Bethany Epstein

The worst "deus ex machina" example in modern time

Revisado: 03-17-23

[contains spoilers]

The phrase deus ex machina comes from Latin. It means "god from the machine" and we use the phrase now to describe a situation where the author suddenly and unexpectedly introduces a contrived solution to apparently insoluble difficulty.

Children of Memory was a jumbled confusing boring mess until near the end when the author introduces a deus ex machina that was not only unexplained but unexplainable -- we learn that everything that we thought was happening in the book was actually being caused by ancient buried alien tech that was somehow "trapping" people in a simulation that they thought was real.

The audio version of this book was confusing and frustrating because it was never clear what was happening in which timeline and what was a flashback and what was a time loop of things repeating themselves. Also, the supposedly all-power alien technology that could somehow read people's minds from thousands of miles away and then take over their bodies . . . was confused by the arrival of certain characters?

The story here was the usual crowd of characters landing on a colony world and finding it struggling and there being a young girl wrestling with how to make her way in the world while dealing with a "witch" in the woods.

I suspect the author had long ago watched the 25th episode of the 5th season of Star Trek the Next Generation called "The Inner light" in which "Captain Jean-Luc Picard (Patrick Stewart) is struck unconscious by an energy beam from an alien probe. While minutes pass for the rest of the crew, the probe makes Picard experience 40 years of lifetime as Kamin, a humanoid scientist whose planet is threatened by the nova of its sun. Toward the end of Kamin's "lifetime," Picard—who had come to accept his new life, though he never forgot his life on the Enterprise—learns that the purpose of the probe and the 40 years of virtual life it gave him was to keep alive the memory of Kamin's race long after the death of their civilization."

In Children of Memory, however, we do not find out about this Deus Ex Machina until the very end of the book and even then we have no idea how it works or why it was there.

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Fantastic story - BUT DON"T LISTEN TO THE INTRO

Revisado: 01-26-21

For the life of me I cannot understand why there is a spoiler-filled 20 minute prologue from the author before the book begins. SKIP IT and then come back to it after the story ends and you will be much happier.

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Too much yelling

Revisado: 11-14-20

A great story, but at the parts when they yell, he yells very loudly and it's pretty horrible. But otherwise, great story

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Amazing! Love it!

Revisado: 11-26-18

This book is so emotional and interesting! It is so cool and it’s very cool!

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esto le resultó útil a 1 persona

Cool, and intense, but kind of corny.

Revisado: 11-15-18

It’s basically like oh Minecraft stories, I liked it but it’s less than an hour and are usually like two hours or more books. I recommend it for ages 8-13

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esto le resultó útil a 4 personas

So interesting

Revisado: 10-11-18

I love this book so much it was very emotional and sweet it was very exciting and it is very good for kids. I recommend it to anyone.

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So interesting

Revisado: 06-30-18

He ja be be he she. Di de nd sin. Ni disks is. Los is j k h j j

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Very Interesting!

Revisado: 05-03-18

I really like the part where James is going out for his birthday. Overall, it’s a very good book.

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