how slim a chance it is, and make it happen. The difference is that Ia knows how to use her power, and Olivia most definitely does not.
But it’s the different, and all equally awful, portraits of the way that the world goes mad that push the story forward at breakneck speed. Each of Olivia’s attempts to save Brian results in greater and greater disasters. A weaponized smallpox epidemic. Nuclear powers, blaming each other, fingers on too many triggers, wiping out each other’s major cities and food producing regions. And it gets worse from there.
(I haven’t seen the world go so far past hell in a handbasket so fast since the early books in S.M. Stirling’s Emberverse)
The source of Olivia’s new-found power throws in a cult of conspiracy theorists as well as a chase around the world. The ability to control the future is a power that has been closely guarded – and extremely contested – for centuries. And no one’s vision of “better” remotely resembles anyone else’s.
But there’s a reason why I started with Omar Khayyam and ended with Spock. Because the story in The Chaos Function is also, writ large and with even more deadly consequences, the story of the classic Star Trek episode The City on the Edge of Forever. And the ending is just as necessary, and just as heartbreaking.
There’s a quote from The Rubaiyat of Omar Khayyam that goes,
“The Moving Finger writes; and, having writ,
Moves on: nor all thy Piety nor Wit
Shall lure it back to cancel half a Line,
Nor all thy Tears wash out a Word of it.”
This is a story about what happens when someone has the power to lure that Moving Finger back to cancel more than half a line – but does not – as no human does – have the wisdom to determine whether that cancellation was, or was not, the right thing to do.
This book was simply a wow.
Of course, it’s also just a bit more complicated than that. Also just saying it’s a wow isn’t really an informative review – although it certainly is succinct.
At first, this seems like a near-future dystopian novel, until it isn’t. And then it is again. And then it isn’t.
Still confused? I think it’s intentional – at least on the part of the story.
Olivia is an investigative journalist chasing a story in Aleppo, Syria, just a little more than a decade from now. Her world doesn’t feel much different from ours in time, only in place. The seemingly permanent, perpetual civil war/uprising/revolution/counterinsurgency/whatever that she is covering is worlds away from the comfortable life that still very much exists back in the US.
But Olivia makes her living covering what she calls the “Disaster”. A disaster that could be anywhere, and often is – just not back home. Also a disaster that seems to be a direct consequence of actions taken in our present, as the Syrian conflict that she is covering is the war to overthrow Assad, which has its roots in our now.
She’s attempting to cover violations of the current, tentative peace agreement when she, her guide and her aid worker-lover get caught in the crossfire – and the world changes.
And changes again. And again. And it’s all Olivia’s fault… Really, it is.
Brian is killed in that crossfire, and Olivia finds herself in the basement of the building she was trying to investigate, his blood still on her hands, when she finds an old man who has been tortured taking his last breaths. Something jumps from his corpse to her living body, and burrows itself into her brain.
When she makes a wish that Brian hadn’t died – he isn’t dead. But the world has changed, and not for the better.
That’s the point where things get very, very hairy. And then they get worse.
Since it’s all Olivia’s fault, it’s up to her to fix it if she can. Because the needs of the many really do outweigh the needs of the few or of the one – even if that one is someone she loves.
Escape Rating A+: This is still a wow.
I believe that the reason this is such a wow is that there are multiple ways to look at the story, all of them equally valid – as they should be. This is, after all, a story about the butterfly effect – for a butterfly with extremely large wings.
From the very beginning, I saw multiple connections to this story. Something about the atmosphere in war-torn Aleppo recalled for me the atmosphere of The Children of Men by P.D. James. The stories aren’t actually alike, but the worlds felt similar.
Once Olivia discovers her ability to change the future, the way that it worked was extremely similar to Ia’s ability in the military SF series Theirs Not to Reason Why. Like Ia, Olivia is trying to find the best of all possible outcomes, no matter how slim a chance it is, and make it happen. The difference is that Ia knows how to use her power, and Olivia most definitely does not.
