I found this to be a very entertaining read, which helped give me a real feel for the period when the electricity cables started to connect the cities and then towns of North America. Moore did a great job of invoking a sense of place and time. I felt the magic of those times, so appropriately generated, by profound technological progress. The alchemy of turning night to day was of an order of wonder only matched in my lifetime by the Apollo missions to the Moon.

    My difficulty with this reading is small and to many will seem pedantic. That being my strong preference that writers of historical fiction never play fast and loose with the known timelines of events. Facts and the time on which they act should be sacrosanct in the reporting of history. The writer should only weave his fiction, his story, on the solid framework of all commonly accepted truth. He may of course dispute details if there is a case to be argued, such that perhaps in one infamous earlier history ‘the princes weren’t suffocated in the Tower of London’ and Richard III didn’t have the extreme deformity reported by Shakespeare. However, to condense and distort events is to rip deep slashes into the fabric of the past.

     This book, despite telling the story so well can finally stand only as an entertainment; a first class one, an informative one, but mere entertainment nevertheless.

    Crude measure of a book should be awarded simply on the qualities of the writing, and so giving less than five stars where such banality is demanded would be disingenuous indeed.

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Hilarious middle school adventure. This is billed as YA, but I've rarely come across titles targeted toward that younger demographic. Reads more like Middle Grade, plus a bit of kissing. Which is a great thing - it's fun, pacy, and confronts some challenging stuff without turning too dark.

 

Clever sciency mystery, shady cultish shadow organizations, a bunch of kids trying to figure out if they're going to be friends, enemies, or date. Great for boy readers as well, which is a good balance against all the uber-romancy paranormal and fantasy releases every year. Fits well alongside DJ MacHale's Pendragon series, but more of a light comedy feel, less tense thriller action. Some deeper stuff thematically, and meaningful statements and characterizations are applied in a way that doesn't interrupt the flow of story.

Haha! This was so much fun! Why did I wait so long to give this a listen?!? Chip is such an interactive character. He’s always talking to me, the audience. He has a lot of cheek and often screams in terror. Luckily he has the much more down to Earth and competent Pete to get him out of trouble. Pete started off as a bit of a jock and I wasn’t too sure I would like him but he quickly grew on me.

Later on we get to know Tesla, yes the mad scientist, as a character. Don’t call him dude. He will correct you. Then there’s also Bobo, some weird alien thing that Chip befriends as he bumbles his way around the hallway of inter-dimensions. Bobo quickly picks up the middle finger salute, thinking it is some sort of greeting.

The ladies were noticeable in that they were largely absent. Chip often messages his girlfriend Julie and later on we meet the talented Meg but I found myself wanting a little more gender balance. That is my only quibble and I quite enjoyed this tale despite the lack of ladies.

The quest itself was full of fun. I love the way nearly everything is captured in a kind of journal form either through email messages or journal entries in Tesla’s newly rediscovered notebook. Chip, Pete, and Bobo kind of turn into modern-day superheroes. Luckily, they haven’t taken up wearing spandex.

The humor is what did it for me. It’s a mix of snark, slap stick, cursing, and absurd situations. This mix really worked for as I was never sure of what Chip would end up in next and how that would make me laugh. This is a very fun science fiction story with unique characters trapped in an absurd situation.

I received a free copy of this book.

The Narration: Rob Dircks isn’t just an entertaining author, he’s also great at narration. I loved his narration of his other book The Wrong Unit so I knew I was in good hands with this audiobook. Each character voice is distinct, his female voices are believable, and he puts so much life into the characters! All around, he’s just really great at this. There are no technical issues either – sound quality is perfect, no mouth noises, no repeated sentences or such. Great narration!

Beschreibung

 

Licht. Eine der bedeutendsten Errungenschaften der Menschheit, die Dank des Erfinders Thomas Alva Edison den Weg in die Straßen und Häuser der Menschen fand. Die fesselnde Geschichte auf dem Weg zur Elektrizität verbindet zwei der unterschiedlichsten Männer überhaupt: Thomas Alva Edison, der Erfinder der Glühbirne, Besitzer von zahlreichen Patenten und den reichsten Mann der Welt, J. P. Morgan, der seine Genialität an der Wall Street unter Beweis stellte. Zusammen wollen sie die Welt erleuchten. Im skrupellosen Wirtschaftskampf setzt sich der Erfinder einer Welt aus, der er nie angehören wollte und die seine Moral und Überzeugungen schwer in Mitleidenschaft zieht. Der Kampf zwischen Macht und Geld machen es Edison immer schwerer sich selbst treu zu bleiben.

 

50 Jahre nachdem Thomas Alva Edison die Glühbirne erfand, soll ihm zu Ehren eine Parade statt finden, doch an Edison haben mittlerweile die scharfen Zähne der Zeit genagt und er findet die Menschen sollten ihn nicht für seine Forschung und Erfindung im Bereich der Elektrizität ehren, denn diese hat neben dem Guten auch eine Menge Schlechtes, ja sogar den Tod hervor gebracht hat.

