I'm currently 2/3 of the way through Contact and I have incredibly mixed feelings about it. I think it starts wonderfully and has a really good sense of it's characters and the initial premise. However after the message is discovered and the race is on to translate it and understand the purpose, I feel like the entire novel falls off a cliff. Too much time is spent meandering without developing any central conflict within the story. I get the theme is more about humanity's place in the universe in the event of discovering intelligent life, but I'm just not very compelled by the way this novel tackles the theme.
Am I being a meathead by not understanding the material? Or have I been spoiled by the first 4 Dune novels to really get it?
What are some other sci-fi/fantasy novels that tackle this idea better?
by DaftNeal88
2 Comments
I haven’t read it in maybe 30 years, but I remember quite liking it and feeling satisfied by the experience. I’d continue.
It’s one of my favorite books. I like to re-read it every five years or so, and my first time through was in the 80’s. It’s probably getting time for that TBH. Keep going. It picks up.