But it’s the different, and all equally awful, portraits of the way that the world goes mad that push the story forward at breakneck speed. Each of Olivia’s attempts to save Brian results in greater and greater disasters. A weaponized smallpox epidemic. Nuclear powers, blaming each other, fingers on too many triggers, wiping out each other’s major cities and food producing regions. And it gets worse from there.
(I haven’t seen the world go so far past hell in a handbasket so fast since the early books in S.M. Stirling’s Emberverse)
The source of Olivia’s new-found power throws in a cult of conspiracy theorists as well as a chase around the world. The ability to control the future is a power that has been closely guarded – and extremely contested – for centuries. And no one’s vision of “better” remotely resembles anyone else’s.
But there’s a reason why I started with Omar Khayyam and ended with Spock. Because the story in The Chaos Function is also, writ large and with even more deadly consequences, the story of the classic Star Trek episode The City on the Edge of Forever. And the ending is just as necessary, and just as heartbreaking.
July 10, 2020
Spoilers below.
Jack Skillingstead is one of my five favorite writers in the world. Some of his short stories are mind-blowingly good.
This story would have been far better as a short story. In fact I suspect it started that way and he decided to add some filler to make it into a book.
I read the book to the bitter end and pretty much everything was exactly as expected. The tropes were everywhere and they were not well-done. The plucky gritty reporter woman who plays by her own rules? Check. The woman who has been hurt and vows never to love again but then falls for someone and that love causes problems? Check.
There was so much about this book that was just not well-thought-out. If Jack ever reads this I suspect he would grudgingly agree. The romance between Olivia and Brian was completely flat. There were zero sparks. Maybe two kisses the entire book. And we are supposed to believe that when she has to choose between letting hundreds of millions of people die and one semi-boyfriend die she is agonizing over the decision? Puh-lease. That was completely unrealistic and it had nothing to do with science -- that's just basic character development.
On the science side, I can put up with plenty of hand-waving but the conceit of having her "coincidentally" be in Brian's parents house in an alternative future is just dumb. She used the machine, passed out, and woke up exactly where she would have been in an alternate timeline? No.
And in the original timeline her "love" gets shot and his lips are immediately cold and clammy seconds later, in a sweltering hot underground bunker? That just feels lazy.
The characters were so flat I could use them to wrap sandwiches. Nobody much mattered or had anything interesting about them. They all seemed like NPCs (non-player characters) in a video game.
Looking back at the 5 star reviews of this book it seems pretty clear many of them are fake, probably written by the publisher. " JS has done it again, bigger and better but still alive and vibrant" -- yeah right.
I see another one that says "Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for an early look at this fantastic book."
Jack Skillingstead is one of my five favorite writers in the world. Some of his short stories are mind-blowingly good.
This story would have been far better as a short story. In fact I suspect it started that way and he decided to add some filler to make it into a book.
I read the book to the bitter end and pretty much everything was exactly as expected. The tropes were everywhere and they were not well-done. The plucky gritty reporter woman who plays by her own rules? Check. The woman who has been hurt and vows never to love again but then falls for someone and that love causes problems? Check.
There was so much about this book that was just not well-thought-out. If Jack ever reads this I suspect he would grudgingly agree. The romance between Olivia and Brian was completely flat. There were zero sparks. Maybe two kisses the entire book. And we are supposed to believe that when she has to choose between letting hundreds of millions of people die and one semi-boyfriend die she is agonizing over the decision? Puh-lease. That was completely unrealistic and it had nothing to do with science -- that's just basic character development.
On the science side, I can put up with plenty of hand-waving but the conceit of having her "coincidentally" be in Brian's parents house in an alternative future is just dumb. She used the machine, passed out, and woke up exactly where she would have been in an alternate timeline? No.
And in the original timeline her "love" gets shot and his lips are immediately cold and clammy seconds later, in a sweltering hot underground bunker? That just feels lazy.
The characters were so flat I could use them to wrap sandwiches. Nobody much mattered or had anything interesting about them. They all seemed like NPCs (non-player characters) in a video game.
