The Oracle Year

THE ORACLE YEAR is a captivating debut novel from comic author and attorney Charles Soule. The premise is fascinating: Will Dando awakes from a dream in which voices of unknown origin have revealed 108 things yet to be...and he soon discovers that each of these predictions will come true. In many ways The Oracle Year explores significant themes such as faith, choice, and the ways in which we are all connected. Although the book seemed, at times, to be a bit critical of organized religion, Soule nevertheless poses deep questions of spiritual and philosophical import for the reader to ponder about free will, destiny, belief, and the influence of forces beyond our understanding...perhaps revealing this book to have greater depth than expected from a freshman effort in the soft SFF category. Of course, it is only truly a debut in the sense that it is Soule's first time writing in this format, as he is an established comic book author. Soule's plotting and prose were generally very strong throughout, though I did like the first half better than the second. There were occasional moments and scenes that lacked the ring of truth or shine of polish, and some characters that seemed a bit under or unevenly developed...but none of this significantly diminished my interest in the narrative or overall enjoyment. Simply put, the blurb on the cover is correct: this book is a page turner, and I don't think anyone would regret reading it. I especially recommend The Oracle Year to fans of Chuck Wendig, Scott Meyer, etc.