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Evolution
James Connor discovers an alien spacecraft buried along with the remains of early human ancestors, which sets in motion a crisis of human beliefs. The conflict between religion and science -- a timeless debate -- fuels the story, as humans explore the greatest questions of time: who are we, where did we come from, and what is mankind's role in the universe? James' actions make him an unwittingly pawn in an Evolution involving our earliest ancestors, ancient aliens, and the future of us all.
312 pages, Paperback
First published August 5, 2012
7 people are currently reading
1508 people want to read
About the author
Jim Reilly
3 books106 followersJim Reilly is a new science fiction novelist. He is a married father of four, born and raised in Long Island. In 2009, he finished an MBA program during which his professors gave accolades to his writing prowess. Upon graduation, Jim was caught up in the economic recession, and was laid off from his corporate position. Jim’s wife suggested that he should write the book he had long envisioned, and he did.
From an early age, Jim always had a fascination with science, religion, and science fiction to a point that it became a passion of his. Now he enjoys putting that passion to paper. He has already penned his second sci-fi book and is working on his third.
From an early age, Jim always had a fascination with science, religion, and science fiction to a point that it became a passion of his. Now he enjoys putting that passion to paper. He has already penned his second sci-fi book and is working on his third.
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
June 4, 2013
Well, I'll be honest- the first few chapters felt a little forced, and the speech seemed stilted. It was a little odd, and felt as if the author's first language wasn't English- it seemed too textbook, and missed a lot of the contractions we usually use in day-to-day speech. In the second half of the book the writing settled down and began to feel a lot more natural.
The story, on the other hand, was pretty catchy right from the word go. The story kind of fits in with the whole "ancient aliens" theme popularised by von Daniken and others. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who has an interest in these sort of tales, as well as to any casual sci-fi readers, as the tone is pretty light. It is enjoyable, and I'd certainly want to read a potential follow-up.
In the interest of full disclosure, I got my copy via a give-away on Goodreads.
The story, on the other hand, was pretty catchy right from the word go. The story kind of fits in with the whole "ancient aliens" theme popularised by von Daniken and others. I would definitely recommend this to anyone who has an interest in these sort of tales, as well as to any casual sci-fi readers, as the tone is pretty light. It is enjoyable, and I'd certainly want to read a potential follow-up.
In the interest of full disclosure, I got my copy via a give-away on Goodreads.
February 10, 2013
Evolution is an enjoyable thought provokingstory that takes the reader on an interesting journey. In the story, the people are challenged bywhat seems to be an unbeatable force and have to overcome rifts between thoseof science and religion in order to survive. The author does a good job at balancing the perspectives of both sides(religion and science), as well as, bringing the engaging story together in theend. The characters are interesting, and you want to know what lies in store for them. It is a good read that makes you think,and I highly recommend it!
April 23, 2013
I was pleasantly surprised by this unique story. I thought with a title like Evolution, it would read more like a science book, but no. It’s an imaginative story where due to circumstances the characters and society will have to evolve in order to overcome what is in store for man. James Connor has all the weaknesses we find in ourselves, and it’s how we deal with these weaknesses that we learn how to overcome adversity. Evolution is an interestingly good read.
November 29, 2012
I haven't been able to get into a book lately that I really enjoyed....Until I read Evolution. The classic battle between Good and Evil, Religion vs Science is thoroughly explored in Mr. Reilly's book. I couldn't put it down and was disappointed that it ended. The characters are well developed, are from all walks of life and you became them. His next book can't come out soon enough!!
April 16, 2013
Evolution is a good story that makes you think and has you looking forward to where it leads to. The science versus religion conflict is relevant in today’s society and an interesting back drop to the story. I enjoyed reading Evolution and I recommend it.
March 8, 2014
The critique I am about to give is genuinely intended to assist Mr. Reilly in his burgeoning writing career because I think behind the verbosity of this book, there is a real talent.
