Rating: 4.5/5
SETI radio astronomer Dr. Stephen Browning wakes disoriented and confused in a dingy gas station bathroom. He stumbles home trying to put the pieces of his night back together, only to learn that new tenants have been living in his apartment for over a month. They can offer no explanation, only a letter, written in his own handwriting with three simple your head.Desperate to understand what is happening, Browning follows the instructions and is shocked to discover a string of numbers concealed beneath his hair--a series of coordinates tattooed upon the side of his head--coordinates which lead him to the Allen Telescope Array, where he becomes the unwitting recipient of a mysterious signal originating six light years away.His world slowly unraveling, Browning sets out on an epic journey to decipher the meaning of the cryptic transmission, quickly finding that he is merely a helpless pawn in a much bigger game. He soon learns that the secret transmission holds not only a message from the far reaches of the galaxy but a dire warning from the future. Little does Browning know that unless he can protect the transmission from falling into the wrong hands, not only will the warning come to pass but a far greater threat awaits mankind.
Do you have that one book that you could talk about for hours on end?
This book has easily become one of those for me! Be prepared for a looooooong review! Sorry, not sorry! I just LOVE this book!
This is not my typical review format, but I feel like this introduction is necessary because of this type of book.
This was an interesting read and a book I might never have even heard of if not for my boyfriend. This is his favorite book written by the lead singer of his favorite band, Starset. They have easily become one of my favorite bands too. And it’s not just because they have what I believe to be amazing music, because I think they do.
I enjoy Starset for their lore around their music. Their songs are a bit unconventional in their format, often telling a story. They also have taken advantage of using their music videos to add to the lore as well. And several of their songs feature these outroes that play into this science fiction lore, being things like radio static announcements. One of my favorite songs, TRIALS has this one particular outroe that I didn’t understand until I read this book, The PROX Transmissions.
I strongly suggest you listen to at least their first album before diving into this book, it will help you understand the premise a little more and make it a more enjoyable reading experience.
There are two things I want to say about this book. One being that as a book alone, it’s not the most amazing read. And in fact, if you aren’t familiar with this band and their music, it probably might confuse you at times. And if you are, you might notice some references sprinkled throughout the book to their music. The other being that this isn’t written by an “author” it’s written by a musician, so the writing style has more of a lyrical feel at times.
I was excited to start this simply knowing that my boyfriend loves this book. But it genuinely captured my attention with a few short pages. An astronomer wakes up one morning with no memory of where he was or how he lost several weeks of his life. Finding a note simply telling him to “shave his head”, where he then finds a string of coordinates. What did I just walk into? Of course, I have to keep going to figure out what happens.
And what does happen, oh my gawd! This is filled with so many twists and turns, none that I saw coming. My boyfriend got a kick out of seeing my frustration come out while I was reading this. This is one of those books that you just love to hate. I felt so many emotions as I made my way through and the ending, oh my, I was so angry! I remember glaring at my boyfriend yelling at him “How can it just end that way?!?” He just laughed at me.
The best way I could describe this would be like a fictional reimagining of Total Recall. This gave me a lot of vibes around that, especially with the missing memories. It was a really fun read, and like I said there’s a lot of lore connecting to their music.
Again, it may not be the most amazing book written, but adding this with their music and this whole lore they’ve created makes this a truly unique read and easily a personal favorite.
I’m dying to pick up the sequel! Though, I’m lucky, I only had to wait about 6 months for the sequel to come out. Whereas my poor boyfriend has been waiting for almost 8 years! Now we have to just fight over who gets to read it first! Just kidding, I told him he has to read it first.
I highly recommend checking out not only this book but the band Starset as well especially if you enjoy science fiction and hard rock music!