 

Meine Meinung

 

Aus eigenem Antrieb hätte ich mich mit großer Wahrscheinlichkeit nie so richtig mit dem Erfinder Thomas Alva Edison auseinander gesetzt, doch Anthony McCarten ist es in seinem neusten Roman „Licht“ eindeutig gelungen mein Interesse zu wecken und mir das Tor zu der spannenden Welt der großen Entdecker und Erfinder aufzustoßen.

 

"…immer die gespannte Erwartung auf das, was dieser großartige Verstand als Nächstes hervorbringen würde-, denn nur wenige waren geboren und wandelten auf Erden, um etwas Gutes aus dem Fluss ihrer Gedanken zu bergen, und nur eine Handvoll davon machte aus dem Ergebnis etwas, das von Nutzen für die Menschheit war." (Seite 335)

 

Der Schriftsteller Anthony McCarten verwebt in seinem Roman historische Fakten und Fiktion zu einer mitreisenden Lebensgeschichte über den berühmten Erfinder Thomas Alva Edison. Am Ende seines Lebens angekommen wartet Edison an einem einsamen Zuggleis und lässt sein erstaunliches Leben Revue passieren. Ohne jegliche Schulbildung ist es Edison mit Verstand, Erfindergeist und harter Arbeit gelungen Großartiges zu leisten. Seine größte Erfindung, die Glühbirne, zieht die Aufmerksamkeit des Unternehmers und Privatbankiers John Pierpont Morgan auf sich. Dieser wittert die große Chance, Geld und Ruhm mit der weltweiten Elektrifizierung zu erlangen. Trotz Edison’s Bedenken an einer Zusammenarbeit und seinen Vorbehalten gegenüber der Unternehmerbranche willigt er in die Zusammenarbeit mit J. P. Morgan ein.

 

"Gerade erst hatte er beschlossen, Geschäftsmann zu werden, und schon spürte er in seinem Inneren die Aufgewühltheit, die Nervosität des modernen Lebens." (Seite 120)

 

Atemberaumbend gut wurde die Atmosphäre die den Geist der Gesellschaft und Wirtschaft während der Industrialisierung einfängt zwischen den Zeilen untergebracht. Der Wettstreit zwischen den Teams Thomas Alva Edison/J. P. Morgan und Nikola Tesla/George Westinghouse bietet genügend Stoff für eine mitreisende und fesselnde Geschichte. Dies hat Anthony McCarten perfekt aufgegriffen und in Szene gesetzt.

 

Anthony McCarten hat einen wunderbaren Erzählstil gewählt und verleiht den einzelnen Szenen eine Dynamik und Spannung, die einen das Buch gar nicht mehr aus der Hand legen lassen möchten. Ehrlich gesagt habe ich das Buch fast in einem Rutsch durchgelesen. Vor allem die Hauptprotagonisten Edison und J. P. Morgen sind fein gezeichnet, dabei sind sie so unterschiedlich wie Licht und Dunkelheit. Etwas zu kurz kam mir dabei die Persönlichkeit von Nikola Tesla, die trotz des wirtschaftlichen Wettstreits moralisch und menschlich gesehen wahre Größe bewiesen hat.

 

"»Damit, dass man die Welt verbessert, verdient man kein Geld. Nur mit ihrer Zerstörung.«" (Seite 21)

 

Fazit

 

Fiktion und Realität in perfekter Symbiose. Dieser Roman über große Erfinder und die Macht des Geldes lässt einen garantiert nicht mehr so schnell los.

 

Tesla’s Attic seems to be one of the few kid’s science fiction books that don’t include robots or (mostly) outer space. We need more books like this. That introduce children to the wonder of sci-fi without beating them over the head with the idea that sci-fi only has robots or space in it. It also has kids that are dealing with problems that readers may be able to identify with. Specifically, the loss of a parent. Nick, Danny, and his dad have moved to Colorado Springs after a fire that cost their mother her life. It has messed up their entire world, and all of them are obviously feeling it.

Although Tesla’s Attic is only 256 pages, it does feel like a much longer read. This doesn’t necessarily work well in its favor. it took me a while to get through it. (Albeit, it was my ‘phone book’ for this week, so I only read it in downtime.) It does take things a while to get going, and then the middle bogs a bit one area. The last third was solid and entertaining.

Tesla’s Attic is an interesting book with a variety of characters (and it’s very own secret society). Nick is fourteen years old but, perhaps due to circumstances, he does not fall under the average ‘rebellious teen’ heading. His little brother is sweet and understanding. His father is broken-hearted but trying to provide for his boys. The other characters vary between cliches to characters discovering their own depths.

Danger, deceit, and mysteries await the brave 8-12-year-old who picks up Tesla’s Attic, the first in the Accelerati Trilogy. Parents/Teachers may want to pre-read the book to judge suitability for your child. Tesla’s Attic does require a good bit more comprehension than most books in the 8-12 range. It’s well-written and mostly well-paced and the dialogue seems appropriate for the age range. There are a few puns to make an informed reader giggle.

Tesla’s Attic is part of a trilogy, but can easily be read as a standalone novel.

It seems like Nikola Tesla pops up in science fiction books recently nearly as much as Lovecraft pops up in horror. It’s a good thing. Maybe tales of his fabulous inventions – both real and imagined – will spur the imagination of this generation’s Tesla. It’s something that’s desperately needed.