I really liked this. I have to be honest I actually liked it less than I think I did. There were chunks I didn't understand, it was almost fuzzy dreamlike. However given the plot I think that kind of added to it for me. It's like a very bonkers (and therefore two part) episode of the X-Files but with an unlikely love story thrown in. Ingenious.

Strange book, a sort of sci fi spy novel but that really does not do it justice. I loved the premise of this book and nostalgia becoming real ...but dangerous. It certainly made me think.

An unusual but enjoyable book. Prophet has been created ultimately as a weapon by taking peoples nostalgic memories and turning them into tangible objects. Rao, an oddball character and an old colleague, Adam are enlisted to sort out some teething problems. The book is 50% sci-fi and 50% the relationship between the two men. The first half of the book has a lot of repetitive description but gets better. I finished the book quite quickly partly to find out what happens and partly so I could read something else. Unfortunately for me, I felt that it had a good story line but there was something lacking in the telling. It would translate very well for television cutting out the excessive description and banter.

The idea for this was intriguing and compelling. Rao and Adam were an absolutely fascinating pair and although I tend to avoid military based stories, this one was a good exception. The pacing was a little off for me by the third quarter of the book. Many thanks to Netgalley for an arc of this book.

As noted by other readers, this is overlong, but stick with it and you'll be rewarded with a mind-bendingly absorbing work of speculative sci-fi. Prophet is a mysterious substance designed to weaponise nostalgia and there are only two people in the world who might be able to stop it – US Marine officer, Adam, and his unwieldy charge, ‘human lie detector’ Rao. A brilliantly convoluted ride.

Although a bit bit of slow burner, it is well worth sticking with this book. Beautifully written and truly a masterpiece.

Oh my god, MARIANA ZAPATA WHO?
What the fuck was that 😭
I seriously don’t know if I’m crying tears of joy or frustration right now but I’m definitely crying!
I got sensory overload by reading this, it was definitely one of the thoughest books I’ve ever read and probably also the weirdest one.

There are simply no words, this had everything.
From top notch banter, impeccable sarcasm, quantum physics, theology, conspiracy theories, horror elements, they even mentioned Oppenheimer! (due to recent film releases, if you know)
I simply can’t believe what I’ve read, both because the main plot line was RIDICULOUSLY complex and because I was so invested in every aspect of this whole story!

I need time to process this I’m still speechless by that ending, it was so sudden and so perfect at the same time I can’t 😭

Thank you NetGalley and Random House UK for the digital ARC!

This is not what I would have expected from Helen Macdonald, she has co-written this genre defying sci-fi mystery with Sin Blache and I should warn readers that it requires patience before the pieces begin to connect to make sense. What caught my attention was the terrific writing and how the writers imagination is given free rein, carrying me through the initial challenges and strangeness as I wondered where the story was going. The heart of this intriguing novel is a love story that is likely to captivate other readers as much as it did me. It begins with the appearance of a American diner in the middle of a remote English field, but all does not feel right, it has no physical connection with reality, it is just hanging there, and there are other objects that appear too.

They are the happiest of memories for people, a joyous experience, a reliving it turns out that is being weaponised, those nostalgic memories are becoming a more dangerous and worrying affair, resulting in the death of their owners. Investigating this phenomena is the chaotic and complex Sunil Rao, an ex-addict freed from prison, a man with a particular gift, he can immediately spot a fake and discern a lie, although his gifts do not work with the straight military man, the buttoned up Colonel Adam Rubenstein, Sunil's complete opposite in character. In a narrative that goes back and forth in time, we learn of the two men's history together, as they try and work out what is going on, with reality often becoming ever harder to discern.

This sci-fi mystery is not going to be a book for everyone, but without a doubt, there will be those who will love it. For me, there was much that was imperfect, yet I was drawn in by wonderful world building, the action, the focus on what it is to be human, and the twists and turns that eventually made this a gripping and surprising read. As I said earlier, it is Sunil and Adam's dynamics, the evolution of their emotional relationship that was the main highlight for me. This will appeal to readers looking for something a little more challenging and different to read. Many thanks to the publisher for an ARC.

