Tim McColly

I heard so many good things and can only say I'm confused and disappointed. There's nothing subtle, and everything becomes completely obvious to everyone the minute it's introduced, with the exception of the characters themselves. For a book about the best of the best, that glorifies brains over brawn, the characters are so incredibly dumb at times. Lauded for their intelligence, shown to be intelligent often, but then anything dramatic that happens just robs them of basic observational skills. "Everyone stopped moving, but I'm able to move. Gee, I specifically see that even the clock has stopped! Voice in my head telling me that they can't hold this for long? Hmm... what could possibly have happened?!" "Hey guy that can read minds, that person RIGHT THERE tried to kill me!" "What?! No way! Let me read your mind for proof!" "Not my mind, I've got secrets!" "Ope! Well now whatever shall we do?! How else can we possibly prove this heinous accusation of THAT PERSON that's RIGHT THERE! Guess we'll never find our proof!" It is a neat world, and it could have been good. It actually moves along pretty quickly. But it is really poorly executed so often that I found myself rolling my eyes every time the characters couldn't figure out literally anything. The plot stalls at these points as they waste time solving problems that they've already stated the answers to.