I read the book because I was intrigued by the premise/theme and slightly different take on a topic that many authors have tackled, namely that earth was visited by aliens millions of years ago. In this case, it appears that they have influenced human evolution. It was only this idea that kept me reading the book to the end. Here is why.
There are several quite obvious flaws with Reilly's writing and I think most of them stem from inexperience. The first and most major one is a continuously changing point of view. Often, the POV changed between sentences - let alone paragraphs or chapters - thereby making it next to impossible to identify with any single character as the protagonist. His version of what was supposedly an omniscient POV simply did not work for me.
Second, he needs to study some of the good dialogue writers, read some books by specialists (Elizabeth Lyon, Browne & King, and Donald Maass come to mind), and join a writing group where he can get some serious critique. His dialogue is unnatural and heavy-handed and it needs to be sharpened, partly at least by cutting a lot of it.
Third, the book is very light on research and leans too much on commonly held ideas about such topics as anthropology (his description of a dig was completely unrealistic) and the Book of Revelation (Reilly needs to read some scholarly works on this). His generalizations about futuristic technology are just unbelievable due to his glossing over them. In the hands of a master like Michael Crichton, were he still around, this type of "fictional science" would be much more believable.
In short, I would have given the book only one star but added one due to Reilly's honest first attempt. I hope to see more and improved writing from him in the future.
I read the book because I was intrigued by the premise/theme and slightly different take on a topic that many authors have tackled, namely that earth was visited by aliens millions of years ago. In this case, it appears that they have influenced human evolution. It was only this idea that kept me reading the book to the end. Here is why.
There are several quite obvious flaws with Reilly's writing and I think most of them stem from inexperience. The first and most major one is a continuously changing point of view. Often, the POV changed between sentences - let alone paragraphs or chapters - thereby making it next to impossible to identify with any single character as the protagonist. His version of what was supposedly an omniscient POV simply did not work for me.
Second, he needs to study some of the good dialogue writers, read some books by specialists (Elizabeth Lyon, Browne & King, and Donald Maass come to mind), and join a writing group where he can get some serious critique. His dialogue is unnatural and heavy-handed and it needs to be sharpened, partly at least by cutting a lot of it.
Third, the book is very light on research and leans too much on commonly held ideas about such topics as anthropology (his description of a dig was completely unrealistic) and the Book of Revelation (Reilly needs to read some scholarly works on this). His generalizations about futuristic technology are just unbelievable due to his glossing over them. In the hands of a master like Michael Crichton, were he still around, this type of "fictional science" would be much more believable.
In short, I would have given the book only one star but added one due to Reilly's honest first attempt. I hope to see more and improved writing from him in the future.
July 4, 2014
this is the first book I have read of jim reilly.
His book was a point or points between science and religion wich I always find interesting!!
the most important part of most books to me is if I enjoy the characters or not and the
characters in this book drew me in and made me want to keep reading to find out how they turned
out!!
I would also like to thank jim for the autographed book he sent me and to tell him that I am
looking forward to reading many more of his books!!
His book was a point or points between science and religion wich I always find interesting!!
the most important part of most books to me is if I enjoy the characters or not and the
characters in this book drew me in and made me want to keep reading to find out how they turned
out!!
I would also like to thank jim for the autographed book he sent me and to tell him that I am
looking forward to reading many more of his books!!
July 12, 2014
I really liked the combination of religion and science without condemning one or the other. A couple sudden jumps in time were a little disconcerting but not nearly as much for me as it would have been for some of the characters.
Overall, this was a great book that had an interesting view of Earth's future. After reading the epilogue, I kinda hope there's a sequel.
Overall, this was a great book that had an interesting view of Earth's future. After reading the epilogue, I kinda hope there's a sequel.
November 25, 2014
Very interesting plot concept
May be the most wooden dialogue I have ever read. And plot is revealed in monologues rather than action. concept is worthwhile enough to read but dialogue is tough.
