Official Review: Meant for Greater Things

[angelbeats1]

[Following is the official OnlineBookClub.org review of "Meant for Greater Things" by John Mickus.]

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3 out of 4 stars

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John Mickus’ debut novel, Meant for Greater Things, is an intriguing work of science fiction that is sprinkled with hints of romance. It was a fairly long read of about 300 pages and was relatively thought provoking. The book is centralized around the theme and idea of responsibility. After reading Meant for Greater Things, it made me realize that we should not only take responsibility for ourselves and our material possessions, but also for Mother Earth as well.

Jasper Joyce is an introvert. He is highly intelligent, but has a hard time forming relationships and connecting with other people on an emotional level. Despite that, he has no problem understanding the mechanics of solar physics and advanced technology. Jasper spends hours on end working on new solar devices in his workshop. Is it just a weird hobby, or is there a greater reason behind it, a reason that could possibly save planet Earth, as we know it?

Reading this story is like climbing Mount Everest: the beginning is hard to get through, but you keep going because you’re excited for the wonderful view at the top of the mountain. However, once you reach the top, you realize that you’re too high up to see anything through the thick layers of fog obscuring the wonderful view and you climb back down feeling slightly disappointed, but still accomplished. The start of the novel was quite slow (dialogue doesn’t come in until the end of chapter two), and my summary of the story is rather simple because the story itself didn’t have much to it. The combination of the lack of dialogue and the story being written in first person created the effect that left me feeling as if I were trapped inside the main character’s head.

On the other hand, I did like how the book had very few grammatical errors and was well written. Also, I liked how the author did not reveal every single detail at once, so that made me want to keep on reading. Meant for Greater Things provides a theory that answers the popular and quite frightening question of what the world will look like in the future, many years from now. I really liked the moral that this book left me with. How we should, as a group, take care of our home, Earth, while it’s still lush with plant life and a variety of animals, and how we humans are in a way, meant for much greater things than we know.

Like many other books, I had my likes and dislikes. I admire the author for coming up with a unique storyline that ties the past and the future together. I give this book 3 out of 4 stars. Some parts of the book could definitely have been better, but I could feel the great potential this book has and if a few things were changed a bit, it could have easily been given four stars. I recommend this book to patient readers and people who have an interest in engineering.

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Meant for Greater Things
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[bookowlie]

I enjoyed reading your review. What a great comparison about climbing Mount Everest! I don't usually like books that have a slow start. It doesn't make me want to continue reading the rest of the book.

[angelbeats1]

Thank you!
I usually don't like books with slow starts either, but I can still motivate myself to keep on reading! However, when a book has a slow start AND bad grammar, that's where I lose all hope and put the book down!

[ALynnPowers]

I love the take on loving Mother Earth that you mentioned.
And I like your comparison with Mt Everest. Nice imagery.

[angelbeats1]

Thank you so much!
I almost always listen to music when I'm in the process of writing a review, but sometimes I think that the genre of music I'm listening subconciously alters my mind and allows me to come to different realizations about the book I just read. In this case this specific book and the lyrical/folk music that I was listening to created this "earthy" imagery.
^Weird, right?

[TylerLi]

Really good!!!

[angelbeats1]

Really good!!!

Thank you!!

[gali]

Good review! Sounds like a unique storyline with great themes as well. I also liked the comparison to Mount Everest. I am glad you enjoyed the story overall.

Congratulations to the author for the positive review!

[1_2_5_am]

Thank you for reviewing this in an honest manner. & I absolutely adored your Mount Everest metaphor, it was brilliant!!

[angelbeats1]

Good review! Sounds like a unique storyline with great themes as well. I also liked the comparison to Mount Everest. I am glad you enjoyed the story overall.

Congratulations to the author for the positive review!

Thanks gali!

-- 17 Apr 2016, 14:09 --

Thank you for reviewing this in an honest manner. & I absolutely adored your Mount Everest metaphor, it was brilliant!!

I'm happy you liked the metaphor! At first I was hesitant to include it, but I'm glad I did Thank you!

[sullwyn39]

Nice review! I liked the comparison to Mount Everest.. I got a really good idea of how that would feel.. I think this book might be too intellectually challenging - I don't like to work too hard to read a story.. Lol - but I'm sure if you're interested in this subject it sounds like it'd be great!

[Rachaelamb1]

Well done on the review! I think I might get a little lost with the technical aspects of the book, but I am glad you enjoyed the book overall

[bluemel4]

I enjoyed reading your review. I really liked that you were able to articulate what reading this book felt like. Being stuck in the main character's head sounds like a unique way of storytelling. I love science fiction with a message.