Looking back at the 5 star reviews of this book it seems pretty clear many of them are fake, probably written by the publisher. " JS has done it again, bigger and better but still alive and vibrant" -- yeah right.
I see another one that says "Thank you to Houghton Mifflin Harcourt for an early look at this fantastic book."
November 8, 2023
Olivia Nikitas is a seasoned investigative reporter and war correspondent, despite her youth. While taking shelter in the Syrian city of Aleppo she stumbles across a torture scene, where an elderly man is dying and her newly-attached boyfriend Brian Anker, has been fatally wounded, and dies in her arms. As the old man dies however, a sudden halo of light enters her mind and the world ripples. Suddenly Brian is just wounded, the dying man is gone and there are other changes in the world. Not least being the release of weaponized anthrax in a global terror campaign! Thus starts Jack Skillingstead’s gripping future thriller where a probability machine from the future has selected a new operator in Olivia, who must learn to unravel the threads of causality in a desperate attempt to change reality for the better. Back in the U.S. Olivia is abducted by members of the secretive Shepherds who have been altering timelines since the early Christian era, and who are in a power struggle for control of the halo. Olivia has altered timelines by saving Brian, and now nuclear war has been unleashed. It seems the only way for the world to be brought back into balance is for Brian to have died back in Aleppo. But Clotho is seldom that easy to thwart. A real page-turner, this fine entry into the time travel and apocalyptic SF genres (with a 12 Monkeys feel) is RECOMMENDED.
May 31, 2019
This is a hot blast of mind-bending science fiction based around the theory of alternate realities. Olivia Nikitas is a tough-minded journalist in Aleppo embedded with the Syrian rebels in 2029 when she hears the story of a torture chamber located under a school in the Old City. Making her way there with two friends to investigate, they are caught in a firefight and her friends die. But something happens, and Olivia suddenly finds that she has two memories of the same event, and in the second memory she has chosen the reality in which her friends live. It turns out that she now has access to a "probability machine" and has the ability to change certain "crisis points". But by choosing the reality where her two friends live, she has irrevocably altered the future of the world. Author Jack Skillingstead jumps into The Chaos Function with both feet, imaging nightmare scenarios of weaponized smallpox, opportunistic North Korean nuclear weapons attacks, and a machine from the future sent to the distant past to function as a weapon by a shadowy society of manipulators. And as Olivia accesses the probability machine again and again to try and change the damage she has caused by her previous efforts, any reader of this is taken on quite a trip.
August 20, 2019
I would give this book 4.5 stars. Currently I have been reading in spurts....hard to find time to do a long relaxing deep dive into a book. This book held my attention and I felt connected to the story line even after having to put it down multiple times. That adds a plus for me right now.
The story is described as a thriller....a science fiction story built upon a theme that spirals rapidly towards the world possibly coming to an end if the right choices are not made. What stood out to me however was not the thriller aspect the story brings to the table, though as I stated it held my attention very well. What I appreciated is that the author was able to flesh out an emotional connection to the main character, Olivia, as she sorts out her relationship to the people who are important to her in her life. Her love for others is nuanced, and not brought home to the reader with the use of an obvious externalized passion but rather with the more subtle internal dialogue that happens when people ponder their feelings and relationships. This allows the reader to share the emotions....and that doesn't seem to happen often in science fiction.
The story is described as a thriller....a science fiction story built upon a theme that spirals rapidly towards the world possibly coming to an end if the right choices are not made. What stood out to me however was not the thriller aspect the story brings to the table, though as I stated it held my attention very well. What I appreciated is that the author was able to flesh out an emotional connection to the main character, Olivia, as she sorts out her relationship to the people who are important to her in her life. Her love for others is nuanced, and not brought home to the reader with the use of an obvious externalized passion but rather with the more subtle internal dialogue that happens when people ponder their feelings and relationships. This allows the reader to share the emotions....and that doesn't seem to happen often in science fiction.
June 14, 2019
Good sci-fi, good story. Interesting concept, fun to read, likable characters.