May be the most wooden dialogue I have ever read. And plot is revealed in monologues rather than action. concept is worthwhile enough to read but dialogue is tough.
July 7, 2014
I received this book as a goodreads giveaway.
I am finding it difficult to review this book. On the one hand, the central plot is interesting, if not entirely original: while working on an archaeological dig, a doctoral student (literally) stumbles upon an alien spaceship that has been hidden in a rock formation for thousands of years, and the discovery leads to a total re-evaluation of mankind's knowledge and beliefs about our roots. On the other hand, the characters are, for the most part, one-dimensional and almost caricatures, rather than realistic people living in, and reacting to, such upheaval, and the handling of the resulting battle between belief systems is somewhat heavy-handed.
Less clumsily handled was the visit to earth by a sister ship, which took over 500 people and kept them for what felt to those taken as a few weeks before returning them, only to learn that they had been gone for six years. Their families noted that they had been altered by the aliens, with some physical changes as well as dramatically increased intelligence.
Following the discovery of the ship, the world is plunged into a battle between science and religion. While at first, many people abandoned their faith due to the implication that humans developed as the result of alien, rather than divine, intervention, a multidenominational group of religious zealots arose, using terrorism as a means of striking back at the scientific community.
The heavy-handedness comes into sharp focus in the description of the aliens' plan for earth, and their own battle between them and their leader, a being that is clearly depicted as the Judeo-Christian God. In the aliens, who are never called anything other than the Ancient Visitors (even in the epilogue, a thousand years in the future), the author has drawn Satan and his fallen angels, and the parallels to Biblical stories are painfully obvious. The sudden and rapid cooperation between scientists and faith leaders is almost like being hit on the head with a sledgehammer, while sitting around the campfire singing Kumbaya.
Having said all that, I still found that I enjoyed reading this book. The author has taken a fairly standard plot idea and given it a couple of twists that make it seem fresh. And although the writing isn't great, the dialogue is often stiff, and there is absolutely no trace of subtlety to be found anywhere, there is a sense of optimism about humanity, a willingness to come together, and an ability to redeem ourselves that is refreshing.
This book is most definitely NOT for those who feel that religion has no place in the world, as it is very much a connection between faith and science, and an attempt to demonstrate that the two need not be antagonistic. In fact, the explanation of how the Ancient Visitors came to be in our universe might be viewed by some as plausibly reconciling our scientific knowledge with religious traditions. My personal opinion: Any attempt to merge science with religion is dangerous to the advancement of knowledge, and reduces faith to a hypothesis to be tested; satisfying neither side, it won't work.
My final verdict on Evolution is 2.5 stars, which I've rounded up to 3. It's a fun read, and as Mr. Reilly gains experience as a writer, I believe he will iron out his weaknesses in dialogue and create characters with more depth, as well as develop the ability to move his stories with greater nuance.
I am finding it difficult to review this book. On the one hand, the central plot is interesting, if not entirely original: while working on an archaeological dig, a doctoral student (literally) stumbles upon an alien spaceship that has been hidden in a rock formation for thousands of years, and the discovery leads to a total re-evaluation of mankind's knowledge and beliefs about our roots. On the other hand, the characters are, for the most part, one-dimensional and almost caricatures, rather than realistic people living in, and reacting to, such upheaval, and the handling of the resulting battle between belief systems is somewhat heavy-handed.
Less clumsily handled was the visit to earth by a sister ship, which took over 500 people and kept them for what felt to those taken as a few weeks before returning them, only to learn that they had been gone for six years. Their families noted that they had been altered by the aliens, with some physical changes as well as dramatically increased intelligence.
Following the discovery of the ship, the world is plunged into a battle between science and religion. While at first, many people abandoned their faith due to the implication that humans developed as the result of alien, rather than divine, intervention, a multidenominational group of religious zealots arose, using terrorism as a means of striking back at the scientific community.