An endlessly inventive sci-fi thriller, with a moving romance at the heart of it. I really enjoyed reading this. What appears an inexplicable scenario at the start just continues to get more wacky. There is a lot of humour here which offsets the horrors that are unfolding. Highly recommended.

This is one of the most complicated. confusing, and ultimately inspiring books that I've read in a long while.

I didn't 'get' it at first. I was about 20% of the way in before I finally figured out what was happening. And then it just got weirder and weirder the further I went.

But oddly, it also got more compelling. I was drawn into the story of the two unusual men and unlikely friends at the core of the story. It's baffling. It's mesmerising. Weird stuff happens and just when you think you've got your head around it, MORE weird stuff happens.

It was a marathon rather than a sprint, but I loved it. Even though I'm absolutely unable to say quite why.

Thanks to Netgalley and the publishers for my copy.

This is so dense (in a good way!) and thrilling, I loved it, even if I didn't always completely know what was going on. (That's on me - it's often the way when I read sci fi, (or spy stories) but I go with it.)

The more I write myself the more I am astonished and envious of anyone who can properly make stuff up - imagine things that don't exist - I find that so hard.

Anyway so this reminded me of Iain Banks a bit - just a bit - Transition, which sits slightly oddly in his books because it's sci fi but not sci fi like the Culture books. It's also a bit William Gibson, perhaps. This is just to give you an idea of the feel of it, or how it felt to me. But it also reminded me of more thrillerish books, because it's extremely pacey and horribly tense, and there's loads of stuff about spies and the US military and stuff. Which is always fun, isn't it. Stuff about guns and protocol and training.

There are so many ideas in this, I know I'll be thinking about it for ages. And the protags are brilliantly awkward potentially terrible people, all angles and unfiled edges.

I kept changing my mind about Prophet as I was reading. At first it felt terribly formulaic (right down to the CIA operative reciting the maverick investigator's biography back to him). But the unusual premise makes a nice juxtaposition with the conventional format, the writing is good, and I enjoyed the dynamics of the Rao/Rubenstein relationship.

Then in Part 2 the story changes with a big development in their investigation. It should explode everything but instead of raising the tension, the novel becomes tedious. There are lots of repetitive scenes with Rubenstein and Rao making gnomic non-disclosures to each other. The new characters lack the nuance of those in the first part. Rubenstein and Rao both change, but not in ways that feel convincing or grounded in the story.

I was curious enough to keep reading till the end. I think I get what the authors were saying thematically, but the mechanics of the plot lost me a bit.

There are some thought-provoking ideas in Prophet, but the structure and the uneven quality of the characterisation mean you have to work at following them.
*
Copy from NetGalley

Dark Sci-fi Mystery 2.5 Stars
I was attracted to this book by its premise - nostalgia and fondest memories somehow being used as weapons and two intelligence agents investigating - expecting a well-plotted sci-fi mystery thriller with an x-files vibe to it.
On the plus side I found the two main characters interesting and well developed. Sunil Rao is an ex MI6, ex addict and ex prisoner, who can tell if someone is lying or if something is fake. He is chaotic and likes to ask mischievous questions and at times has interesting thoughts and ideas. Whereas Colonel Adam Rubenstein is a no nonsense military man always armed and ready for danger but not keen on small talk. The dynamics of their relationship is really what the book is all about and this was done well apart from taking too long with too much unnecessary prose and dialogue. Unfortunately, the plot was not well developed and was disappointing. Many thanks to the authors, the publisher and NetGalley UK for the ARC.

This felt overly long- several times events were delayed for reasons that didn’t seem necessary and that’s why I gave four instead of five stars. I just felt that what could’ve been very punchy and intense felt occasionally drawn out and fussy.
That said, I found this absolutely fascinating - more of a horror novel than I’d expected and with some very unique characters.

The protagonists were appealingly flawed and the central premise was chilling. I could definitely see this being a very effective movie.

