Author: Alex James

‘This was such a great start to the Warlord of the Lonely Fortress series …’

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I found Recursion at my library’s audiobook website. I thought the premise was interesting and that I’d give it a try. I listened to about half of it as an audiobook and I must say I loved Barry’s deep voice. Barry is a character in the book who lost his daughter, and separated from his wife. He works as an NYC cop, sometimes investigating ‘False Memory Syndrome’ (FMS). FMS started to be portrayed as something on the sidelines in the story but which Barry is soon forced to investigate head on. Helena is the other main character who came across as someone dedicated to scientific research, helping to build a chair (interesting …) to help her mum’s Alzheimers, yet she’s perhaps someone so buried in her work she doesn’t know what’s to come, and neither does the reader.

It was intriguing having both storylines side by side, and it was difficult deciding between them both. Sometimes I wanted Barry’s to continue and sometimes Helena’s, and so it was with minor criticism that the point of view switched too often.

I don’t want to say too much about what you can expect from Recursion since that will ruin it, but you’re looking at reading a story that is more than you first make it out to be – it’s more than something about to be investigated. As far as my 2022 reads go, it must be up there with my favourites for the impact it had on me and the way it gets your mind working in new ways.

Author Website

Explaining Humans draws parallels between the author’s conditions/diagnoses, such as autism and ADHD, and the author’s interest in science, in order to devise coping strategies for the real world, including better thinking patterns where relationships are concerned at the micro and macro level. Sometimes it was like reading a sociology or philosophy book, though I found the content to be interesting, relevant, and individualistic, which I liked.

I’d often think ‘Oh, that’s interesting’, ‘just like me or someone I know’, or something similar. One of the best parts, I felt, was the author’s sense of humour hanging onto the end of sentences. Explaining Humans had been what I was looking for where autism was concerned, and I took great pleasure reading the author’s past experiences and then growth beyond these.

I struggled to understand many of the science-based strategies and how they could be made relevant. In this way, the book was less helpful than I had hoped. It was something that I had fun reading in the present, with curiosity, but it’s not something that will stick with me beyond that.

If you’re looking for an autism/ADHD book, or a ‘lighter’ read for science enthusiasts, you can’t go wrong giving Explaining Humans a try. It may inspire you in different ways.

Author Website