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Strings
In Strings, Robert, an ordinary boy, finds himself in a newly chaotic world. Buildings move when and where they please, and time jumps around according to no known laws of physics. For Robert, getting to his regular school in the morning is impossible, and as for getting home... But Holden, a boy he and his friend Nila meet in a cave, offers them a string. No, not twine—a string of the kind that forms the universe. Teeny and tiny, and invisible to the naked eye, this string will take Robert and Mila to their homes and way beyond, to other dimensions.
Robert doesn’t intend to save the world or to do anything except get by as best he can. Yet despite his hope to remain uninvolved, those he meets and where he goes draw him to participate. Robert’s companions on the journey through the multiverses include: the boy genius, Holden, who will defeat the alien Flatlanders at all costs; Nila, the girl next door, who doesn’t live next door just yet; Mr. Marvin, the clueless physics teacher, who considers the discrepancies they encounter to have a logical explanation; and Alfred Einstein (no, not Albert), more a nemesis than a companion, who still spends a lot of time traveling with the others. Hop on board an elusive string and see what the higher dimensions have to offer.
Robert doesn’t intend to save the world or to do anything except get by as best he can. Yet despite his hope to remain uninvolved, those he meets and where he goes draw him to participate. Robert’s companions on the journey through the multiverses include: the boy genius, Holden, who will defeat the alien Flatlanders at all costs; Nila, the girl next door, who doesn’t live next door just yet; Mr. Marvin, the clueless physics teacher, who considers the discrepancies they encounter to have a logical explanation; and Alfred Einstein (no, not Albert), more a nemesis than a companion, who still spends a lot of time traveling with the others. Hop on board an elusive string and see what the higher dimensions have to offer.
- GenresFantasy
156 pages, Paperback
First published June 1, 2014
1 person is currently reading
237 people want to read
About the author
G. Miki Hayden
41 books35 followersG. Miki Hayden, strongly believes in alternate universes and has written about them in her adult novels Pacific Empire (which won a New York Times rave) and New Pacific. “Nothing in time-space is fixed,” Miki says, a distant look in her eyes. Miki won an Edgar for an historical crime story and has a couple of writing books in print. At the moment, she generally lives with millions of other people in New York City in a three-dimensional, temporal world but is exploring other realms.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
July 5, 2014
TITLE: Strings
AUTHOR: G. Miki Hayden
GENRE: Sci-Fi, YA
RATING: 3.5/5
Strings is a love letter to physics. At the heart of this story is this sense of wonder and interest in the science that explains the universe. As a result, there is a lot of theory and knowledge being thrown around, but it never gets overwhelming or boring. Instead, the physics in Strings serves to ground and intertwine a lot of the quirky and confusing moments in the novel. This, implementation, if you will, of physics in the novel works and gives credibility to the world(s) that the characters are living in.
Another successful element in Strings is the comedy. The humor in this novel is strange. By ‘strange,’ I mean that the content of the jokes is strange, but also that the humor is difficult to explain. A lot of the comedy in Strings comes from absurdity: absurdity of the situations the characters find themselves in and the absurdity of the constant misunderstandings that exist among the characters. Without giving too much away, one of the premises in Strings is that the characters are rarely ever on the same wavelength, so to speak, and so their conversations are often layered on top of each other’s instead of fitting together appropriately. Again this might be bordering on a being a spoiler, but Strings also features characters who have doubles and so the text begins to feel, sometimes, like a theatrical farce: a person will walk in, do something terrible, and runaway. Then, their innocent double will walk in and another character will engage in an argument with them and have a totally confusing, but hysterical dialogue. The absurd brand of humor in Strings is, unquestionably, my favorite part of the novel.
However, after finishing the read, I wondered if the humor took away from the development of the characters in the novel. The main character, Robert, feels like one of the least developed in the story. The reader is privy to his thoughts more, as the third person narrative is centered on them, but he doesn’t seem to progress. Arguably, none of the characters seem to progress or develop further. We get hints about the secondary characters’ lives, but the novel never explores them; we get hints about what I think is a distant relationship between Robert and his parents, but that isn’t discussed further either. The characters go on this journey through dimensions and I guess I was expecting for them to undergo internal journeys. It would be incorrect to say that Robert doesn’t learn anything or alter his perception because he does. Visiting different dimensions, in Strings, in some ways can be taken as a metaphor for seeing different cultures or societies and Robert has a moment where he questions his preconceptions.
