Categories: Book ReviewsBooks

“The Age of Miracles” Book Review: Captivating, Speculative, and Miraculous

The Age of Miracles, a speculative fiction coming-of age-story, is Karen Thompson Walker's debut novel. It's a look into the lives of 11-year-old Julia and her family during “the slowing”—due to unknown causes, the earth's rotation has shifted, and the days are getting longer. Like, 40 hours of sunlight longer.

Walker speculates (hence, speculative fiction) what would happen if the earth's rotation was altered. Gravity changes, and birds fall. The clocks are entirely off from sunlit and nighttime hours, forcing people to choose between “clock time” and “real time”. Scientists and ordinary people alike worry how much more sunlight or darkness their crops can handle in one sitting before they can no longer live on this planet. Can humans' circadian rhythms adapt? How much longer until humans can no longer live on Earth?

Meanwhile, Julia is in middle school. Her father is a doctor, her mother a drama teacher. The slowing affects their lives in different ways, but it affects everything nonetheless. Walker succeeds in balancing what I'll call world building—her descriptions of this unique time and place—with the microcosm of her characters' world. The science-fiction premise drives the story as much as its characters.

Arguably, most of the characters are somewhat underwhelming. The novel is narrated by an older, nostalgic Julia, in first-person from a perspective. This allows for some interesting and haunting moments of foreshadowing. Julia at 11 years old is excessively shy and extraordinarily ordinary in a way, but this narration from such an ordinary perspective makes her story all the more relatable and real. That is Walker's greatest triumph—the novel's utter realness.

Despite some things feeling like they might not have reached their full potential, there are so many people I want to share this novel with. I want to give it to my astrophysics-major friend, because Karen Thompson Walker actually consulted an astrophysicist to make sure the novel's scientific developments made sense. I want my friend who's not so into sci-fi to read it, because the driving force of the novel is how the characters deal with the age they're in. And I want my friend who loves sci-fi to read it, because I truly admire the way Walker fleshes out this premise in so many angles while from one perspective.

As she goes through middle school during the slowing, Julia questions coincidence and fate, and the power of one event, one chance change. Walker's debut novel is smart and compelling. Its premise excited me, and the novel did not disappoint.

Rachel Chlebowski

Age: 22 Favorite Movies: Inception, Inglourious Basterds, Dirty Dancing, Pan's Labyrinth Favorite TV Series: Orphan Black is really good, you guys. I'm also a fan of Doctor Who, Once Upon a Time, Orange is the New Black, and How I Met Your Mother Favorite Music Artists: The Killers, Passion Pit, Los Campesinos!, Tegan and Sara, Daft Punk Favorite Books: There are too many. Why did I do this to myself. I'm going to say Harry Potter, The Book Thief, and The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To Rachel Chlebowski is a recent graduate from The College of New Jersey with a degree in Communication Studies and English, and a minor in Creative Writing. A big fan of books, television, and film, she has enjoyed writing countless papers (and reviews!) on these things, and is now working as an editorial assistant for high school textbooks. In her spare time she continues to read things, watch stuff, and make paper bead bracelets.

Leave a Comment
Published by
Rachel Chlebowski

Recent Posts

‘Wicked’ defies expectations, a fearless movie-musical | movie review

Wicked, the long-awaited adaptation of the smash Broadway musical, finally flies its way into theaters… Read More

1 month ago

<em>No Other Land</em> is the most important documentary of our time | movie review

No Other Land follows a Palestinian activist as he documents the destruction of his community… Read More

3 months ago

‘Queer’ is messy, mad and marvelous | review and analysis

Based on William S. Burroughs novel of the same name, Queer follows an American expat's… Read More

3 months ago

Surreal dramedy <em>The Life of Chuck</em> ponders life and death | TIFF 2024

TIFF 2024 | The Life of Chuck follows an enigmatic man starting as a surrealist… Read More

3 months ago

Diabolically fun horror <em>Heretic</em> will make you believe | TIFF 2024

A pair of young Mormon missionaries find themselves at the center of a sinister plot… Read More

3 months ago

Florence Pugh and Andrew Garfield charm and fall in love in <em>We Live In Time</em> | TIFF 2024

TIFF 2024 | Moving back and forth in their history, We Live In Time follows… Read More

3 months ago