And, of course, I’m a bit partial to the notion that a better understanding of fundamental mathematical theory is what unlocks our ability to transcend our physical existence and manipulate matter and space-time in a fundamentally new way. The philosophical depth of the novel isn’t much, but it is there, which is more than one might say for some novels. On another level, Haig makes some interesting choices that make the novel tug on my heartstrings despite its unoriginality. On one level it’s a cobbled-together mess of unoriginal ideas, stylistic homages, and trite philosophy packaged into a “aren’t humans weird” cavalcade of scenes and sequels. Because apparently the rest of the universe isn’t interested in sharing existence with humans just yet. What begins as seemingly benign documentation of human quirks soon turns into a life-or-death mission to eliminate any evidence that Andrew Martin has proved the Reimann Hypothesis. Haig seizes upon this as the central conceit of The Humans and takes it even further. So, of course when I learned he has a novel involving a mathematician who might have proved the Reimann Hypothesis, well … I just had to read it! The alien as fish-out-of-water is a tried-and-true trope of science fiction these days, allowing authors to comment on how wacky some human social and cultural conventions would seem to a true outsider. Matt Haig surprised me with the unexpectedly sweet How to Stop Time.
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