Review: Transition by Ian Patterson

The Book: 

Are you so sure you’re the painter, and not the painting?

Micah has a hangover, a looming deadline, and a very opinionated rat following him around the orbital station. No one else can see it—which is definitely not ideal.

Outside, the wealthy are fleeing Earth on seed ships. Inside, Micah’s team has days to perfect their gene-editing tech, or be left behind. On top of that, Micah’s unsure if reality is taking an extended vacation, or if his brain has finally short-circuited.

Equal parts absurdly funny, sharp-edged, and human, Transition explores the events that started The Narrator Cycle. Long before Nicholas, Dorothy, and Charon, there was Micah, a dying earth, a talkative rat, and a question—is reality such a fixed thing?

My Thoughts

Don’t worry if you haven’t yet read the Narrator Cycle. This book, which works as a prequel to those events works perfectly well on its own but I can guarantee after reading this one you will want to read the rest of them! You won’t be disappointed. They are all equally as good.

This is a relatively short read in itself but packs in so much. There are some interesting ideas at play here but for me it’s Micah who really makes it. He’s a compelling character and I loved spending time inside his head. It’s not often a character stays with you long after finishing the last page, but Micah is one of those people.

There’s a wonderfully surreal feeling to this book, not just the mutant talking rat, but I’ll leave it to you to find out what I’m talking about. 

All in all an excellent book which I thoroughly recommend.