Quick book review: The Guarden

Tyler Cowen turned me on to this ebook by the blogger Tim Kane, called The Guarden, apparently "a bedtime story that got out of hand." Since it was only $3, I picked it up and blasted through it in a couple hours. It's a gripping and surprisingly deep look at the future in a adolescent novel wrapper. Once you get your teeth in (for me, about paragraph six), it's a fun read. (Don't worry, it's nothing like Twilight, as proved by the fact that I got to the end. I literally couldn't read three pages of Twilight without tasting bile.) Check out here for a free 3-chapter sample.

I'm a big fan of books like this: a definite pop feel, with a hard-charging story, some reasonable characterization, but really cool ideas lurking underneath everything. Not so philosophical that it gets weighty or pretentious, though. If you've got an e-reader, I recommend it highly.

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Ryan Cooper

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