Initially I was rolling my eyes, because of the romance plot with our leading lady and her boyfriend. I was pleasantly surprised as I kept reading, though.
This book does a pretty good job of staying away from many of the female-in-sci-fi stereotypes, which I appreciated. Our leading lady is smart and talented, and she uses her skills to solve the problem in the story. There's no "waiting around for a man to save her". This book also avoided a lot of "male gaze" issues I see very often in sci fi (describing only the female characters appearance, or only their attractive features, or only describing men as "powerful, strong, tough" and women as "super duper hot but she doesn't know she's hot, isn't that hot?", or every single woman being super-model-gorgeous and never shutting up about it).
My only "complaint" (if you can even call it that) is with the writing style. Some themes in the book became very repetitive.
Initially I was rolling my eyes, because of the romance plot with our leading lady and her boyfriend. I was pleasantly surprised as I kept reading, though.
This book does a pretty good job of staying away from many of the female-in-sci-fi stereotypes, which I appreciated. Our leading lady is smart and talented, and she uses her skills to solve the problem in the story. There's no "waiting around for a man to save her". This book also avoided a lot of "male gaze" issues I see very often in sci fi (describing only the female characters appearance, or only their attractive features, or only describing men as "powerful, strong, tough" and women as "super duper hot but she doesn't know she's hot, isn't that hot?", or every single woman being super-model-gorgeous and never shutting up about it).
My only "complaint" (if you can even call it that) is with the writing style. Some themes in the book became very repetitive.
July 1, 2019
Olivia Nikitas has finally let someone into her heart. It was not intentional, but somehow, Brian worked his way in. Ever since the death of her mother and then, not much later, of her father, she has made sure that she has a barrier in place. She could not afford to love, again. She could not endure that pain, again. And there had been no one, until Brian.
As a reporter, Olivia covers the civil war in Aleppo, Syria. When Brian follows her into a ruined, ancient sacred site, he is killed. Something happens to her, there, too, something that is difficult to believe. She receives mysterious and ancient powers that could allow her to save Brian, but only by risking the entire human race!
This is an interesting futuristic story. It has it all. It is filled with action, imagination, and love. The character development is good, making the story more intriguing.
I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
As a reporter, Olivia covers the civil war in Aleppo, Syria. When Brian follows her into a ruined, ancient sacred site, he is killed. Something happens to her, there, too, something that is difficult to believe. She receives mysterious and ancient powers that could allow her to save Brian, but only by risking the entire human race!
This is an interesting futuristic story. It has it all. It is filled with action, imagination, and love. The character development is good, making the story more intriguing.
I was given a free copy of this book in exchange for an unbiased review.
June 2, 2024
A probability machine from the future is brought into the present (and past) and our unwilling hero, Olivia - a reporter from Seattle - winds up linked to it, after it's current shepherd is killed in Aleppo, Syria. But her boyfriend, Brian, is killed as well, and she will do anything to change the past and bring him back. The story unwinds as she learns more about the probability machine, how to use it, and who sent it from the future. She changes things and makes it worse. Now what? Change it again? But she doesn't know what she is doing, and needs help.
We get a host of secondary characters that help or hinder her to fix things. Olivia also goes through her own personal disaster as she deals with letting people into her life, or forcing them away as she's always done.
I recommend the book - for me a 4 star rating means is very good, but it's not a book I would read again. Those are my 5 stars.
If you like apocalyptic fiction, you'll love this one.
We get a host of secondary characters that help or hinder her to fix things. Olivia also goes through her own personal disaster as she deals with letting people into her life, or forcing them away as she's always done.
I recommend the book - for me a 4 star rating means is very good, but it's not a book I would read again. Those are my 5 stars.
If you like apocalyptic fiction, you'll love this one.
October 16, 2018
I wasn’t sure what to expect going into this book, but I couldn’t put it down and finished it in just two days.
The story moves along at a very quick pace with no “wasted scenes” — every scene propels the action forward. There were some choices that I couldn’t quite get behind, but nothing that was out of character or felt like the invisible hand of the author guiding the plot, so I chalk the illogical choices up to the characters making rash decisions in a high-stakes scenario.
