The Sword and Laser discussion

Hi everyone

So.... I finished the novella... And... SPOILERS (view spoiler)[I am not sure what happened? I feel so confused...

I mean, I ... I could not follow the story at all. It may have been because I am not a native speaker or because I listened to the audiobook... but... I had a real problem to remember what Blue did and what Red did - even though they had different voice actors narrating the pats and the characters came from clear distinguishable factions! I had also difficulty remembering what was letter and what was narrative and most importantly what was actually happening.

It was a very surreal, almost dream-like experience where I was enchanted by the words but not connected to the story. The language overwhelmed me and the words washed over me - and that felt really wonderful and beautiful in that moment. But I could not follow what was happening and why it was happening and how it was happening.... I backtracked multiple times and re-listened to sections but it didn't really help me to understand what the hell was going on.

To be completely honest: I could not explain what the book was about to save my life! The ending? No idea what that meant. The Time War? Nope, no clue if that even played into anything!

And I would also say I never really felt with the characters or was invested in their destiny - other than being fascinated by them and their emotions and minds and relationship...

BUT I am not really sure if I care that I don't understand?

It was one of the most unique and interesting reading/listening experiences I have ever had - but it was like a beautiful bubble and whenever I tried to grasp it, it just burst into nothing!

So... Did I win the Time War? Or did I lose it? (hide spoiler)]

Not every book will connect with every reader, so there’s nothing to fret over. This is probably someone else’s favorite, thus balancing out the world so we don’t slide off the back of the Great Turtle.

Sounds like you won, overall.

I started it, didn't get very far. The more I read of people's reactions, the more I think I should turn off my left brain as much as possible when reading it. We'll see how that goes....

You finished, so I'd consider that a win. But maybe you didn't enjoy the process of winning. That's ok. I ran a marathon once before I messed up my ankle to the point of requiring multiple surgeries. I was SO glad I finished. But there were definitely times where I had regrets. Many of them. I felt this book was a little like that for me. But not quite as physically painful.

Taking a crack at the actual plot below. Peeps, did I get it right?

(view spoiler)[
The book is the story of two agents in a multiversal war. Red works for Commandant and tries to turn individual universes or groups of universes towards technology. Blue works for Garden and tries to turn them towards an organic-life only future.

They are among the best, perhaps the best, agents for their sides. They become aware of each other through their actions, gradually realizing they are being thwarted by their counterpart on the other side - not a group, but the efforts of an exceptional person. One leaves a letter for the other, starting a cross-side exchange. They realize they personally have a lot in common although they contend for different goals.

The letters drop clues about each others' early life that gets used later in the narrative. One saves the younger-other from a wolf. (nope, I couldn't keep them straight either and I've returned the book to the library already. Probably here it's Blue saving Red.) Red gets trailed by a Seeker that she can never identify.

The correspondence progresses with letters embedded in strange media. Both sides' leaders get suspicious. Red is forced to betray Blue and feed her fake letters that poison her. Once the deed is done Red runs off, perhaps to suicide, but is saved by a Seeker. It's her own self.

Red runs off through time to collect pieces of Blue so she can impersonate an agent of Garden. She's the Seeker now. She gets through to the heart of Garden and finds five year old Blue on a hilltop, right before the event that Blue had described as falling sick and being exiled from Garden for an extended period. Red provides a countervenom for the poison she will encounter in the future. Garden cuts off Blue for that, but eventually takes her back, and Blue goes on to the adventures we've already read.

Red runs from the Garden multiverse. As the book closes she has escaped but is not sure Blue has survived. The reader is meant to conclude she has though. We're left a fairly sure hope that both will get away, and a whisper of a hope that their actions may stop the Time War. They'll win by losing. (hide spoiler)]

John (Taloni) wrote: "Taking a crack at the actual plot below. Peeps, did I get it right?"

Wow, that sounds like an amazing story! I would love to read that some time! ;-)

But honestly, thank you so much for the explanation - it really helps me a lot to understand what was going on.

And otherwise: Yeah, I don't know if I liked it or not? I definitely did not dislike it. It's an experience that probably just doesn't fit in the internet-required binary of "amazing" or "horrible"...