The Age of Miracles

The Age of Miracles (2012) by Karen Thompson Walker. The title of this book is really deceptive. There are no miracles or even wonders contained in this novel. The premise of the book is a fanciful one: The rotation of the Earth has begun to slow down. No one knows why, and no one ever figures out why. From that beginning, the plot is pretty much a straight path downward. The Earth slows down, days get longer, birds start dying, then vegetation, and it's a steady deterioration from then until the end of the book. It starts out as a fascinating concept, and degenerates into a depressing story of mankind's end, or near end. It is told from the first-person point of view of a sixth-grader, so there's nothing very sophisticated about the explanations for what happens. And in fact, I doubt the author could explain the events that follow as a result of the basic premise. This is not a sci-fi book; there is no attempt to make sense, even if you grant the premise. Things just happen. Could they happen this way, would they happen this way, if the Earth's rotation started to slow down? There's really no way to know. I found the book profoundly disappointing. Some of the human results of the slowing, as it's called, are interesting -- some people insist on staying on clock time, while others (the "real timers") try to live on the new, slowed down cycle of days and nights. Those sort of details are interesting. But basically this is a one-note novel which offers little beyond the opening premise. It makes for a pretty good read, but ultimately is pointless. Grade: B-