Recursion

Book Review

Recursion is a deeply thoughtful and fast-paced science fiction novel that delves into the psychology of the mind and makes you rethink everything about memories. For anyone who is a fan of Blake Crouch's book, Dark Matter, you can expect something similar and just as thrilling! Recursion is about exploring the depth of human memory, and how memory is essentially a map of our existence. What happens if the memories of every day people start contradicting each other all at once? Through a web of changing timelines and plots, the main characters, Barry and Helena, are in the center of a battle to contain a dangerous technology/phenomenon centered around memory.
Once the novel gets into the flow of things, I was really intrigued by the story and figuring out how it would end. It takes some time to set up the premise and explain what is going on, but the complexity of the concept that Crouch tries to explore does take time to explain. I found Recursion to be filled with a lot of confusing terminology and concepts, and I would need to take the time to pause and reflect. Even now, I feel like I have a vague understanding of the scientific concepts explained in this book, but some things I am ok with just accepting in order to move on.
Barry and Helena are very likable protagonists, though it's a bit too convenient how they end up being extremely intertwined in each other's storylines. Even though Barry feels like the "main" character, as the story starts and ends with his narrative, I like how Helena is the driving force behind the plot and the brains behind the operation. She could carry the book on her own, but to include a character like Barry makes it a bit more interesting and less lonely.
I've only read two books by Crouch, but of these two, I feel some similar recurring themes. Crouch likes to deep dive into a technological and scientific phenomenon that seems awesome at first but actually has terrible consequences. And then the entire world will spiral into utter chaos and horror for the main character while the reader is at the edge of his/her seat waiting for the resolution. Overall, I think this novel is entertaining and complex, but I think if I were to make a comparison, I would say that I liked Dark Matter more.