Dennis E. Taylor: The Singularity Trap

Hi everyone

The Singularity Trap is a standalone novel by Dennis E. Taylor, the writer of the wonderful Bobbiverse. I read this book on my e-reader.

"After scrimping and saving for two years, Ivan Pritchard lands a berth with the mining ship Mad Astra. His one share buys him six months of searching the asteroid belt for that elusive cache of metals that could make the entire crew wealthy, and allow Ivan to pull his family out of the depths of poverty.
While investigating a promising asteroid, Ivan triggers an extraterrestrial booby trap, which squirts a strange liquid substance onto his arm. The next morning, he wakes up to find his forearm turning into living metal. Soon his other limbs begin to change, and worse yet, there’s an artificial intelligence growing in his head and talking to him. As alien nanites eat his ship out from under him, the AI reveals its to convert the solar system and the human race into a war machine meant to fight in an interstellar battle that has raged for millions of years.
To save his family—and the human race—Ivan will need to play a deadly game of brinkmanship with the military, all the while hiding his plans from both his crewmates and the alien computer residing in his brain." 

The Singularity Trap was very different from the Bobbiverse books, even though you might think it sounds similar. It’s more serious; there are quite a few references to pop culture, but not as many; there’s snark, but much less. The writing, though, is wonderful as I'm used to from Taylor.

Now, I know this is science-fiction, so it’s not a realistic plot; but that doesn’t mean I don’t want realistic characters, a logical plot, realistic reactions... And that last one especially was lacking. Yes, Ivan talks a lot about missing his family and not being able to cry, but how can he be so calm about the changes he goes through? How were the miners so calm during the “infection” and the quarantine?

Aside from this, I thought the characters were really well done. We read from quite a few different POVs, and they are all distinct, unique, and understandable. There are also some moral questions raised which kept me thinking: what makes a human, human?

It was just a bit boring? Things took too long to happen: the trip on the way to the asteroid, the quarantine, after the escape... the pacing was so slow. Ivan is a very passive character, which doesn’t help keep your attention, and the scientific expositions got boring. The book is too long for the relatively few things that happen in the story.
It’s still very entertaining and accessible, and I enjoyed my time reading it; I just found my mind wandering very easily because it was so slow.

The Singularity Trap is an enjoyable sci-fi read with big ideas and well-crafted characters, but its slow pace and passive protagonist keep it from matching the Bobbiverse. If you’re a fan of Dennis E. Taylor, it’s worth a try, just temper your expectations.

Have you read The Singularity Trap? Did the pacing bother you, or did you enjoy it more than I did? I’d love to hear your thoughts!

Happy reading!
Helena