The Age of Miracles, a novel by Karen Thompson Walker, has an interesting premise: the earth begins to slow its rotation. Days and nights are extended. Society, by turns, adjusts and breaks down. This premise holds the novel together. Thompson does little in this work that is new or interesting in terms of story or language, but she has a solid plot device which she fully exploits.
Another saving grace is the preteen narrator. She is adjusting to her changing world on two levels: as a girl growing up, and to a world that is coming apart at the seams. Thompson links the two elements very effectively.
We are left with the distinct impression at the end of this work that humanity, and this girl, may still have a chance to survive in this strange world of long days and nights. But we are far from certain. Humanity is always on the cusp of destruction, Thompson appears to tell us, yet somehow survives.
Another saving grace is the preteen narrator. She is adjusting to her changing world on two levels: as a girl growing up, and to a world that is coming apart at the seams. Thompson links the two elements very effectively.
We are left with the distinct impression at the end of this work that humanity, and this girl, may still have a chance to survive in this strange world of long days and nights. But we are far from certain. Humanity is always on the cusp of destruction, Thompson appears to tell us, yet somehow survives.
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