Review of The New Mind Travelers
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- Latest Review: The New Mind Travelers by Phill Boas
Review of The New Mind Travelers
[Following is a volunteer review of "The New Mind Travelers" by Phill Boas.]
The New Mind Travelers, written by Phill Boas, is categorized as utopian speculative science fiction. Set several decades in the future, a small group of space travelers from Earth set off to explore a distant planet that is potentially habitable for humans. The story is narrated by Zed, the psychiatric officer of the spaceship.
The planet Olar was identified as uninhabited by an exploratory probe, but that turns out to be far from the truth. The Earthlings soon meet the Olarian people and learn that they are all telepathic and telekinetic. Zed forms a strong bond with Olaria, one of the Council of Eight who manage the planet. With Olaria’s guidance, Zed learns he has telepathic talents of his own.
The book does an excellent job of describing the growth of relationships between the travelers, originally fearful and untrusting, and the Olarians. The two groups eventually develop relationships and learn from each other for the mutual benefit of both groups.
The concept of a world wherein everyone knows what each other is thinking and feeling is almost overwhelming to consider. Initially, my thought was this would be horrifying and dangerous. The author, however, does a great job of introducing relationship scenarios that depict peace and contentedness with the sharing of complete honesty. A society based on relationships rather than power and greed is a pleasant fantasy, especially with the circumstances of the world today.
I do feel that the editing was lacking. It was difficult to follow if characters were using telepathy to communicate or if they were speaking out loud. While using telepathy, it was difficult to know what other characters were privy to the communication - were the messages sent between just two individuals or were the messages sent to larger groups. While italics were used to show telepathy, that seemed to be a bit inconsistent. This was a little frustrating, but did not make the story unreadable. There was also an overuse of exclamation marks. Most of the story was written in first person, however, there are a few chapters that seem to be written in third person. Again, this does not make the story unreadable, but I did find the switching back and forth to be a flaw, especially without some forewarning, perhaps in the chapter titles. The book contained no profanity and very few typographical errors. There are a few sex scenes which are rather detailed, but appropriate and not offensive.
This book would be enjoyed by individuals who are interested in relationship-building and thought-provoking stories. I rate this book a 3. I felt it dragged on at times, had very little action, and the ideas got to be repetitive. Nevertheless, it was a good story, and I have no regrets about reading it.
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The New Mind Travelers
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
The New Mind Travelers, written by Phill Boas, is categorized as utopian speculative science fiction. Set several decades in the future, a small group of space travelers from Earth set off to explore a distant planet that is potentially habitable for humans. The story is narrated by Zed, the psychiatric officer of the spaceship.
The planet Olar was identified as uninhabited by an exploratory probe, but that turns out to be far from the truth. The Earthlings soon meet the Olarian people and learn that they are all telepathic and telekinetic. Zed forms a strong bond with Olaria, one of the Council of Eight who manage the planet. With Olaria’s guidance, Zed learns he has telepathic talents of his own.
The book does an excellent job of describing the growth of relationships between the travelers, originally fearful and untrusting, and the Olarians. The two groups eventually develop relationships and learn from each other for the mutual benefit of both groups.
The concept of a world wherein everyone knows what each other is thinking and feeling is almost overwhelming to consider. Initially, my thought was this would be horrifying and dangerous. The author, however, does a great job of introducing relationship scenarios that depict peace and contentedness with the sharing of complete honesty. A society based on relationships rather than power and greed is a pleasant fantasy, especially with the circumstances of the world today.
I do feel that the editing was lacking. It was difficult to follow if characters were using telepathy to communicate or if they were speaking out loud. While using telepathy, it was difficult to know what other characters were privy to the communication - were the messages sent between just two individuals or were the messages sent to larger groups. While italics were used to show telepathy, that seemed to be a bit inconsistent. This was a little frustrating, but did not make the story unreadable. There was also an overuse of exclamation marks. Most of the story was written in first person, however, there are a few chapters that seem to be written in third person. Again, this does not make the story unreadable, but I did find the switching back and forth to be a flaw, especially without some forewarning, perhaps in the chapter titles. The book contained no profanity and very few typographical errors. There are a few sex scenes which are rather detailed, but appropriate and not offensive.
This book would be enjoyed by individuals who are interested in relationship-building and thought-provoking stories. I rate this book a 3. I felt it dragged on at times, had very little action, and the ideas got to be repetitive. Nevertheless, it was a good story, and I have no regrets about reading it.
******
The New Mind Travelers
View: on Bookshelves | on Amazon
Latest Review: The New Mind Travelers by Phill Boas
