Andreas Haase Haase itibaren Kleszczele, पोलैंड itibaren Kleszczele, पोलैंड

I was turned on to this writer by someone from writing workshop in college. The stories are diverse in depth and writing style/method.

When I received Regarding Ducks and Universes I really had no idea what to expect. The blurb made is sound like a humorous romp with the feel of Christopher Moore. to a certain extent, it is. But what I ended up getting was a light mystery more in the vein of China Mielville. When we start the book we are in a transporter that allows individuals to travel from Universe A to Universe B. Neither universe is ours although both have a striking resemblance. However, Universe A relies on computers and has a serious inflation problem and Universe B still contains books and personal motor vehicles. Each universe was unique and I found myself being drawn into both of them without really realizing what was happening. Before I knew it I was hunting for more of the little things to see how they compared to each other and our own universe. I also was looking for clues to the mystery the novel was attempting to solve. Felix A (from Universe A) is our main character and from the moment we are introduced to him, he quickly comes off as a very real individual with real concerns and feelings. The rest of the characters do a decent job of rounding out the cast and some are a bit wacky but overall they all add to the story. Felix A is a bored to death writer who dreams of writing a mystery novel and hopes to find out more about his double (Felix B) and to see if his double leads a better life than he does and if he has been beaten to the punch about his novel. Another interesting thing about the two universes was how they came to be and how one could travel and communicate between the two. The two universes have a privacy law that far exceeds anything we have here in our universe and really holds the two universes together and to a certain degree, apart. The whole same yet different concept was explored in Mielville's The City and The City and Regarding Ducks and Universes is similar yet, much easier to take in. The rules are quickly established and then the characters look for ways to turn it to their advantage or in some cases blatantly disregard it. There are many humorous incidents and observations within Regarding Ducks and Universes, which offer a few light-hearted moments. There are a few science fictional elements that make up the story but the core of the story is a mystery. As Felix A (from Universe A) and Felix B (from Universe B) work with and against each other to help different organizations find out just what event lead to the two (nearly) identical universes to become (slightly) altered. I really had no idea just what to expect when I started reading Regarding Ducks and Universes and found myself enjoying the adventure and mystery found within. It is a light read with a lot of great moments and a decent mystery that leaves you guessing until the end. The brilliance that I found in Regarding Ducks and Universes is that there are a lot of mystery in the book, from our character wanting to write a mystery novel, to his love of Agatha Christie, to the mystery contained within the book. The book itself is an enigma, wrapped up in a puzzle and all of it is down simply and without difficulty

Not good for storytime but I can see kids in about third grade with their wacky sense of humor really getting into this.