Andrew Rimas

This is a good light scifi and first novel by Andrew Rimas. A definite example of Trump-Era eco and ethics scifi. While often fairly dry (not necessarily a bad thing), the novel does a good job of mixing a variety of hard and soft scifi elements and subjects with an unreliable, drunken ass of a narrator trying his best to be decent, and a wonderfully dumb - almost to the point of bizarro inspired at times - sense of humor. Various philosophies, AI, the Singularity, self driving (Otto) cars, humanities effects on the earth and other scifi and real science elements without driving particularly deeply into any of them. Like a lighthearted Egan or Steven Erikson's "Rejoice, A Knife to the Heart" with nods to themes explored more deeply in those books,as well as an 1800s poetry connection reminiscent of the Hyperion Cantos. This isn't a book that will change your life, but it is an enjoyable book worth spending on it the few hours it takes to read at just under 200 pages… (meer)

The main plot of Andrew Rimas’ The End Note sees protagonist Magnus Adams invited to a conference for the 5000 most accomplished thinkers of the near-future. They’ve been brought together amongst an end-of-times setting to fix all the world’s problems before society collapses and humans become extinct. Magnus does not know why he was invited, nor why he is being harassed by an anonymous texter.

The book, for the most part, reads like a satire. Take that in stride as it helps to put the reader in Magnus’ frame of mind. As the plot accelerates towards the end of the novel, the satirical style is dropped to flag a change in the protagonist’s mentality. Rimas has a comfortable writing style that kept me captivated with his tale. The way the author weaves Magnus’ expertise on (fictional) 19th century poet Nicholas Cooke into the story, making it central to the plot without making it overbearing, reminded me of the handling of V.M. Straka in Dorst and Abrams’ S. (Ship of Theseus); only without all the mystery and margin notes. The plot ebbs and flows, bouncing between the happenings at the conference and interludes on Cooke’s shenanigans. There is also a clever little Easter egg in the naming of the super-Ebola for those who know their WWII bioweapon research history.

Ultimately, I enjoyed this short read and would recommend it.

The publisher, Common Deer Press, provided me with a copy of the novel for early reviewing, however, the opinion expressed above is my own.… (meer)