THREADS: The Fabric of the Universe By Tom Tinney

THREADS: The Fabric of the Universe

By Tom Tinney

As the title implies, there are many disconnected threads in this plot.  As the story slowly progresses, the stray threads start weaving into a pattern you think you recognize.  Then, boom, you realize you’re looking at the design backwards and upside down.  Made me step back and go WOW!  Okay, didn’t see that coming. 

The premise of the plot was original and very well thought out. Tinney also does a great job explaining the background of each society i.e.: Exodus, MetroStellar and the Kutari Panant.  If you are a techno-nerd or a hard sci-fi buff, this is the story for you.  Every gadget and environment explained in detail.  Actually, too much detail for my taste.  All that detail really bogs down the pace of the story, especially in the first half of the book.  The only techno gadgets I didn’t think was plausible were the body mods that the USS Marshals wore.  The pain would be incredible.

Lots of characters in this story, but none of them lost in each other, unless done intentionally.  The main characters are Matt & his brother Mark.  I also felt for the lost soul of Jon Brooks and the plight of Popilla.  And then there is the sadistic and evil pervert.  Tinney does have problems with dialogue, too stilted and stuffy.  Towards the end, he actually loosens up a bit.  And a little more description of emotions would have been helpful too.

The book is 500 plus pages with a lot of back story.  Most help with the plot, but the Freedom Fleet and the mini story with Brooklyn’s daughter reciting the rise of the current political system did not help the plot move along.  These are some “Darlings” that should have been cut. 

The writing style is passive, past tense.  The pace of the story would benefit greatly if it was written in more of an aggressive style, present tense.  The story would flow better and the readers could get more involved with the action and characters. 

Before I got to the end, I hoped there would be a sequel.  And there is.  Tinny leaves enough unanswered questions for the reader to want to read the next book.  What did Berlin Wright have to do with Jon Brook and his brother James?  HMMM.

I really did enjoy this story but there were times I started skimming pages because of the overabundance of unnecessary information.  And then there were the numerous proofreading errors. 

As stated above, if you like hard core sci-fi and techno gadgets, I highly recommend the book, but if you’re only into light sci-fi, maybe not.  I would give this book 4 feathers.