The heavy-handedness comes into sharp focus in the description of the aliens' plan for earth, and their own battle between them and their leader, a being that is clearly depicted as the Judeo-Christian God. In the aliens, who are never called anything other than the Ancient Visitors (even in the epilogue, a thousand years in the future), the author has drawn Satan and his fallen angels, and the parallels to Biblical stories are painfully obvious. The sudden and rapid cooperation between scientists and faith leaders is almost like being hit on the head with a sledgehammer, while sitting around the campfire singing Kumbaya.
Having said all that, I still found that I enjoyed reading this book. The author has taken a fairly standard plot idea and given it a couple of twists that make it seem fresh. And although the writing isn't great, the dialogue is often stiff, and there is absolutely no trace of subtlety to be found anywhere, there is a sense of optimism about humanity, a willingness to come together, and an ability to redeem ourselves that is refreshing.
This book is most definitely NOT for those who feel that religion has no place in the world, as it is very much a connection between faith and science, and an attempt to demonstrate that the two need not be antagonistic. In fact, the explanation of how the Ancient Visitors came to be in our universe might be viewed by some as plausibly reconciling our scientific knowledge with religious traditions. My personal opinion: Any attempt to merge science with religion is dangerous to the advancement of knowledge, and reduces faith to a hypothesis to be tested; satisfying neither side, it won't work.
My final verdict on Evolution is 2.5 stars, which I've rounded up to 3. It's a fun read, and as Mr. Reilly gains experience as a writer, I believe he will iron out his weaknesses in dialogue and create characters with more depth, as well as develop the ability to move his stories with greater nuance.
June 2, 2013
Synopsis:
Throughout his childhood, James Connor was surrounded by both his mother's deep faith in Christianity and his father's passionate pursuit of scientific truths. As an archeology student, he is sent to a remote village in Africa to assist on a dig and stumbles onto a discovery that changed history as we know it. The more information discovered and questions answered, the more determined to prove that Ancient Visitors were responsible for life on Earth James becomes. His assertions lead thousands of people all over the world to question their faith, leaving churches, synagogues and other religious meeting places with dwindling numbers. While the people of Earth deal with the both the scientific and religious consequences of the discovery, the Ancient Visitors return to help the human evolutionary process and throw the planet into further turmoil. When long simmering disputes reach their boiling point, the world's and universe's forces collide in a battle to save a way of life - any way of life.
Review:
In the interest of fairness and honesty, I have to say that I received this book free from a giveaway at Goodreads.com and as much as I enjoyed the actual story, there were several issues with the print version that made it difficult to work my way through the book. Along with a couple of formatting issues, there were times when the dialogue felt stiff as if forced and sometimes the characters sounded so much alike that it was hard to tell one from another. Unfortunately, there were grammatical errors that also hindered the flow of the story and made it difficult to go from scene to scene.
All that aside, the premise of the story was very interesting and intriguing. The author's vision of a possible future was a new take on the old science versus religion debate that we've been circling around for decades, if not centuries. Both sides of the origin argument are explored within the first half of the book. Compelling reasons for each theory are given. Once the action began to pick up, I was surprised each time that I thought I knew which one was going to come out as the prevailing theory. The author did a good job in weaving the theories together to create an outcome that I haven't seen in other books as of yet. Truthfully, if the above issues were corrected, I believe this could be a really great read.
Throughout his childhood, James Connor was surrounded by both his mother's deep faith in Christianity and his father's passionate pursuit of scientific truths. As an archeology student, he is sent to a remote village in Africa to assist on a dig and stumbles onto a discovery that changed history as we know it. The more information discovered and questions answered, the more determined to prove that Ancient Visitors were responsible for life on Earth James becomes. His assertions lead thousands of people all over the world to question their faith, leaving churches, synagogues and other religious meeting places with dwindling numbers. While the people of Earth deal with the both the scientific and religious consequences of the discovery, the Ancient Visitors return to help the human evolutionary process and throw the planet into further turmoil. When long simmering disputes reach their boiling point, the world's and universe's forces collide in a battle to save a way of life - any way of life.