But, for me, the ending felt somewhat muted. Strings feels casual in a way that fantasy and Sci-Fi often doesn’t. Robert is not the chosen one; there is a series of cause and effect that gets him into the situations in Strings. As a result, the narration is somewhat casual. The characters find themselves into some undesirable situations, but there is not the pressing, dangerous sense of urgency that can be found in other Sci-Fi and Fantasy novels. Robert’s world is in chaos and he is worried about it, but his very 21st century reluctance to do much about it makes for a funny narration instead of an earnest, urgent one. As a result of this, I’m left wondering if it is fair of me to have expected something at the end of the novel. Things are resolved, the journey ends, it is anti-climactic, but Strings isn’t a particularly showy novel. Should I have expected a high intensity ending for a rather laidback novel? I guess the problem is that I was expecting the novel to get serious at some point (whatever that means) and, while it wasn’t childish or immature in any way, Strings never really did. In fact, the end of the novel has some scenes that are important and intellectual, but even then, there is this is thread of dark, absurd humor that leaves you up in the air about the gravity of these situations.
Overall, I enjoyed Strings very much and, for those of you thinking about reading it, I would definitely recommend doing so. I personally want to purchase a copy and give the novel a couple of re-reads.
Best wishes & happy reading,
Arielle
*Copy provided by publisher, Curiosity Quills, via NetGalley.
AUTHOR: G. Miki Hayden
GENRE: Sci-Fi, YA
RATING: 3.5/5
Strings is a love letter to physics. At the heart of this story is this sense of wonder and interest in the science that explains the universe. As a result, there is a lot of theory and knowledge being thrown around, but it never gets overwhelming or boring. Instead, the physics in Strings serves to ground and intertwine a lot of the quirky and confusing moments in the novel. This, implementation, if you will, of physics in the novel works and gives credibility to the world(s) that the characters are living in.
Another successful element in Strings is the comedy. The humor in this novel is strange. By ‘strange,’ I mean that the content of the jokes is strange, but also that the humor is difficult to explain. A lot of the comedy in Strings comes from absurdity: absurdity of the situations the characters find themselves in and the absurdity of the constant misunderstandings that exist among the characters. Without giving too much away, one of the premises in Strings is that the characters are rarely ever on the same wavelength, so to speak, and so their conversations are often layered on top of each other’s instead of fitting together appropriately. Again this might be bordering on a being a spoiler, but Strings also features characters who have doubles and so the text begins to feel, sometimes, like a theatrical farce: a person will walk in, do something terrible, and runaway. Then, their innocent double will walk in and another character will engage in an argument with them and have a totally confusing, but hysterical dialogue. The absurd brand of humor in Strings is, unquestionably, my favorite part of the novel.
However, after finishing the read, I wondered if the humor took away from the development of the characters in the novel. The main character, Robert, feels like one of the least developed in the story. The reader is privy to his thoughts more, as the third person narrative is centered on them, but he doesn’t seem to progress. Arguably, none of the characters seem to progress or develop further. We get hints about the secondary characters’ lives, but the novel never explores them; we get hints about what I think is a distant relationship between Robert and his parents, but that isn’t discussed further either. The characters go on this journey through dimensions and I guess I was expecting for them to undergo internal journeys. It would be incorrect to say that Robert doesn’t learn anything or alter his perception because he does. Visiting different dimensions, in Strings, in some ways can be taken as a metaphor for seeing different cultures or societies and Robert has a moment where he questions his preconceptions.
But, for me, the ending felt somewhat muted. Strings feels casual in a way that fantasy and Sci-Fi often doesn’t. Robert is not the chosen one; there is a series of cause and effect that gets him into the situations in Strings. As a result, the narration is somewhat casual. The characters find themselves into some undesirable situations, but there is not the pressing, dangerous sense of urgency that can be found in other Sci-Fi and Fantasy novels. Robert’s world is in chaos and he is worried about it, but his very 21st century reluctance to do much about it makes for a funny narration instead of an earnest, urgent one. As a result of this, I’m left wondering if it is fair of me to have expected something at the end of the novel. Things are resolved, the journey ends, it is anti-climactic, but Strings isn’t a particularly showy novel. Should I have expected a high intensity ending for a rather laidback novel? I guess the problem is that I was expecting the novel to get serious at some point (whatever that means) and, while it wasn’t childish or immature in any way, Strings never really did. In fact, the end of the novel has some scenes that are important and intellectual, but even then, there is this is thread of dark, absurd humor that leaves you up in the air about the gravity of these situations.
Overall, I enjoyed Strings very much and, for those of you thinking about reading it, I would definitely recommend doing so. I personally want to purchase a copy and give the novel a couple of re-reads.
Best wishes & happy reading,
Arielle
*Copy provided by publisher, Curiosity Quills, via NetGalley.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
October 6, 2014
I enjoyed Strings; it was quite an adventure for Robert and his friends as he tried to find his way home safely. Where has our house gone this time? And the school? Is this our bus? Where are my parents? Who are you and what do you want?! This isn't my dimension! What are strings? Can a string help me? Lots of questions and mysteries. The universe--whichever one we're in--is a complex mystery, and the author is certainly good at "exploring other realms."
March 23, 2017
I was excited about this book because it sounded unique. It is unique, but it is also confusing and I never really cared about the characters. I get the Einstein head at the start of every chapter…but I also don’t get it. Something else might have worked a little better to add clarity to the story, of just have the chapter number and title without an image.
February 10, 2016
Strings, an entertaining and scary dystopian novel, examines different dimensions and scientific theories. While we cannot think beyond 3 or 4 dimensions, we have 10 and more dimensions here. The protagonist is a schoolboy Robert who muddles his way through as houses move, people go crazy, people lose their memories, and extra terrestrials steal/ manipulate dimensions as familiar to us. Think in terms of a male version of Alice in a wonderland where the familiar laws of time and space have changed, and not for the better. Entertaining read, but needs some thinking out of the box. Suspend your disbelief and enjoy the ride. I really missed Schrödinger and his cat, which are not in this book.
The author G. Miki Hayden has also written conventional fiction (which is great) and even a book on US punctuation.
I was given a complimentary copy of Strings by G. Miki Hayden in exchange for my honest review.
The author G. Miki Hayden has also written conventional fiction (which is great) and even a book on US punctuation.
I was given a complimentary copy of Strings by G. Miki Hayden in exchange for my honest review.
August 19, 2014
I just finished this book and I’m so confused. I liked it, at least I think I liked it but it was really complicated. I really liked the writing style and the characters, it was really interesting to read. I’m interested in books that have to do with magical realism/sci-fi so I really enjoyed that aspect of the story but sometimes it just got too complicated and I couldn’t really concentrate on the plot. I felt that the story didn’t really have a drive, it just sort of drifted then ended in a way that didn’t completely resolve what had happened. I may have to reread this at some point to further understand it but I did enjoy it though I had hoped for something more. I think you have to read the book to understand what I’m talking about because I don’t think I can really summarize what this book was about. :)
June 29, 2014
"Strings" is a weird little tale of young Robert, whose world recently became chaotic. The laws of space and time don't follow the same rules anymore. Robert just wants things to be normal, time to flow properly, and buildings to stay put. However, Robert is drawn into a web of problems against his will. The novel follows Robert, his friend Nila, and a host of other characters on a journey through the multi-verse.
This novel is a bit confusing but it seems to add to the character of the tale. The world is a weird place, why wouldn't the book also be? The book was a bit reminiscent of Roald Dahl. "Strings" is probably best enjoyed by middle school grade readers but could be enjoyed by readers of all ages.
I received a courtesy copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
This novel is a bit confusing but it seems to add to the character of the tale. The world is a weird place, why wouldn't the book also be? The book was a bit reminiscent of Roald Dahl. "Strings" is probably best enjoyed by middle school grade readers but could be enjoyed by readers of all ages.
I received a courtesy copy of this novel from the publisher in exchange for an honest review.
December 14, 2014
This book is a great scifi read. However make sure that you have the time to read it, it is not a book that you can set down and come back to weeks later.
The characters in this book are caught in a world where time is not set and the world is caving into itself. The strings of the world are unraveling. It is up to one boy, who can see what is happening, to change the world and save it, or have everything that he known disappear before his eyes.
The only thing I have to say against this book, is that it can be a bit confusing to read. You need to remember at all times that everything in the world is unraveling and that the characters can jump through time. Keep that in mind and you will find yourself pulled into the book and unable to get out.
The characters in this book are caught in a world where time is not set and the world is caving into itself. The strings of the world are unraveling. It is up to one boy, who can see what is happening, to change the world and save it, or have everything that he known disappear before his eyes.
The only thing I have to say against this book, is that it can be a bit confusing to read. You need to remember at all times that everything in the world is unraveling and that the characters can jump through time. Keep that in mind and you will find yourself pulled into the book and unable to get out.
September 25, 2015
I was thinking this might be a modern-day Wrinkle in Time for the kids to read, but it wasn't quite there, didn't quite grab in the same way.
It seemed a little more haphazard, random, and the characters didn't grab me the way I thought they might or might grab the kids.
It seemed a little more haphazard, random, and the characters didn't grab me the way I thought they might or might grab the kids.
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews