The Lightning Stenography Device by M. F. Sullivan was not what I expected. I can sum it up in one word – boring. I tried multiple times to finish. In the end I could not force myself beyond 28% complete. Therefore, it goes to the DNF list with no regrets.
I knew going in the book was classified as literary fantasy; therefore, I expected the pace to be slow and the story thought provoking. I got the slow part, but never in a million years would I count it as thought provoking. Maybe I did not read far enough to get into the real philosophical parts.
I also did not read far enough to comment on the characters and other aspects of the book. Below is the synopsis of the book as provided by the publisher. In closing, this book was just not for me. However, I believe there is a small audience for books of this type.
I received a free copy from the publisher, via NetGalley, in exchange for my honest review.
For more of my reviews, and author interviews, see my book blog at www.the spineview.com.
Synopsis:
The first marketable thought to text device is released for public consumption in 2031. That same year, author Cassius Wagner will have a seizure. At least, that is what the novel says: the novel to which he awakens in fragments one morning after a late night of writing. This novel. Terrified to have a prophetic manuscript unfurling at his heels, his desperation to evade his fate prevents him from considering that his lover and editrix, Katherine Beauvoir, might be wrestling with a destiny of her own--a destiny which seems to concern the discovery of a human skull, and the true identity of the device's mysterious creator. Told in four psychedelic parts which peak with the fable of a sublingual Huntress as she fights to save her King, THE LIGHTNING STENOGRAPHY DEVICE blurs the speculative fiction and fantasy genres to explore the fabric of literature, and the boundaries of reality.

Very surreal and philosophical. Feels older than it is.

The Lightning Stenography is about two brothers who have created a device that records thoughts and prints them out. One brother is having his thoughts/dreams recorded and interprets that this is a book his mind is writing. I thought this sounded interesting and I decided to give the book a shot. Unfortunately, the book is too philosophical and steeped in debate about the existence of God. One brother is slightly pro, the other more con. This leaves the book open to a potentially interesting subject for a more religious person. But personally, I don’t find the subject or debate interesting and I couldn’t care less.

The dialogue between the brothers didn’t move the story along with enough substance to hold my interest. There were many long sentences, that while trying to give the characters a sense of self, felt unnecessary and like filler. The book also spent a great deal of time debating whether we are the authors of our lives, or if the thoughts being recorded by the device are deciding how we live our lives. I think the premise had potential but it really fell short for me. At times I felt like I was reading a textbook for a college class. Maybe, I am not on the same level mentally as the author or the subject was too deep and required a level of thought I don't possess. Either way, I can’t recommend this book, it was far too heavy and slow for my taste.

Don;t be misled by the 2 star review, I am following the Netgalley system of responding to "would you recommend this book?" with "not really, it depends"

Hermes accidentally invents software to decode the human consciousness via a device known as the Lightning Stenography Device, or LSD. Enoch is jealous, and many strange happenings ensue

The majority of people I know would not be interested in reading this book.
However, there are a select few out there who are looking for the feeling that this book gives you
An aura of "WTF" with a bit of "woah" thrown in and some floaty brain-feels

This book is for you if you enjoy existentialism, I Heart Huckabees (the popular movie), Sophie's World, anything offbeat or otherworldly, and maybe (just maybe) a passing interest in hallucinogenics.

The beginning of the book is about a device that transcribes thoughts to "paper". For some people the device writes a story while they sleep - and that story is prophetic. The characters are interesting and dynamic. A lot of weird stuff happens, and I love it.

The second half of the book is completely different and I thought it was amazing. I couldn't put it down until the end. It's a pure fantasy with magic and witches and kings. Taken as a whole, the book was really good. It was all very philosophical. Honestly, I would read a 600 page book about The Huntress and the King. Amazing imagery.

Well this is an unusual creature. I quite liked it. I didn’t completely love it, but I liked it. This is a story with four separate narrators, presented one at a time, the first three of which collectively provide a synoptic view of the events of the first half of the book. I fear though that some readers may fault the direction in which the fourth narrator goes in the second half of the book, as it is rather unexpected, and decidedly different. I myself don’t fault that, and in fact would tell others to just go with it, as the last half of the book is a heck of a narrative in its own right. I think the only thing that slightly dissatisfied me as a reader, is that the wrap-up/resolution/conclusion is so quick, and feels as if it leaves some things hanging, even though really it doesn’t. The writing is quite solid, the pacing is good, and the individual narrators each have a distinct voice. I think the key is to go into this knowing that this is not some by-the-numbers sci-fi thriller/mystery that you’d find at that sad little “book store” at the airport, next to Nora Roberts and James Patterson. This is that you-haven’t-heard-of-it-before book that a friend tries to passionately explain to you at 1am, making nonsensical comparisons, telling you in rambled speech that it starts like Philip K. Dick by way of Vladimir Nabokov, and ultimately ends up like C.S. Lewis by way of Hunter S. Thompson, with maybe a little of Genesis and the Gospel of John by way of William Burroughs snuck in here & there, but remains elegant the whole way. And that just leaves you confused, but still you’re interested. Or maybe you’re more of an airport book person, and the fact that this isn’t about chicken soup & souls turned you immediately off; I don’t know. I myself received this book from netgalley.com in exchange for writing a review. But I didn’t just read it because it was free. There were plenty of other free alternatives available, but this one’s description intrigued me. And ultimately I’m glad I selected it.

It was very well written, but a bit hard to follow.

Definitely an odd read. A science fiction novel mixed with real philosophy. This story can definitely be a contradiction at times.

Perfect mix of fantasy and horror! This book drew me in from the cover and the synopsis on the back. Definitely odd and full of surrealism. This book if you want something like you've never read before is for you.

Filled with surrealism and philosophy, The Lightning Stenography Device forces the reader to question what they think they know about life and existence and is likely to appeal to fans of The Picture of Dorian Gray.

Summary:

The Lightning Stenography Device, or LSD for short, boasts the ability to aid in writing by translating someone’s conscious thoughts into text on a computer screen. What it wasn’t supposed to do was work when the user was unconscious. Yet, when one of the creators wakes after falling asleep with the device on his head, it’s to find that he’s written a story in his sleep. Not just any story, but a prophetic one. One that ends, ultimately, with his suicide.

Fast-forward to 2032, and the LSD has hit the mass market. Katherine and her husband Cassius, both writers, pick some up with the idea of making their writing easier. Cassius, especially, who has been struggling to finish a novel he’s been working on. But then he falls asleep at his desk, and when he wakes, it’s to a manuscript that predicts his future, right up until he has a seizure. Determined that the story is not a self-fulfilling prophecy, and desperate to prove he’s not losing his mind, Cassius seeks out the remaining inventor of the device, a man who calls himself Enoch.

What they conclude is that Katherine is the key at the center of all of this, and what she isn’t telling them is that she’s produced her own prophetic manuscript. One that ends with her holding a skull, and she’s terrified of what that might mean for her own future. Together, they must uncover the mystery behind the manuscripts, and if they’re not writing the books themselves, who is? Something other than the conscious mind? God, perhaps?

But in the beginning, there was the Word, and after that, there came Consciousness and Matter. Together, they created Earth and her inhabitants. All Matter wanted was to stay forever with Consciousness, and all Consciousness wanted was to create humans and watch them grow. But humans have a way of ruining things. For them to evolve, they must consume Consciousness, and now Matter has no choice but to look for him again. She believes she might find the answers she seeks through a young human named Felicity, who, cursed by a witch though she is, wants only to find her Man, the King.

The Good:

- The prose itself is quite lovely. I think this is more of an acquired taste, though. Like wine or stinky cheeses. There were some places where the sentences got a bit convoluted, especially in the first section, but overall, I really enjoyed the actual writing. It had a very archaic, literary lilt to it, but not so much that I couldn’t follow it.

- The fourth part, Felicity, is pretty much everything I’ve ever wanted in a book. There’s a tragic love story between deities and a whole mythological backstory that hooked me right from the beginning, and I was invested in it, darn it. I loved every bit of it. There’s a kickass protagonist who is as confused about the world as the rest of us, a mouthy sword, a talking snake, magic, illusions, sacrifice. If the first 60% of the book disappeared and this last 40% had been the entire book, this would have gotten 5 stars. I would have bought several dozens copies and just started chucking them at strangers on the street while shouting, “READ THIS.” I want a whole book focusing around those characters. Hell, I want a whole series of books written in that style.

- I want more characters like the Sword. A.k.a. the Silver Flower and Silver Snake. Because, you know, Felicity doesn’t have language, but she does what she can. Give the girl a break. This was by far my favorite character, and every book should have one. His voice was wonderful, and he basically came to life for me. Have I mentioned that I loved the character? I couldn’t get enough of him. There was something about him that reminded me of C-3PO, but less robotic and so much better. I could go on, but probably, it would devolve into a bunch of fangirl gibberish but, gah, this character was perfect!

- I legit need an LSD. The device, not the drug, thanks. I actually loved the premise here, especially the idea of what happens with the unconscious versus the conscious. I found the general basis of the philosophy to be interesting, and there were plenty of moments that made me pause and think (which is what a book like this is meant to do, so that’s good). I mean, just the ethical issues alone of a thought-to-text device and all the possible implications of unconscious vs. conscious writing. What would you do if you wrote something prophetic in your sleep and had to decide whether or not to read it? Would you want to know the future, even if you couldn’t change it?