*What’s it about*

Things keep appearing that shouldn’t be there. Created by nostalgia. But they’re dangerous. What’s creating them and why. Can Adam and Rao get to the bottom of it and save the world?

*What did I think?*

Reading the blurb this sounded amazing. Sci-fi linked with special forces. What’s not to like?

Well everything unfortunately.

It’s too long. It really needs an editor to cut out all the drivel and meandering that doesn’t move the story forward

It doesn’t make sense. It’s confusing and doesn’t actually go anywhere. Is there some kind of secret company trying to create their own world and control the population by nostalgia?

Essentially it’s a love story between the two main characters that don’t know / don’t want to discuss their feelings.

I really wanted to enjoy this book. It took me a month to get through it and it so wasn’t worth it.

Perhaps I just don’t ‘get’ it. I can live with that. I won’t be spending any more time thinking about it, and just hope I can get my reading challenge back on track after wasting so much time on this.

I was a little apprehensive starting Prophet – at 480 pages it’s a bit of a beast. I tend not to request longer books, as anything over 400 pages usually merit the criticism ‘they could have cut at least 100 pages out of it’ from me! Unless it’s a fantasy epic, tell me a story and keep it concise!

Prophet unfortunately was no exception to this, and I DNFd it at 27% or page 131. The premise is quite interesting – a substance which brings to life your happiest memory and uses it as a weapon against you. Main character Rao, who can always tell a truth from a lie and Adam, a no-personality military brute, are tasked with finding out what’s going on. After 131 pages that’s all I really got from the book and what is there could easily have been condensed into a few chapters. There’s too much superfluous dialogue and nothing really moves the plots on.

The chapters alternate between the present-day timeline, a past timeline of when Rao and Adam started working together and an unlabelled flashback of a character’s childhood. I’m sure these come together at some point to make a satisfying connection but at the outset it just broke up the main storyline with more dialogue that also didn’t move the plot forward. I read some reviews that mentioned that the pace and interest dipped a lot in the middle, and at 130 pages I was very aware I still had many pages to go before it was likely to get interesting. As I was struggling to find the motivation to keep picking it up, I bowed out of this particular story.

Overall, although the premise is interesting, the pacing is slow and at almost a third in, I didn’t feel engaged or interested in the book to keep reading. Thank you to NetGalley, Random House UK, Vintage & Jonathan Cape for the chance to read the ARC in exchange for an honest review.

In 'Prophet' by Helen Macdonald and Sin Blache, Sunil Rao is called on to join Colonel Adam Rubenstein in investigating peculiar events. This begins with an Amercian Diner appearing in a British field, but is quickly followed by additional nostalgic objects, all of which have something wrong or uncanny about them. With his ability to spot fakes, Rao is the perfect investigator despite his unpredictability, but soon he and Rubenstein are embroiled in an investigation into multiple deaths and a malevolent weapon that stifles people with their joy.

This novel is written in the style of an American military noir crossed with science fiction. Macdonald and Blache write well and comprehensively world build. However, the novel ultimately didn't hold my attention, and whilst I think it would make an amazing TV series, I'm not sure it makes a fantastic book.

Sometimes a book comes along that exceeds your expectations, and this is one of those books. When you pick it up, you think you have a grasp on what is going on and what you think will happen. But then it jumps in a different direction and leaves you wondering what the hell had just happened.

The story follows a man called Rao, an English-born Indian man, who can tell when someone is lying. And not just lying, he can tell if an object is fake. There is also Adam, an American who is Military through and through and has been assigned to Rao in other assignments. But this one will shake the foundations of who they are, as well as their relationship.

This is a sci-fi book that can not be ignored, it is dramatic, fun, emotional, horrific: everything you need from a great book.

It took me a while to get into this book, but once i did i really enjoyed it, it gave me X Files vibes. I also liked the slow burn romance. I found this book very intriguing and i think the story really stays with you long after youve read it.

Weird. Long, slow and complicated. This might well be a classic of its genre but I wouldn't know because i just didn't understand or enjoy it. I really tried and got to 20% but a DNF for me.
Notwithstanding the above my thanks to NetGalley and the publishers for the chance to review.