Book Review: Departure, by A. G. Riddle

I have a serious problem.  Every year, it seems like the list of authors that I read increases - exponentially.  This is somewhat surprising, given the large group of authors that I have no interest in (literally shelves of books in the SF/Fantasy section).  I typically don't by a hardcover novel by an author I've never read, and especially not one by an author that I've never heard of before - unless I hear a rave review someone that I know (it also depends on the words used in that review).

However, my purchase of this book happened under the right conditions:

1. I recently took a chance on Saturn Run, by John Sandford and Ctein, in hardcover.  This was mostly due to a rave review by Stephen King on the back cover.  So, score one for an author I did not recognize (it was a great read).
2. The content of Departure sounded pretty interesting.
3. I happened to have a coupon that allowed me to get the book relatively cheap for a hardcover.

I am very glad that this chain of circumstances happened the way it did, because this was a great read!

The key plot points from the book description are:

1. Passengers struggling to survive a crash landing, and they don't know where they are.
2. A handful of passengers seem to have pieces of information about what is going on.
3. A far-reaching conspiracy that could end the world.
4. The past and the future both come into play.

Why wouldn't this be a good book?  Well, there are lots of potential reasons for that, but let's get on with my thoughts.

Of course, things start off with a plane crash and the rescue of the passengers, but very rapidly becomes so much more than that  As the story unfolds, things get more complicated, and the mystery deepens.  You gradually learn pieces of the puzzle, while also wondering which characters are being honest, and I was very surprised to learn what was really going on when it was revealed.  There are some really interesting scientific ideas, and there is a somewhat different treatment of some all too familiar science fiction staples - certainly original, and not something that I've seen before.

Some of the characters suffer from what appeared, at least to me, to be very common concerns for many people, whether they would admit to it or not.  I won't discuss this further, since I feel it plays a part in the story.

I initially thought that the book ended rather abruptly, appearing to leave things a tad unresolved and a bit too open to future catastrophe.  The epilogue on the authors website (which the book discloses) addresses that nicely, and also makes elements of the story appear to be a part of the real world.

As a result of reading this book, I am definitely interested in checking out the Origin Mystery trilogy at some point, and I'm looking forward to more efforts from the author.