Review:
In the interest of fairness and honesty, I have to say that I received this book free from a giveaway at Goodreads.com and as much as I enjoyed the actual story, there were several issues with the print version that made it difficult to work my way through the book. Along with a couple of formatting issues, there were times when the dialogue felt stiff as if forced and sometimes the characters sounded so much alike that it was hard to tell one from another. Unfortunately, there were grammatical errors that also hindered the flow of the story and made it difficult to go from scene to scene.
All that aside, the premise of the story was very interesting and intriguing. The author's vision of a possible future was a new take on the old science versus religion debate that we've been circling around for decades, if not centuries. Both sides of the origin argument are explored within the first half of the book. Compelling reasons for each theory are given. Once the action began to pick up, I was surprised each time that I thought I knew which one was going to come out as the prevailing theory. The author did a good job in weaving the theories together to create an outcome that I haven't seen in other books as of yet. Truthfully, if the above issues were corrected, I believe this could be a really great read.
July 15, 2013
Jim Reilly is a first time science fiction author. He has done pretty good in his first book. He present interesting ideas on religion, science, and a blend of both in an entertaining story.
If opens with James Connor, a self-absorbed doctoral student in anthropology, working on a dig in Ethiopia. Working is a generous word for what he is doing. He doesn't like field work, but his father is world-famous in the same field. James is swept into anthropology because it is easy for him to advance. The people running the dig send him to another area simply to keep him occupied and away from serious scientists.
Connor stumbles on a human fossil. His interests are piqued. He returns to the same area with two colleagues. Connor places his foot wrong and literally falls into the find of the centuries--a crashed spaceship over 75,000 years old with proto-human and alien fossils aboard.
The world changes. Research shows that the aliens have directed human evolution. But, the aliens are not done with humans. They have plans for us and our descendants. Plans that parallel parts of the Bible and other religious texts. I'll let you read the rest--I don't want to give spoilers, at least not too many.
I won this book in a First Reads Giveaway. As I said, I likes the ideas and the story. There is one problem that prevents me from giving the book that fifth star. The dialogue has too much exposition and presented in a way that does not sound like speech. For instance, here is James speaking about his father, "But it is a large shadow he casts, and it consumes my identity. Case in point, when I was a high school junior I won the prestigious National Science Foundation Award of Excellence without too much effort...It was spoken about as 'Patrick Connor's son won an award,' not James Connor won it...." And, it goes on from there. However, this is my opinion and your mileage may vary.
If opens with James Connor, a self-absorbed doctoral student in anthropology, working on a dig in Ethiopia. Working is a generous word for what he is doing. He doesn't like field work, but his father is world-famous in the same field. James is swept into anthropology because it is easy for him to advance. The people running the dig send him to another area simply to keep him occupied and away from serious scientists.
Connor stumbles on a human fossil. His interests are piqued. He returns to the same area with two colleagues. Connor places his foot wrong and literally falls into the find of the centuries--a crashed spaceship over 75,000 years old with proto-human and alien fossils aboard.
The world changes. Research shows that the aliens have directed human evolution. But, the aliens are not done with humans. They have plans for us and our descendants. Plans that parallel parts of the Bible and other religious texts. I'll let you read the rest--I don't want to give spoilers, at least not too many.
I won this book in a First Reads Giveaway. As I said, I likes the ideas and the story. There is one problem that prevents me from giving the book that fifth star. The dialogue has too much exposition and presented in a way that does not sound like speech. For instance, here is James speaking about his father, "But it is a large shadow he casts, and it consumes my identity. Case in point, when I was a high school junior I won the prestigious National Science Foundation Award of Excellence without too much effort...It was spoken about as 'Patrick Connor's son won an award,' not James Connor won it...." And, it goes on from there. However, this is my opinion and your mileage may vary.
December 6, 2013
Some spoilers.
I don't understand why this is getting such amazing reviews. I found it almost painful to read.
