This Soul'd World: The Rise of Consciousness by William Disdale offers a captivating take on time travel narrated from an omniscient third-person point of view. The story opens on scientist Callison Trebla’s last day at work at Quanta. The sixty-five-year-old faces his retirement with mixed emotions. Once he walks out the door he loses all rights to his research, theories, and even his time travel device (dubbed the Trebla Eye). It will all belong to the company. He just can’t let that happen, and so takes an out-of-character risk to smuggle what he needs to continue his work at home where he lives with his wife Eleanor. Once he gets the Eye operating, the story takes off. Quanta knows what he’s done, his wife is aware, and when he’s caught by Quanta’s black suits and his former boss threatens his life, he makes the jump.
On the other side of the Trebla Eye, this science-minded protagonist journeys to a land that brings into question all he has ever known as he gains knowledge of his forgotten soul identity. Here he learns it is not about what he is but who he is. I think it’s best described as a journey of spiritual awakening in a land where the proverb “Plant an intention and grow a thought, plant that thought and grow a feeling, plant that feeling and grow an attitude, plant that attitude and grow an action, plant that action and grow a habit, plant that habit and grow a destiny,” brings thoughts into focus.
The author’s background in science, engineering, and mathematical simulation delivers some of the best techo babble I’ve ever read. The story flows and makes sense. The pacing keeps the pages turning. Only in a couple of chapters at the middle did I feel it bogged down with a lot of information, but it was a teacher/student type of situation and all the information was relevant. Over all, I enjoyed every aspect of this story. This book’s plot and sub-plots are so intricately woven that it’s hard to talk about the story without including a spoiler. The main character is complex and dynamic. He and his wife have a happy marriage but suffered the loss of their only son early in their married life. They are likeable and believable and I found myself rooting for them.
I recommend This Soul'd World to Sci-fi time-travel enthusiasts who enjoy books like Recursion by Blake Crouch, people pondering the meaning of life, and anyone who enjoys literate ideas and futuristic concepts. It’s imaginative but believable and Disdale wraps up every plot thread. I give this book a strong 5 stars.
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