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The Age of Miracles by Karen Thompson Walker

Filigree

Filigree

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This YA book made a huge splash when it sold a year or so ago. The basic premise: the earth stops rotating, and this is a good backdrop to a young woman's coming-of-age story.

The book is getting a big release campaign right now, including a PublishersWeekly excerpt of the first few pages. The author makes a big deal about how nobody would notice the extra seconds and minutes right away. Really? With our time-oriented society literally running on geosynchronous satellites and extremely accurate atomic clocks?

While I give Ms. Walker kudos for an ambitious set-up, I have to shake my head at some really obvious scientific illiteracy, aided and abetted by her agent and publisher, and excused with the idea that 'YA readers don't care about science'.

Also around a year or so ago, one of the science cable channels had a program detailing what would really happen if the planet stopped spinning. It's not pretty and it doesn't have any kind of happy ending.
 
Ergodic Mage

Ergodic Mage

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My first thought is "Who's firing that many cannons?" ha

My second is this the reason my wife hates watching movies with me. I pick out all of the science and technical flaws and inconsistencies. I love driving her nuts detailing exactly why midichlorians could not be a micro-organism that gives people the ability to see into the future.

My third thought she doesn't understand about GPS. I couldn't give exact numbers but can easily see GPS getting thrown off by just a once second slow down. One immediate effect would be that cell phones would stop working.

Though her science might be off and she does sound dismissive, I've seen and read much worst.
 

motley_muse

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I just read this book and the beginning was the main part where I had a hard time suspending disbelief, for exactly that reason--maybe not everyone, but many people would immediately notice any added time. I'm not a scientist and I know I would! The details as the earth continues to slow (it doesn't stop rotating, BTW), and the societal problems that come up, such as whether to follow "clock time" or daylight time, are fascinating.

However, this book is definitely not intended as hard sci-fi and I found it to be a fascinating coming-of-age story. And it does NOT have any kind of happy ending... though I had mixed feelings about the book, it left me in a bit of a funk!
 
astrodragon

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I didn't think it was possible to write something more scientifically illiterate than The Core, but she seems to have managed it!!

I really wouldn't worry about a few time effects if the earth stops, you wouldn't be in any position to notice them...:)
Because you'll be dead.

To me there's a difference between a minor suspension of disbelief and outright scientific stupidity...
 
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