Title: Teres
Author: Gershom Reese Wetzel
Publisher: LucidBooks
Genre: Science Fiction
I read this book in April of this year (2013) when it was still a pdf file. Go back in time a few (or ten) years and I remember listening to Gershom (my dear friend) talk about his ideas regarding a character named Teres. I remember a very cool dinner party at Macaroni Grill with Teresa Noreen, who seemingly semi-inspired the character Wetzel invented in his mind.
She was stunning. So is the book.
I read the book in approximately three to four hours. I believe it’s 300 pages or so long. It was riveting, and I was doing a real time discussion as I read with the author, searching for mistakes. There really weren’t any that I recall.
I’ve been leery about posting a formal review on any of my typical sites (shelfari, goodreads, amazon, etc.) though. Not because I don’t like the book – I love it – but because I have the great honor of being mentioned on the back of the book and I don’t want any potential customer to feel duped or think my thoughts are self-serving or insincere.
I feel too close to write an unbiased review, but I am way too excited about Teres to leave my thoughts undocumented.
Teres is all action and go from start to finish. It’s glorious sci fi patterned stylistically after typical books of the genre, but with a depth that is not easily comparable in anything else I’ve read. Wetzel may not have intended delivering such a moving message about life, government, and religion, but by nature he’s a wise messenger and that couldn’t help but come across in his writing.
As I mention in so many of my posts, I am a sucker for dystopian societies, and this one is right up there with the infamous Big Brother from 1984 and Libria from the amazing film Equilibrium.
What makes Wetzel’s work so engrossing is what a visual masterpiece he has created. He is first and foremost an artist, then a graphic designer and author. His writing is enhanced by the images his fingers itch to draw out on paper. It’s also really cool that he has the ability to do all his own cover and concept art.
I can’t wait to see more from this character – and her creator. I see sequels and graphic novels and films of the Aeon Flux caliber in Teres’ future.