The Bad:

- The philosophy was hard to follow. I mean, I like philosophical things. If it gets me thinking, great. If it causes me a full-on existential crisis, even better. The philosophy here, especially in Cassius’ part, and sometimes in Katherine’s, was just hard for me to follow. It was dull and seemed repetitive and circular, where I felt like I was being beaten over the head with the same thing which I wasn’t understanding, and that was fine because it wasn’t actually moving forward towards anything anyway. I mean, maybe that’s just me and I was too stupid to get it (and hey, that’s a definite possibility), but it’s not like I went into this blind. I’ve been reading philosophy since I was a single-digit age, and now I’m … considerably older. There were some great concepts there, but I felt like sometimes it pushed too hard instead of just letting the ideas stand on their own.

- I may have skipped some parts. Okay, I definitely did. There were parts where the internal monologues became too much and I just couldn’t anymore. But mostly, it was the philosophy. There came a point where I stopped following all together and my eyes glazed over. I do confess, though, that I definitely did just skim past some parts where I would have otherwise been tempted to just put the book down and leave it at that. I’m glad I did, because the last part was worth it, but this was dangerously close to being a DNF for me.

- I’m sure there’s a connection between the parts, but … I don’t know what it is. The first three all involve the LSD and they comprise 60% of the book. Then, that whole storyline disappears entirely to introduce Consciousness, Matter, and Felicity. Well, it doesn’t disappear completely. There are certainly parallels between the characters, the storyline, and the themes. However, the connections just felt far too subtle to me. At first, when I started reading part four, I was entirely confused and wasn’t sure I was even reading the same book. Totally different world, totally different feel. There is a connection at the end, but like I said, it left me feeling disappointed and, frankly, confused. Which brings me to my next point.

- I HAVE SO MANY QUESTIONS. I didn’t understand the ending. There was a tenuous attempt to tie the fourth part into the first three, and I just … I didn’t get it. I don’t know, maybe I’m just dumb. I feel like I need a SparkNotes version of this book to understand parts of what the author was going for. I’m also not sure there was really a satisfactory ending to the first three parts, and there were things in that I expected to be resolved that weren’t, questions that were raised and seemingly left unanswered.

Overall:

This one was REALLY HARD to review. I almost feel like I need to separate the book into entirely different stories, because there’s that much a distinction between them, and it was extremely jarring. Each one had different reasons I found them interesting, but the second was far more interesting to me than the first. I just didn’t see how they connected or fit together to form one cohesive story. The first three parts, I would give a two, and the last part, I would give a five, so together, I’d give this a three? THIS IS SO HARD. *flails*

In the end, it was a good read. There were definitely sections of the first three parts that kept me interested, and there was a lot of mystery and intrigue, but Felicity’s part was the best part of the book, in my opinion. That, at the very least, deserves to be read.

Disclaimer: I received a free ARC copy of this from NetGalley in exchange for an honest review.

If you like books withs long sentences and al lot of thinking and rethinking than the book may be something for you.

Don't attempt this book. Boring. I just don't understand the characters in this book. If I had to pay for it, I wouldn't purchase it or if did buy it, I would ask for my money back.

What happens when AI becomes good enough to write a book in our name? And do it better than we can? This book explores what might happen. Funny but Sad but Scary but definitely unforgettable.

I really don't know what to say about this book. First off, it was way too techy for my personal taste. Secondly, I don't typically like books set in the future. The characters were good, well developed but I couldn't relate to them.

I think that lovers of sci fi would enjoy it.

*Thank you to the author/publisher/Netgalley For the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest opinion*

THE LIGHTNING STENOGRAPHY DEVICE, by M. F. Sullivan, is a book that bleeds into a rather "meta" realm of literature. One of the main protagonists is an author who dabbles with the invention of the same name as the title. For those familiar with science fiction, fantasy, or speculative fiction, this may not be your go-to based on how literary this work feels at times and that the beginning feels much slower and dialogue-driven than most novels contain.

The prose is readable and flows nicely even if it feels that Sullivan forces his characters to navel gaze more than actually act with agency. "The Device" as named in the title deals with how to translate thoughts to text, which is what creates this meta element to the narrative. The main character, Cassius Wagner, is an author and continually questions his work in the face of this new tech that is produced for mass consumption.

Using the trope of "writing about writing" the novel presents its readers with a new take on a reality of writing exactly what we think, but does this include the thoughts that come unbidden to our conscious?

I received this ARC via NetGalley.