Replay in Beyond Reality

Oct 26, 2008 Stephen rated it it was amazing

Shelves: award-winner-world-fantasy, award-nominee-arthur-c-clarke, locus-all-time-fantasy-poll, award-nominee-world-fantasy, award-nominee-locus, audiobook, alternative-history, science-fiction, multiple-award-nominee, 1980-1989

5.0 stars. I did not go into this book with high expectations, despite the numerous awards this book was nominated for and won. Well I just finished it and I ABSOLUTELY LOVED IT!!! Calling it the best "time travel" novel ever does not adequately explain the emotional depth of the novel. This was an incredibly well-written, extremely well plotted novel that is at times both gut-wrenching and uplifting. HIGHEST POSSIBLE RECOMMENDATION!!

Nominee: Arthur C. Clarke Award for Best Science Fiction Nove ...more

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Jul 11, 2012 Banner rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sci-fi, time-travel

This book really struck a cord with me.

Ok in order to do a fair job reviewing this book I have to confess that I have often fantasied about doing what the premise of this book is proposing. Going back and reliving parts of my life. I have actually thought about at what stage I would like to go back. In other words, do i go back before my children are born and run the risk of something changing?
I guess like all people there are certain things I would like to change and certain other things I wo This book really struck a cord with me.

Ok in order to do a fair job reviewing this book I have to confess that I have often fantasied about doing what the premise of this book is proposing. Going back and reliving parts of my life. I have actually thought about at what stage I would like to go back. In other words, do i go back before my children are born and run the risk of something changing?
I guess like all people there are certain things I would like to change and certain other things I wouldn't want to change for anything in the world. What about major disasters, wouldn't it be great to go back and warn people so they could get out of harms way? Imagine being able to go back and play the stock market with the knowledge of what is going to happen. These things and so many more are dealt with, in such a understandable and relatable fashion.

One thing that had caused me some hesitation when I approached this book is concern that I would be able to follow the plot. The plot sounded like it could get confusing. But, the author make this story so readable. At no point in the book did it get boring or confusing. It was suspenseful and kept me on the edge of my seat in a few places.

In case your worried about a love story, don't. Love is defiantly a theme of the book, but this is not a romance. Love is a natural part of the human condition and that is how it came across to me in this book.

This book has so much depth at times that I felt like the guy was inside my head. I didn't always agree with the choices that our protagonist made, but I understood them and in some ways related to them.

Oh one closing thought, we can't help but notice the similarity between this and the movie, Groundhog Day. Ok the repeat theme is similar and as a result some of the reactions of the protagonist are similar. But that's it, this is not a comedy (although it has some mild humor, but rare). This comment is not negative towards the book or the movie; I loved them both. It's just that while there are some similarities, they each stand on their own in plot a characters.
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Jan 23, 2013 Ben de Groot rated it it was amazing

Shelves: favorites

I first read this when I was in college, and I re-read this several times in the 90s. Then I managed to lose my copy, and I've been trying to find it again. Now that I've found it online, I am planning to re-read it again sometime soon.

I give it five stars mostly because of the effect it has had on my life. There is also certainly an element of wish-fulfilment in there — I've made some wrong choices in my life which I will forever regret, and wish I could do over — but more than that, it makes m ...more

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Jul 26, 2011 Carolyn rated it it was amazing

I *loved* this book! Couldn't put it down. Sometimes I wished that there would be a more recent version of the book that referred to more recent current events, ones I could better connect with from the '90s and '00s than I could from the early to mid-'80s. No matter though -- the book is still awesome. Really neat premise and great writing. ...more

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Dec 30, 2008 Marty rated it liked it

ah...its okay but both The Doomsday Book and The Time Traveler's Wife are much better from my view both being among my favorite books ever. Replay isn't going to be one I keep. ...more

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May 19, 2009 Christy rated it really liked it

Shelves: fantasy

Really, really well written. A book unlike anything I've read before. I liked the characters and the ideas. I had a hard time putting it down. ...more

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