This book is high-concept science fiction that reads like a page-turning thriller, and could serve as a great introduction to sci-fi for those reluctant readers out there.
Bonus points to the author, Jack Slillingstead, a man who also achieves the very tricky balance of creating and writing a believable female lead character.
The story moves along at a very quick pace with no “wasted scenes” — every scene propels the action forward. There were some choices that I couldn’t quite get behind, but nothing that was out of character or felt like the invisible hand of the author guiding the plot, so I chalk the illogical choices up to the characters making rash decisions in a high-stakes scenario.
This book is high-concept science fiction that reads like a page-turning thriller, and could serve as a great introduction to sci-fi for those reluctant readers out there.
Bonus points to the author, Jack Slillingstead, a man who also achieves the very tricky balance of creating and writing a believable female lead character.
April 2, 2019
This is a very good SF thriller that combines quantum mechanic strangeness with war zone action. A real page-turner.
Syria, 2029. Still a war zone. A war reporter stumbles into a secret society that has the ability to affect probability and change the timeline. She accidentally acquires this power, and the secret society is after her while she figures out whether and how to change things.
It's a story of love, loss, and the need to reconcile ourselves to wrenching loss that can't be avoided or denied.
Fundamentally, the plot is a neat exploration of the Trolley Problem and the Butterfly Effect, if the Trolley Problem included someone you love, and the Butterfly Effect was wildly unpredictable with catastrophic consequences. A neat thought experiment combined with thriller-style pacing. Very well done.
Syria, 2029. Still a war zone. A war reporter stumbles into a secret society that has the ability to affect probability and change the timeline. She accidentally acquires this power, and the secret society is after her while she figures out whether and how to change things.
It's a story of love, loss, and the need to reconcile ourselves to wrenching loss that can't be avoided or denied.
Fundamentally, the plot is a neat exploration of the Trolley Problem and the Butterfly Effect, if the Trolley Problem included someone you love, and the Butterfly Effect was wildly unpredictable with catastrophic consequences. A neat thought experiment combined with thriller-style pacing. Very well done.
June 2, 2019
The Chaos Function is an expertly crafted journey through the apocalypse, barreling down a winding road of terrifyingly real possibilities. What starts as a typical war reporter story becomes so much more, revealing a technology with a long and questionable history that defies understanding. Skillingstead presents us with a protagonist who is an expert at questioning the world, creating a sharp canvas for this compelling sci-fi tale. I was entranced from the start by the writing and by the brilliant plot twists that lead to a number of startling advances. It’s science fiction meets alternate history meets apocalypse, and you won’t be able to put it down until you’ve followed the explosive revelations to the end.
NOTE: I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.
NOTE: I was provided a free copy of this book via NetGalley in exchange for my honest, unbiased review.
March 21, 2019
I want to feel the comfort of being in a world without cracks or fissures when I read an adventure. I just finished the novel so I am still in that world with the characters that I grew to love. The realism and politics is relevant to our current time and the SF elements are well done. I am a big fan and I want JS to be successful, but here he has just hit it out of the park and totally thrilled me. This is a stand-alone novel without shared characters so it is a good way to get started with JS and when you go back and read his previous work, you will be equally thrilled. I was. Thanks for your hard work JS!!
April 2, 2019
Oh what a delightful read. I just love watching the world slowly disintegrate around the hero. Every step to correct the situation, only makes things worse in the worse way. This was just my type of read.
It started just a little slow for me, but very quickly came up to speed and was a thrill ride without brakes. I could feel the inter conflict in our hero as she desperately tries everything to believe what she is told, but then needs to still fix things for all of humanity.
This was a great GoodReads. Go get your own copy and relish every page.
It started just a little slow for me, but very quickly came up to speed and was a thrill ride without brakes. I could feel the inter conflict in our hero as she desperately tries everything to believe what she is told, but then needs to still fix things for all of humanity.
This was a great GoodReads. Go get your own copy and relish every page.
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