With respect to the author, the concept seemed interesting enough, which albeit having had stolen major plot lines from films like Independence Day and, unfortunately, baddies revealing their evil master scheme a-la Scoobie Doo, is what caused me to buy the book.
Having said that, the writing was poorly executed. Plots were conveyed via dialogue in a forced way, little kids would go on pages and pages of monologues for the purpose of telling the audience what is going on, because the characters they would speak to would have already known what they were talking about, and off-tangents which caused a relatively short book to take forever to finish.
Similarly, the author might be as clever as his biography states, but he clearly has not done enough research on technology.
Who uses PDAs anymore?? Why is it necessary to refer to a TV as a '3d tv' just because your technology has advanced?
I have a 3d tv, and I still call it a tv.....
Anyway, the best part of this book was its cover, which, unfortunately, is teaching me a great lesson about judging the book by it.
I don't understand why this is getting such amazing reviews. I found it almost painful to read.
With respect to the author, the concept seemed interesting enough, which albeit having had stolen major plot lines from films like Independence Day and, unfortunately, baddies revealing their evil master scheme a-la Scoobie Doo, is what caused me to buy the book.
Having said that, the writing was poorly executed. Plots were conveyed via dialogue in a forced way, little kids would go on pages and pages of monologues for the purpose of telling the audience what is going on, because the characters they would speak to would have already known what they were talking about, and off-tangents which caused a relatively short book to take forever to finish.
Similarly, the author might be as clever as his biography states, but he clearly has not done enough research on technology.
Who uses PDAs anymore?? Why is it necessary to refer to a TV as a '3d tv' just because your technology has advanced?
I have a 3d tv, and I still call it a tv.....
Anyway, the best part of this book was its cover, which, unfortunately, is teaching me a great lesson about judging the book by it.
February 15, 2016
A book that started out well ends up with a weak finale. The progression of the main character started well, but then dropped into unrealistic territory.
In essence it revisits the whole science v religion debate using the discovery of an alien spaceship with pre-homo sapiens skeletons to prompt the friction. This eventually leads to all out war of science v religion, and although there's talk throughout of 'interfaith' and about it being all world religions, it ends up being pretty much entirely western Christianity, and while there are Imams and Rabbis sprinkled throughout they provide less insight into their religions than a placemat.
As for the finale,
In essence it revisits the whole science v religion debate using the discovery of an alien spaceship with pre-homo sapiens skeletons to prompt the friction. This eventually leads to all out war of science v religion, and although there's talk throughout of 'interfaith' and about it being all world religions, it ends up being pretty much entirely western Christianity, and while there are Imams and Rabbis sprinkled throughout they provide less insight into their religions than a placemat.
As for the finale,
May 25, 2014
Bought and read this in two days. While reading other books, and spending too much time playing Dragon Age Origins. It gets two stars because I finished it. The preachy "religion & technology must work together" message was a little too blunt, made more so by the pedestrian touches on Christian mythology to back said message fiction up. Add to this a heavy handed framing technique to illustrate the passage of time, that is abandoned for the epilogue, a overly stiff cast of characters, and a not so subtle send up of most ancient alien theories, and you have a nugget of gold in several hundred pages of drek.
Teal deer: give this one a pass.
Teal deer: give this one a pass.
July 12, 2013
This book had a very interesting premise; and the the ideas involved were fascinating.
Although I will admit that the character development was a little clunky, I still found the book a thought-provoking read.
Although I will admit that the character development was a little clunky, I still found the book a thought-provoking read.
July 9, 2013
pretty good, I wasn't sure at first but once I got to the first alien abduction I really started to like this book.
March 2, 2018
DNF after 36 %. Plot seemed like it would be really interesting, but I couldn't get past the writing and flat dialogue.
May 22, 2015
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Q w e r t y u I o p a s d f g.h.j.k.'s x c.v BBC n m
Q w e r t y u I o p a s d f g.h.j.k.'s x c.v BBC n m
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews