the Split

by Noel Thomas Fiems

This book reverses time.

302 pages, Paperback

First published November 27, 2014

About the author

Noel Thomas Fiems is a transplanted Iowan currently living in Aviano, Italy who graduated University of Iowa with a Bachelor’s of Arts in Italian literature.

Reviews

[Kreatures of the Night · Rating 4 out of 5]

More reviews at Kreatures of the Night

I'm not sure what I expected when I began reading the The Split, but what I read was an excellently executed science fiction novel.

Growing up, I was a huge fan of The Twilight Zone and Outer Limits, mainly because my dad was a scifi nerd and he controlled the TV remote. The Split could come straight out from one of those shows. Crazy science experiment, kids with weird abilities, secrets, mystery - I ate it all up.

"The Split" is an event that happens and the ending result plagues teens. Aurik is hearing a voice that is telling him what to do and what is going to happen before it does. From page one, you are thrown into the action and the mystery and suspense stays relatively constant throughout.

Usually, the age of the main character determines if the book is YA or not, but I also like to consider the subject matter. The Split is definitely YA, but I think adults that aren't exactly privy to YA will enjoy this book. There are some abstract concepts and moments of deep thinking, moments that might fly right over a typical teen's head. But Aurik is a character that is easy to relate to, he has a good head on his shoulders and I enjoyed reading his story.

The Split is excellently written. Noel Thomas Fiems deserves applause. I love the writing style: natural, smooth, easy to follow. Communicating the written word is complicated, especially when dealing with a scientific subject, and can sometimes fall flat, but I was constantly kept in the moment and never lost track while reading. Ya know, like when you were supposed to be reading about photosynthesis in Biology and two lines in you're thinking about rainbows and unicorns and then you realize that has nothing to do with photosynthesis and you notice you're halfway down the page and have no memory of what you just read? What I'm trying to say is that didn't happen while I was reading The Split. The mystery is played very well so you keep wanting to know more and keeping reading so you can find out the hell is going on.

However, there was something that bothered me. There always is. Why can't I just say good job and be happy? I don't know - I'm a complicated Kreature. ;) The good news: it's nothing major. The Split seemed to suffer from what I have now diagnosed as Multiple POV Disorder. I have seen this a lot recently and I'm not sure where the idea originated that the reader needs to know what every character is thinking. Multiple POVs are great when each character is telling an important part of the story, but when I read one paragraph from Aurik and the next paragraph is John, then back to Aurik all within an matter of 2 pages...eh, too much. Take a step back and see which character truly represents the scene best.

In the beginning I stumbled around who John was, which is Aurik's father. We were being introduced to all of the characters and from Aurik's POV he used "Dad is..." or "Dad said..." then it would jump to "John is..." or "John said..." while still in Aurik's POV. In third person past tense, there is no "Dad said" unless Dad is actually his name. It would be "Aurik's dad" or just "John, Aurik's dad". However, in deep third person past tense (yes, such a thing exists) using "Dad" as a name is OK as long as it is consistent, which would call for the removal of using the name John until it was John's POV.

And there you all have your writing lesson for the day. I learned ya real good. ;)

Rating: 4 out 5 stars.

I was impressed by The Split and will definitely be looking for more from Mr. Fiems.

[Allies Opinions · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was fantastic. It blew me away. It was one of the most unique dystopian books I’ve read.

The book begins with an amazing setting and tragedy. Right off the bat your emotions are yanked right out. It’s a definite attention getter. I was hooked.

The Split is an interesting concept. The author does a great job of explaining enough of the details that the reader feels confident of the why without it being over technical and confusing.

The tech in this book is pretty cool. But what really got my attention was the different mutations of the kids. What an imagination this author has!

I really enjoyed how Aurik’s group mesh. Their “powers” compliment each other and it was interesting seeing how creative they could be to use them.