As I mentioned in yesterday’s post, I got a book haul of several classics that I’m going to review at some point in the future. I’m not going to be reviewing any of them today, but I did want to get started on writing reviews as soon as possible. Like anything, it’ll be a learning process for me, so I want a head start by the time I’m reviewing a novel as impactful as Frankenstein. In Today’s post I’m going to review a novel called Optimal, by J.M. Berger. There may be some spoilers, though I will try to avoid them as best I can. This isn’t a complete synopsis, just the basics and my opinion on the book. I’m thinking about doing this regularly so that I can learn the craft, and also because I need a well of content for the blog. Who knew it would be so easy to run out of things to say on the internet?

Optimal is a mind bending sci-fi journey on a near-future Earth where rule-bound algorithms have become the guiding force behind human decision making. The protagonist Jack is an accountant living in North America, and while the System is able to meet his every need, he finds himself wanting in his professional and romantic life. When he’s assigned a new job as a forensic accountant by the System, he stumbles into an investigation that threatens the foundations of the world he lives in.

My general opinion on this book is that it is well worth a read for sci-fi fans. If there were never enough matrix movies to satisfy you, I’m certain this is right up your alley. Berger’s style is straight forward and easy to read, and combined with the constant forward pressure of the investigation, makes this novel an absolute page turner. Berger takes advantage of some very clever plot devices to make this novel even easier to consume, but more on that later. The commentary on today’s obsession with social media and the efficacy of the state rings out through the length of the novel, and will probably have you thinking twice about your next Twitter post. All in all, this is a story for the times we live in, and it gets my full recommendation.

Thank you for reading,

Benjamin Hawley

P.S. I had a much longer review written, but during editing I decided it was just a giant synopsis of the book and not really my opinion on it. I opted for a much shorter review, but now I’m also publishing the post a little late because I had to rewrite, ugh! I think I’m going to need to rethink my blog writing to avoid this issue. Sadly, today will just have to be a weak review. I’ll try my best to learn from it at least. Thanks for reading!