Frank Z. Leidman

I really liked the original writing style of author Googins! At first it is a little discombobulating because it is so different, but soon the reader adjusts to the original style and embraces it and becomes comfortable. I rate the writing style a 5 out of 5. The story and characters are another matter. Larch is a narrator and character I never really liked. Only at the end of the book, when his earlier loving relationship with Kristina is revealed, did I find him attractive. His fatherly relationship with his daughter was boring because so lacking in demonstrable love. Emi, too, seems cold. Her search for her mother Kristina is more of a task than an enviable passion. And Kristina's commitment to the populace, and refusal to reach out to Emi, is so cold. It is not until the end that we see she is capable of warmth. And it is a warmth with Larch ... before EMI. So I rate Googins' story a 3 out of 5. Taking my two ratings together - 5 out of 5 and 3 out of 5 - I end with a 4 out of 5 for Nick Fuller Googins' "The Great Transition".