Idlewild

by Nick Sagan

Book Overview

From a bold new talent comes a smart, stylish near-future thriller that fuses the fierce imagination of The Matrixwith the chilling social vision of Minority Report. Set in the day after tomorrow, Idlewildopens as a young man awakes with amnesia: He cannot remember who he is and doesn't recognize anything around him-all he knows for sure is that someone is trying to kill him. Not certain whom he can trust, he becomes reacquainted with eight companions,...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0399150978
• ISBN13: 9780399150975
• Release Date: August 2003
• Publisher: Putnam Adult
• Length: 275 Pages
• Weight: 1.23 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.0" x 6.4" x 9.4"
• Age Range: 18 years and up
• Grade Range: Postsecondary and higher

Customer Reviews

truly excellent

This hypnotic and absorbing novel begins mysteriously and ends with tremendous force. It has many things going for it.+ clever plotting+ a nuanced, emotionally complex protagonist+ breakneck pacing+ imaginative imagery+ absorbing themes But what I love most about Idlewild are its subtleties. Each time I read it I discover something new.

Idlewild, an amazing read!

Ten kids, growing up in a school. A virtual school, in a virtual world. Lied to by every program and every programmer about who they are, their purpose, and their future. Never knowing their real family, never knowing what real life was like. Trained to be the future elite, doctors. Trained in reality to reincarnate the world. The Black Ep has killed off everyone, so in humanities last attempt at having a future they program this world, all for training of these ten specially designed children, to grow and live in a simulation of life, as to restore real life. They hate it at the school, so want to get out to live in the "real" world, and go to a "real" school, when, in reality it is the same as the virtual world of the school, only they don't know it. The main character, Halloween, never believed in any of this, and rebelled against it all, his teacher, Maestro; his "parents," his peers, everything. Another character, Lazarus, is surely dead, and Halloween has been attacked, but isn't dead, and he must find who has tried to kill him and who has killed Lazarus. Nobody believes someone is trying to kill anyone, for the program doesn't want fear in its students, the program even says that Lazarus just disappeared because he "graduated." Halloween doesn't believe this, and strives to find the answer.This has to be my favorite book in a long while. It is high-tech, yet cultured, and smart. Written in such a beautiful way you never wish to set it down... you are fully tossed into the world Nick Sagan has created. It is a dark, lonely, sad, desperate novel, in which there are lies, death, loss, confusion, hatred, and backstabbing around every bend. This truly is a beautiful book, one of my favorites of all time. An intelligent, wonderful, detailed, emotional first novel. It's hard to believe writing can get better than this, but let's see what Sagan can do with experience.

Powerful Fiction

A friend of mine is a big science fiction fan and she gave me Idlewild for Christmas. We don't usually share the same tastes (I'm a huge mystery/thriller fan), so I acted happier about getting it than I actually was. But she promised I'd love it, and sure enough she was right!Nick Sagan's debut novel is a literary gem and a true genrebuster. Not only did I find the plot smart and compelling and the characters well-drawn, but the writing itself is crisp and moving. The mystery keeps you guessing, but it raises deeper questions too, the kind that rise far above the average whodunit. I sped through this page turner in three days and now can't wait for the sequel. If all science fiction books read like this one, I'd be a major fan of the genre. Idlewild is powerful fiction, read and enjoy.

Spellbinding

Neil Gaiman called this book a "roller coaster ride of fusion fiction" and it's easy to understand why. This delightful and diabolically intricate creation transforms from caterpillar to butterfly by way of gothic fantasy, mystery, apocalyptic science fiction, mythology, eschatology, a coming of age story, and even a romance. Ambitious novels like this run the risk of seeming all over the map, but Idlewild hangs together beautifully, with influences from each genre synthesized and reinvented through the pen of an imaginative and strikingly original storyteller. Sagan begins with a pinpoint focus on his flawed but likeable antihero, who must solve the riddle of his amnesia, and gradually widens the scope to explore a deeper mystery that involves the whole of humanity. Multiple plotlines thread together seamlessly as hidden layers are revealed. This is a rich, dark, compelling tale that refuses to insult the reader's intelligence. Dialogue crackles and sparkles, and the protagonist's inner monologue builds to a furiously witty fever pitch.My only complaint would be the pacing. It's one of the fastest novels I've ever read, and I tore through it so quickly that I'm left wanting more. That's about as negative as I can be here. Idlewild is simply that good, one of those rare books that stays with you long after you've closed it. Highly recommended for everyone, and especially for fans of Neil Gaiman's Sandman series.

Idlewild

I know that it has often been said before, but its really applicable: THIS A MUST READ. The author's weaves a plot that is not 5 stars, no its 10 stars: Very, exciting, very interesting, very wonderful. As the story unfolds you cannot believe how the next page or the next 20 pages can be better than the last, but I assure you they are.