An Absolutely Remarkable Thing

Green, Hank. An Absolutely Remarkable Thing. New York: Dutton 2018. Print

First Sentences:

Look. I am aware that you're here for an epic tale of intrigue and mystery and adventure and near death and actual death, but in order to get to that (unless you want to skip to chapter 13 -- I'm not your boss), you're going to have to deal with the fact that I, April May, in addition to being one of the most important things that has ever happened to the human race, am also a woman in her twenties who had made some mistakes. 

Description:

Here's an intriguingly wild modern-day sci-fi scenario:

Late one night on a well-traveled sidewalk in New York City, out of nowhere a 10-foot statue appears. It is clad in armor with a fierce expression. A curious woman, April May, (yes, a silly name for the 23-year-old protagonist of Hank Green's debut novel, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing) passes by, notices the statue, and calls her best friend, Andy, to come immediately to make a video of the statue they nickname "Carl" and post it online as young people do with every experience and picture.

Overnight the video, April and Andy, and of course the statue go viral - mainly because dozens of other statues exactly like Carl have suddenly appeared in major cities worldwide. All are equal to Carl in warrior attire, fierce appearance, and unknown origin. At first the Carls are thought to be the work of some artistic team making a statement, but the composition of the statues' materials and their inability to be moved by any person or crane  challenge the people and governments of the world to try to make sense of them. Art work? Aliens? If so, what is the purpose of either option?

Clues begin to emerge. Just before the Carls appeared, all security cameras around the statues blanked out to static. But underneath the recorded camera static a faint audio track was picked up that turns out to be the song "Don't Stop Me Now" by Queen. Huh? Equally odd is that after the statues' appearance, every person in the world begins to dream the same dream: a game-like scenario in an unknown city where puzzles have to be solved to enter different areas or understand the elements of this fantasy environment. As everyone worldwide tries to solve the various puzzles and share their findings, April discovers she sees something in the dream that no one else can. What makes her so special?

Meanwhile, April and Andy are finding that their new fame and the wealth that comes with that fame have both good and nasty sites. Interviews, blogs, Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, television and every other media clamor for interviews to comment on the Carls and their discoverers. April is "a digital girl in a digital world" who instinctively knows how to perform in front of a camera and online, so relishes in the attention and wealth, but risks the relationships in her life.

It's a roller coaster of a life as April and her friends try to figure out what the Carls are and what they want, as well as find some semblance of peace in their own lives. As might be imagined, their team provides much commentary about the power and pitfalls of social media, television, interviewers, and being an international online presence. Using a very hip, snarky voice for the narrative, An Absolutely Remarkable Thing is a fun, modern and, yes, absolutely remarkable book.

Happy reading.


Fred

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